Available Resources for the California Alternate Assessment for Science
The following resources are designed for classroom educators to support their understanding of the California Alternate Assessment (CAA) for Science. Additional resources are provided for site administrators to use when communicating to parents/ guardians about the assessments.
Fact Sheet
Answers general questions about various aspects and objectives of the CAA for Science
https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/documents/caascifactsheet.pdf
Training Performance Task
Opportunities to become familiar with the types of test questions that may appear on the CAA for Science:
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Provides direct access to the online training performance task, which is available for students in grades five and eight and high school; this sample embedded performance task assesses a Life Sciences Connector from grade five and a Physical Sciences Connector from grade eight
http://www.caaspp.org/practice-and-training/index.html -
How to Start a Training Test
Step-by-step instructions for how to access and start a training test
https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/documents/qrgstarttrainingtest.pdf
Parent Guide to Understanding
Designed for parents/guardians to address basic questions, such as who takes the assessments, why, when, and how; can be shared during back to school night, at teacher conferences, with the letter that notifies parents/guardians that their child will be taking yearly assessments, or with the annual Student Score Reports
https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/documents/pgtu-caa.pdf
How to Start a Test Session
Step-by-step instructions for how to access and start a test session
https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/documents/qrgstarttestsession.pdf
High School Test Administration
Provides guidance for determining when high school students must take the CAA for Science
https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/documents/sciencetestadminhs.pdf
For Site Administrators
Talking About the CAA
Series of PowerPoint templates for site administrators to use when talking about the CAA
- Talking to Parents
https://www.caaspp.org/rsc/pdfs/talkingparentscaa.pptx - Talking to Educators
https://www.caaspp.org/rsc/pdfs/talkeducatorscaa.pptx
Parent Notification Letters
Sample letter templates to serve as notice to parents/guardians of the yearly statewide assessment and when sharing information about student scores
- Notice of Administration
https://www.caaspp.org/administration/parent-notification.html
CAA for Science Administration Planning Guides
Provide the basic steps to administering the assessment and inform teachers and test examiners about the two science connectors aligned with each performance task; also provide a schedule planner template to assist in planning test administration
http://www.caaspp.org/administration/about/caa/index.html
Organization of the CAA for Science
Last Reviewed: September 20, 2022