Lake County school districts have completed their first year of a new computer-based testing system for the 2014-15 school year.
Preliminary results will be available to district staff in the next few weeks. Individual student score reports will be mailed to families in late August or early September. The new score reports are just one part of a multi-level restructuring of education in California that includes a new funding system, new accountability system, new academic content standards, and the new testing system titled, California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). Under CAASPP students in grades 3 through 8, and students in grade 11, take computer-based assessments in English Language Arts and Mathematics. The new Math and English Language Arts tests are based on the new California Standards that include the Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and standards for English Language Development, History/Social Science, Physical Education, and Visual and Performing Arts. The new standards are designed to represent the skills students need to succeed in college and succeed in career and life. They also include critical thinking skills, analytical writing, and problem solving.
“This is an unprecedented time of fundamental change in education in California,” county Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg said. “There has been a tremendous amount of hard work over the past three years in preparation for these new standards and tests.”
As the new student score reports become available to families, Lake County school districts will work to help families and communities understand the new testing system. The California Department of Education has designed a scoring system for the new tests that is significantly different than the previous testing system. Individual student scores for ELA and Math will be reported as scaled scores in the range of 2000-3000 and placed in one of four performance levels. The new performance levels are Standard Exceeded, Standard Met, Standard Nearly Met, and Standard Not Met.
“The new tests reflect statewide changes in both instruction and testing. The state designed the new score reports in such a way that it does not make sense to compare the new results to the old system. This year’s results will set a new baseline for measurement of student performance. There is no correlation of scores between the old and new systems. The County Office of Education, districts and schools eagerly await the results,” Falkenberg explained.
