Test Administrator and Test Examiner Resources for the Online Practice and Training Tests

These resources support the online practice and training tests for Smarter Balanced, California Alternate Assessments (CAAs), and California Science Test (CAST) only. Do not use any of these manuals, scoring guides, or performance task rubrics when you administer the summative assessments.

If you are a test administrator or test examiner, access the online Practice and Training Site for test administrators and test examiners.

If you are a student, access the Practice and Training Tests for the online tests.

Manuals and User Guides

Practice Test Manuals and User Guides
Resource	Description
Practice and Training Test User Guide	The Practice and Training Test User Guide provides instructions on accessing and using the Smarter Balanced practice and training tests.
Training Test Directions for Administration (DFA) for the California Alternate Assessments (CAA)	The CAA Training Test DFA provides an overview of the CAAs and instructions to use when administering the training tests for the CAAs for English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics.
CAA Practice Test DFAs Grade Three Grade Four Grade Five Grade Six Grade Seven Grade Eight Grade Eleven	A CAA Practice Test DFA provides an overview of the CAAs and instructions to use when administering the grade-level practice tests for the CAAs for ELA and mathematics.
CAA Training Embedded Performance Tasks Grade Five “Fossils” (Updated 01/22/18) Grade Eight “Chemical Reactions” (Posted 01/22/18) Grade Eight “Kinetic Energy” (Posted 01/22/18) High School “Natural Hazards” (Posted 01/22/18) High School “Physical Properties” (Posted 01/22/18)	The CAA for Science Training Embedded Performance Tasks (PTs) are the same type of embedded PTs that will be administered for the 2017–18 science alternate assessment pilot. A training embedded PT should be administered one on one for students in any of the tested grades to familiarize both test examiners and students with the testing format. Like the CAA for Science pilot assessment, the training PTs are administered following classroom instruction and are not administered through the online test delivery system. Note that the Data Entry Interface (DEI) is used with the operational CAA for Science only. It is not necessary to enter results into the DEI for training embedded performance tasks.

Scoring Guides for CAASPP: CAST, Smarter Balanced, and CAA Practice Tests

Select a grade level to see the grade-specific scoring guides for individual download, and check the "Show all scoring guides" box to see all the scoring guides.

California Science Test (CAST)

Note: This is the third generation of the CAST training test and includes accessibility supports.

CAST Training Items Scoring Guide—Grade Five (Posted 03/09/18)
CAST Training Items Scoring Guide—Grade Five, Braille (Posted 03/09/18)
CAST Training Items Scoring Guide—Grade Eight (Posted 03/09/18)
CAST Training Items Scoring Guide—Grade Eight, Braille (Posted 03/09/18)
CAST Training Items Scoring Guide—High School (Posted 03/09/18)
CAST Training Items Scoring Guide—High School, Braille (Posted 03/09/18)

Smarter Balanced Scoring Rubrics

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Grade 6

Grade 7

Grade 8

Grade 11

California Alternate Assessment (CAA)