Understanding CAASPP Results

This spring all of our 3rd-8th, 10th and 11th graders participated in annual statewide testing. The results of our new testing program, CAASPP are starting to arrive and this post is an attempt to start demystifying some of the new terminology and data you will be hearing about.

Establishing a New Baseline
First off you might be wondering, "How did we do?" Overall, our preliminary results look great and share common patterns with school wide data across the region. However, it is important to remember that this year is really about establishing a new baseline. The Common Core standards and the Smarter Balanced assessments are very different than anything we have done previously. Tomorrow (September 9th) is the public release of all state, district, and school wide data. You can see the results on this website starting at 11am. We also have some preliminary extracts of student-level data we will be analyzing via future staff and cadre meetings. Later this month we will start receiving individual student reports to be mailed home.

New Test...New Results...New Terminology
With a new set of scores we have a new set of terminology to start learning as educators. To me one of the best places to start understanding this terminology is the Student Score Report.  This is the document families will receive next month.

• Overall Achievement Levels (Front Side)
• On the front side of the score report you will see an overall achievement level for both Math and English Language Arts. The overall achievement level really consists of three pieces of data 
• Overall Score - A numerical value between 2000-3000
• Achievement Level - The numerical score falls into one of four achievement levels - Standard Not Met, Standard Nearly Met, Standard Met, Standard Exceeded
• Range of Possible Scores - A small black bar around the overall score which shows approximately where the student might score if they took the exam again.
• Claim Achievement Levels (Back Side)
• The overall achievement level for each content area is broken into area or claims on the back of the score report. For each claim area students can store Below Standard, At Standard, or Above Standard.
• For students who were in grades 5, 8, and 10 you will also see a CST science score at the bottom of the back side of the score report.

CDE has also put together this short video for students and families explaining the score report and you might find it useful as well.

Data to Inform Instruction

As you start delving into your own student data in the next few weeks you might begin to search for resources to assist in your own instructional practices. I predict that this will be an on-going conversation for all of us throughout this school year. :-) However, some places I would suggest you start are listed below

• SBAC Blueprints - These documents provide a nice overview of how claims were tested on the assessment. There is one for Math and one for ELA.
• Claim Achievement Level Descriptors - More in-depth descriptions of each claim level.
• Smarter Balanced Digital Library - The digital library contains lesson materials, assessments, and other tools for teachers to use. 

Joe