The Superintendent or designee shall administer the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) to all district students at applicable grade levels, except those students exempted by law.
The district shall permit any locally funded charter school to administer the CAASPP to its students in coordination with the testing of district students. In addition, the Superintendent or designee shall arrange for the testing of students in any alternative education program or program conducted off campus, including, but not limited to, non-classroom based programs, continuation schools, independent study, community day schools, county community schools, juvenile court schools, or nonpublic, nonsectarian schools. No test shall be administered in a home or hospital except by a test examiner. (5 CCR 851)
(cf. 0420.4 - Charter School Authorization)
(cf. 0420.41 - Charter School Oversight)
(cf. 6158 - Independent Study)
(cf. 6159.2 - Nonpublic, Nonsectarian School and Agency Services for Special Education)
(cf. 6181 - Alternative Schools/Programs of Choice)
(cf. 6183 - Home and Hospital Instruction)
(cf. 6184 - Continuation Education)
(cf. 6185 - Community Day School)
On or before September 30 of each year, the Superintendent or designee shall designate a district coordinator who shall oversee all matters related to the testing program and serve as the district representative and liaison with the test contractor and the California Department of Education (CDE). The Superintendent or designee shall also designate a coordinator for each test site. The duties of the district and site test coordinators shall include those specified in 5 CRR 857-858. (5 CCR 857-858)
The Superintendent or designee also shall appoint test examiner(s) to administer the state assessments. A test examiner shall be an employee or contractor of the district or, for an alternate assessment for students with disabilities, shall be a certificated or licensed employee of the school, district, or county office of education. (5 CCR 850)
(cf. 4112.2 - Certification)
(cf. 4113 - Assignment)
As appropriate, the Superintendent or designee shall assign a specially trained district employee to serve as a test proctor to assist the test examiner; a specially trained district employee, or other person supervised by a district employee, to serve as a translator to translate the test directions into a student's primary language; and a district employee to serve as a scribe to transcribe a student's responses to the format required by the test. A student's parent/guardian shall not be eligible to be that student's translator or scribe. (5 CCR 850)
Test coordinators, examiners, proctors, translators, and scribes shall sign a test security agreement or affidavit. (5 CCR 859)
Tests Included in the State Assessment System
The district shall administer the following CAASPP assessments: (Education Code 60640)
1. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium assessments for English language arts and mathematics in grades 3-8 and 11, except that:
(cf. 6142.91 - Reading/Language Arts Instruction)
(cf. 6142.92 - Mathematics Instruction)
a. Recently arrived English learners, defined pursuant to Education Code 60603 as English learners who are in their first 12 months of attending a school in the United States, shall be exempted from taking the English language arts assessment to the extent allowed by federal law.
(cf. 6174 - Education for English Language Learners)
b. Students with disabilities who are unable to participate in these assessments, even with the resources described in the section "Testing Variations" below, may be provided an alternate test in accordance with their individualized education program (IEP), as provided in item #3 below.
(cf. 6159 - Individualized Education Program)
(cf. 6164.6 - Identification and Education Under Section 504)
2. Science assessments at grades 5, 8, and 10
(cf. 6142.93 - Science Instruction)
3. For students with disabilities who are unable to take the tests specified in items #1-2 above even with appropriate accommodations or other testing resources:
a. California Alternate Assessment in English language arts and mathematics
b. For the science assessment, either the California Alternate Performance Assessment or California Modified Assessment, in accordance with the student's IEP
In addition, the Superintendent or designee may administer a primary language assessment to English learners in grades 2-11. Administration of this test shall not replace the administration of the above tests, administered in English, to English learners. (Education Code 60640)
The primary language assessment also may be used to assess students in a dual language immersion program who are not limited English proficient or who are redesignated fluent English proficient, subject to the approval of the California Department of Education (CDE) of an agreement between the district and the state testing contractor. (Education Code 60640)
Exemptions
Each year the Superintendent or designee shall notify parents/guardians of their child's participation in the CAASPP and of the provisions of Education Code 60615 related to exemptions from testing. (5 CCR 852)
(cf. 5145.6 - Parental Notifications)
A parent/guardian may annually submit to the school a written request to excuse his/her child from any or all parts of the CAASPP assessments for the school year, and such a request shall be granted by the Superintendent or designee. However, district employees shall not solicit or encourage any exemption request on behalf of any student or group of students. (Education Code 60615; 5 CCR 852)
If a parent/guardian submits an exemption request after testing has begun, any test(s) completed before the request is submitted will be scored and the results reported to the parent/guardian and included in the student's records. (5 CCR 852)
Testing Period
The Superintendent or designee shall establish testing days for district students within the following testing windows: (5 CCR 855)
1. Assessments in English language arts and mathematics shall not be administered until at least 66 percent of the school's annual instructional days have been completed for grades 3-8, or at least 80 percent of the annual instructional days for grade 11, and may continue up to and including the last day of instruction for the regular school calendar.
2. Alternate assessments for students with disabilities and science assessments for all students shall be administered during a testing window of 25 instructional days that includes 12 instructional days before and after completion of 85 percent of the school's, track's, or program's instructional days.
3. The primary language assessment shall be administered to English learners within the testing window specified in item #2.
Students who are absent during testing shall be provided an opportunity to take the tests within the testing window.
Testing Variations
Assessments shall be administered in accordance with the manuals or other instructions provided by the test contractor and CDE, except that, as appropriate, students may be provided universal tools, designated supports, and/or accommodations during testing that are specifically allowed pursuant to 5 CCR 853.5 or 853.7. (5 CCR 850, 853.5, 853.7)
Designated supports or accommodations provided to students with disabilities shall be those specified in their IEP or Section 504 plan. (5 CCR 850, 853.5)
If a resource has not been specifically identified in 5 CCR 853.5 or 853.7 but is regularly used by a student in the classroom for instruction and/or assessment, the district or school site test coordinator may submit a written request to the CDE for approval to use that individualized aid. He/she shall submit the request at least 10 business days prior to the student's first day of CAASPP testing. (5 CCR 853.5)
Report of Test Results
For any state assessments that produce valid individual student results, the Superintendent or designee shall forward or transmit the student's test results to his/her parents/guardians within 20 working days from receipt of the results from the test contractor or, if the district receives the results from the contractor after the last day of instruction for the school year, then within the first 20 working days of the next school year. The report shall include a clear explanation of the purpose of the test, the student's score, and its intended use by the district. An individual student's scores shall also be reported to his/her school and teacher(s) and shall be included in his/her student record. (Education Code 60641; 5 CCR 863)
(cf. 5125 - Student Records)
With parent/guardian consent, the Superintendent or designee may release a student's test results to a postsecondary educational institution for the purposes of credit, placement, determination of readiness for college-level coursework, or admission. (Education Code 60641)
The Superintendent or designee shall present districtwide, school-level, and grade-level results to the Governing Board at a regularly scheduled meeting. The Board shall not receive individual students' scores or the relative position of any individual student. (Education Code 49076, 60641)
Regulation VALLECITO UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT
approved: September 30, 2015 Avery, California