Due to California’s adoption of the Common Core State Standards, 2014’s state testing will be significantly different than that of previous years. Between March 18 and June 6, general education students in third, eighth, and eleventh grade will be given new “Smarter Balanced Field Tests” in English-language arts (ELA) and mathematics, according to the California Department of Education (cde.ca.gov). According to Principal Jeff Olivero, juniors at UC High will also take California Standards Tests (CSTs) in ELA and mathematics, while UC High sophomores will take the Life Sciences CST and the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). UC High freshmen and seniors will be exempt from state testing this year.
Most of these testing requirements are a result of the Assembly Bill (AB) 484, which was signed into law last October, according to the California Department of Education. AB 484 “establishes the California Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress (CalMAPP) assessment system.” For 2014, the new CalMAPP system, which recently replaced the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program, is comprised of the Smarter Balanced Field Tests for general education for third, eighth, and eleventh grade students; “grade-level science assessments, including the CSTs, California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA), and the California Modified Assessment (CMA)” for fifth, eighth, and tenth grade students; the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) in ELA and mathematics for second to eleventh grade students; and the optional Early Assessment Program (EAP) questions in ELA and mathematics (cde.ca.gov).
According to the California Department of Education, in 2015, the state plans to stop administering ELA and math CSTs. Instead, it will give “Smarter Balanced Assessments” to general education students in grades three, eight, and eleven.
This year’s Smarter Balanced Field Tests are just what their name implies—test runs of next year’s Smarter Balanced Assessments. They, like the planned Smarter Balanced Assessments, will cover only ELA and mathematics, and will be taken on computers or electronic tablets. Their tech-based format is meant to allow for new, interactive forms of questions that test critical thinking rather than memorization. “I think it’s better to take tests on computers because it will keep people’s attention,” said Junior Sarah Kiser. The field tests will primarily be given to fifth grade, eighth grade, and eleventh grade students, but a few schools will also given them to ninth graders (cde.ca.gov). According to Olivero, the test will be split into four parts, in total taking around five hours. At UC High, only juniors will take the Smarter Balanced Field Tests. There are online practice tests that students are encouraged to try before taking the field test.
“The Smarter Balanced tests this year are like a trial run,” said Olivero. “It’ll be a test of the test, and the scores won’t really be used.” In fact, according to the Sacramento Bee, “California students and teachers are set to receive a one-year reprieve from standardized testing requirements. The annual release of the data gathered from state assessments [will] be suspended” (sacbee.com). This means that all Smarter Balanced Field Test results will not be reported to students and will not contribute to schools’ Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report.
UC High juniors will be offered CSTs in ELA and mathematics in addition to the Smarter Balanced Assessments, according to Olivero. “The eleventh graders are supposed to take the original ELA and math CSTs because [those tests] include a certain amount of questions used for the EAP,” said Olivero. “The EAP is the early exam that universities use to determine placement for when [students] go to college. They are optional, but we encourage kids to take them.” Like this year’s Smarter Balanced Field Tests, these CSTs will not have any impact on UC High’s AYP.
Only sophomores’ CAHSEE and CST Life Science test scores will affect high schools’ AYP reports this year, according to the California Department of Education (cde.ca.gov).