The most recent information provided by the state is that students in grades 3 - 8 and 11 WILL be tested this year. The state is planning for testing to take place in a virtual environment.
What does this mean for you?
Well, no one is sure right now. I can honestly say that I have no idea what is going to transpire. However, I do believe that practicing for the state mandated testing would be beneficial to you and your students no matter what ends up happening.
Why bother practicing for standardized testing?
Because practice testing gives you information about how your student is mastering the grade level standards that are expected. This lets you know what standards your student might need extra help in mastering. How could that be a bad thing?
It also gives you, as a parent educator, practice in administering the tests. It allows you to troubleshoot technical difficulties, assist your student in understanding the types of questions that may be asked, and also allows you to assess your curriculum to see if it it truly addressing all grade level standards.
In order to support you in this endeavor, I will be setting up official practice tests over the next few weeks through the Caaspp system. You will need a computer, but you will not need a "secure browser" that was required in previous years. Keep looking at future Blog posts for more information.
Until then, you can access the Caaspp practice tests at: https://www.caaspp.org/practice-and-training/index.html. Click on "Student Interface Practice Training and Tests" and log in as a guest user and guest session. The challenge with these practice sessions is that they don't provide immediate scores, or hold your place in the testing. However, they are a good way to get an idea of what kind of questions will be asked.
Practice test scoring guide is available here: https://www.caaspp.org/ta-resources/practice-training.html
Please feel free to contact me with questions.
