STATE ASSESSMENT PROGRAM AND DATES

California English Language Development Test (CELDT)

Administration Window: July 1 through October 30

Students in kindergarten through grade twelve whose home language is not   English are required by law to take an English skills test. In California, the   test is called the CELDT.  This test helps schools identify students who   need to improve their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in   English. Schools also give the test each year to students who are still learning English.

Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) California Writing Standards Test

Administration Window: March 4

The California Writing Standards Tests address the writing applications standards for Grades 4 and 7. At Grade 4, the writing applications standards require students to produce four types of writing: narratives, summaries, information reports, and responses to literature. At Grade 7, the writing applications standards require students to produce five types of writing: narratives, persuasive essays, summaries, responses to literature, and research reports. The California Writing Standards Tests are designed to assess only those types of writing that lend themselves to a one-hour assessment. At Grade 4 these include all the types except informational reports, and at grade seven they include all the types except research reports.

Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR)

Administration Window:  TBA

• Each spring, students in grades two through eleven take a STAR test. The STAR Program looks at how well schools and students are performing. Students take tests in math, reading, writing, science, and history. Teachers and parents can use test results to improve student learning. The STAR Program includes four tests: the California Standards Tests, the California Modified Assessment, the California Alternate Performance Assessment, and the Standards-based Tests in Spanish.
• California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA)—The CAPA is an alternate performance assessment to the CSTs in English-language arts (ELA), mathematics, and science. It is an individually administered assessment for pupils with significant cognitive disabilities who have an individualized education program (IEP).
• California Modified Assessment (CMA)—The CMA is an alternate assessment to the CSTs in ELA, mathematics, and science for eligible pupils who have an IEP and meet the CMA eligibility criteria adopted by the SBE.
• California Standards Tests (CST)—The CSTs are criterion-referenced tests that assess the California content standards in ELA, mathematics, science, and history-social science.
• Standards-based Tests in Spanish (STS)—The STS are criterion-referenced tests aligned to the California content standards for reading/language arts and mathematics.

California Physical Fitness Assessment

Administration Window: February 1 through May 30

The State Board of Education (SBE) designated the FITNESSGRAM® as the Physical Fitness Test (PFT) for students in California public schools. The FITNESSGRAM® is a comprehensive, health-related physical fitness battery developed by The Cooper Institute. The primary goal of the FITNESSGRAM® is to assist students in establishing lifetime habits of regular physical activity.  Public school students in grades five, seven, and nine are required to take the PFT, whether or not they are enrolled in a physical education class or participate in a block schedule. These students include those enrolled in elementary, high, and unified school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools. School districts should also test all students in alternate programs, including, but not limited to, continuation schools, independent study, community day schools, county community schools, and nonpublic schools.  Students who are physically unable to take the entire test battery are to be given as much of the test as conditions permit. (Education Code (EC) Section 60800 and the California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 1041). The PFT provides information that can be used by (1) students to assess and plan personal fitness programs; (2) teachers to design the curriculum for physical education programs; and (3) parents and guardians to understand their children’s fitness levels. This program also provides results that are used to monitor changes in the physical fitness of California students. By law (Education Code Section 60800), all school districts in California are required to administer the PFT annually to all students in grades five, seven, and nine.

Please see the attached documents for a summary of the STAR, CELDT, and Fitness Test Results