BHUSD to Replace State Testing System

The Beverly Hills Unified School District will be administering a different type of state assessment in 2014, reports Chief Academic Officer Jennifer Tedford.

In a Nov. 4 email to district families, she writes the State Test and Reporting System (STAR) California Standards Tests (CSTs) have been replaced by the California Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress assessment (CalMAPP) system. Signed into law on October 2, 2013, AB 484 (Bonilla) will take effect in 2014.

State Supt. Tom Torlakson unveiled the state testing revamp earlier in 2013.

CalMAPP will be made up of assessments being designed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, one of two multistate organizations formed to create the next generation of assessments aligned to the Common Core.

The field tests of the new assessments, set for the spring of 2014, are designed as "tests of the tests," according to this Department of Education press release. The consortium recently announced that the field tests will be widely available, allowing states to offer them to more than a representative sampling of students.

• ELA and Math Tests:  Field test of districts (i.e., Smarter Balanced*) summative assessment for English–language arts (ELA) and mathematics in grades three through eight and grade eleven. Each participating student will take either an ELA or mathematics field test. Some districts may also be selected to administer sample tests to ninth and tenth grade students for the purpose of scaling scores (to ensure validity between eighth grade scales and eleventh grade scales). (Additional details about the field test can be found in the Smarter Balanced Field Test Questions and Answer page.)
• Science: Grade-level science assessments, including the CST's, California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) and the California Modified Assessment (CMA), in grades five, eight, and ten. Teachers will suspend the alignment of their curriculum and assessments to the Next Generation Science Standards, pending additional information from the state on adoption and assessments. 
• CAPA in ELA and Math: California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) for ELA and mathematics in grades two through eleven.
• EAP in 11th Grade: Voluntary for grade eleven students, the Early Assessment Program (EAP) in ELA and mathematics. Students who opt for the EAP will take both the CST for EAP purposes and the Smarter Balanced Field Test.
• English Learners who have been in the country less than 12 months are not required to take the ELA test.
• Computer Based Testing in ELA and Math: Smarter Balanced Field Tests will be conducted using computer based testing. Grades three through eight and 11th grade students will take English Language Arts or Math Smarter Balanced tests on a computer. Science tests in grades 5, 8, and 10 will be done using a traditional paper/pencil test. 11th grade students who opt to take the EAP will also take a paper/pencil test.
• No test results or API. Tedford said this year is about testing the test, and so they will not see results for any test or an API.

What are your thoughts on the testing changes?