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Testing: 8th Grade CA Science Test (CAST)
From Monday, April 24, 2017
To Friday, April 28, 2017

Initial start of California Science Tests taken in Science classes this week.

From the CAASP Website: "The California Science Test (CAST) is an online test based on the California Next Generation Science Standards. All local educational agencies (LEAs) with eligible students in grades five and eight will administer a pilot CAST. 

The CAST pilot uses the current California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress test delivery system and will only be administered online.
Students will not receive scores for the pilot test; however, student participation data will be collected and reported for accountability.

Who takes the CAST pilot? Participation in the CAST pilot is required for all students in grades five and eight, and for the pre-selected high school grades with the exception of eligible students who will take the California Alternate Assessment for Science pilot." 

 

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Every year IVA participates in the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC) state testing. These assessments are based off of common core standards that put an emphasis on challenging students to understand subject matter more deeply, think more critically, and apply their learning to the real world. SBAC tests currently occur in the subjects of English and Math for all grades, with a new California Science Pilot Test (CAST) happening in the 8th grade. These assessments will start in the last week of April and continue throughout the month of May.

Our students are prepared and familiar with the SBAC and CAST testing format. In every class (not just Math, Science, and English) our end-of-unit summative assessments go hand in hand with the performance tasks that students will see on these tests. Students will be able to apply the skills they have fostered all year long to these state assessments. To learn more about how state test scores are used by LBUSD for the High School Choice process, read more on our website here.

Note: There will be times throughout the SBAC testing that require students to listen to a spoken passage. In order to do this students will need to use headphones. While IVA does have some headphones, our stock is limited. We highly encourage your student to bring their own low profile headphones if they have them.

Included here are links that can provide further information on SBAC and CAST testing:

SBAC - 6th, 7th, and 8th Graders: http://www.smarterbalanced.org/parents/
CAST for 8th Graders Only: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/documents/castfactsheet.pdf