Smarter Balanced and CAST Results Available Beginning May 20

CAASPP email update, May 17, 2024.

Dear LEA CAASPP Coordinator:

Thank you for your continued dedication and hard work in completing this year. Because of your efforts, ETS has a sufficient number of completed tests to conduct quality control processes and begin releasing test results for the following assessments:

• Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments for English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics
• California Science Test (CAST)

Results will be available starting on the following dates:

• May 20, 2024:
• Student Score Data Files in the Test Operations Management System (TOMS)
• Results in the California Educator Reporting System (CERS)
• May 21, 2024:
• Student Score Reports (SSRs) in TOMS and in the LEA student information system (SIS) vendor parent or student portal

Not all results for an LEA may be included in this first set of results. The data files and additional SSRs will continue to be released every weekday as more tests are scored and ready for reporting.

TOMS

Authorized users may go through TOMS to find student results and other metrics, such as reporting percentages and score status.

• The MyTOMS at a Glance Student SSR Status widget on the TOMS home page shows the percentage and number of SSRs released for the LEA.
• The [Score Status] tab of a student's profile in TOMS allows the user to access score status information for an individual student by content area and includes the following details:
  • Score availability date
  • Condition code(s)
  • 2023–24 Security and Test Administration Incident Reporting System Appeals
• The [Reporting] tab of a student's profile in TOMS allows the user to access reporting information for an individual student and includes the following details:
  • Date the SSR was made available
  • Reporting language of the student's SSR
  • A link to download the PDF SSR in English or another language (when available)
  • A link to view the HTML SSRs in English or another language (when available)

Student Score Reports

Users can access and download PDF SSRs individually or as one large file. The following resources contain instructions:

• Downloading and Viewing SSRs in TOMS video
• How to Bulk Download Student Score Reports quick reference guide

CAASPP PDF SSRs can be provided to parents/guardians electronically through a locally provided parent or student portal or through another secure method of local distribution. Before the LEA can distribute SSRs through a parent portal, the LEA must complete the SIS credentialing process in TOMS. Contact the portal provider for instructions on how parents/guardians can access SSRs within the portal.

LEAs should have a process in place for emails that bounce back to ensure that parents/guardians receive their child's SSR. LEAs must make CAASPP SSRs available to parents/guardians within 20 working days of the LEA's receipt of the CAASPP SSRs in TOMS. If the LEA receives the SSRs after the last day of instruction for the school year, the LEA shall make SSRs available to parents/guardians no later than the first 20 working days of the next school year.

For more information about electronic SSRs, refer to the CAASPP Options for Distributing SSRs topic of the CAASPP and ELPAC Scoring and Reporting Guide .

SSRs can also be printed locally. LEAs planning to mail SSRs to parents/guardians should ensure the mailing address is correct and up-to-date.

Starting this year, parents/guardians can receive HTML SSRs through the parent portal for LEAs whose portal provider is set up to receive this file format. Please ask your portal provider to implement HTML SSRs if your LEA is interested in receiving this format.

New Student Score Report Design

SSRs have undergone a redesign and will combine summative ELA, mathematics, and science results into a single PDF SSR for grades five, eight, and eleven. SSRs in the new HTML format are not combined. Improved results comparisons, more detailed ELA and mathematics results information, and Lexile® and Quantile® measures will be included in the newly redesigned SSRs. For more details, refer to the Key Messages About the 2023–24 Redesigned Student Score Reports resource and the SSR Redesign Benefits Flyer.

Note that students who are registered for ELA, mathematics, and science will not receive their SSRs until they have tested in all three content areas, or the end of the LEA testing window.

Student Score Data Files

LEAs will be able to download the student data file in two report types: By enrolled LEA and by tested LEA.

• The enrolled LEA file will contain data on students who were enrolled in your LEA, in CALPADS, as of the date of the file.
• The tested LEA file will contain data on students who tested with your LEA during the 2023–24 school year.

LEAs can use the Score Available Start Date and Score Available End Date filters to download a subset of the data based on the student's score availability date.

The student data files will include only scores for the computer-based Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments for ELA and mathematics and CAST until the other assessments are ready to report. The student data file will not contain student scores for the California Alternate Assessments (CAAs) for ELA, mathematics, and science nor for the California Spanish Assessment (CSA), as these will be made available in September.

On May 20, the 2023–24 CAASPP Student Data File Layout will be available on the CAASPP Score Reporting web page and in TOMS when users select the CAASPP Student Score Data File from the Available Reports list. The student data file layout includes field descriptions, acceptable values for fields, and data sources.

Follow the steps outlined in the CAASPP Student Score Data File Report subtopic of the TOMS User Guide to access the CAASPP Student Score Data File in TOMS. Please note that the LEA's score data file will be available in Excel format.

If your SIS does not currently have the Student Score Data File Layout, provide the file layout to your SIS vendor.

CERS

CERS houses student results as well as aggregated results at the group, school, and LEA levels. Prior to the release of all student results in the fall, the aggregated results available in CERS are partial and may not represent the LEA's final aggregated results. However, you know your tested student population. If the partial aggregate results are representative of your tested population, they may be shared with your local governing board and LEA staff for purposes of local planning.

• LEA users can access CERS using a TOMS user account. Once in CERS, the user can search for results by student, school, or assigned groups from the "Access Assessment Results" section of the CERS home page, depending on the user's role. The following actions are available in CERS:
• To download a file containing student results, an LEA user can select the [Custom Aggregate Report] button and customize a yearly or longitudinal report for an LEA or school.
• Starting this year, composite claim results for individual students will be reported for the Smarter Balanced for ELA and mathematics assessments in CERS and on Individual Student Reports.
• Target reports are available in CERS for Smarter Balanced summative assessments. Results for targets with more than 10 items in the total item pool will be reported for groups of 30 students or more.
• To export a CSV file containing all LEA or school assessment results that can be used for analysis in another application, an LEA user can also select the [District/School Exports] button.

For more information, refer to the CERS User Guide . Refer to the Creating Groups in the California Educator Reporting System (CERS) video for a demonstration of how to create groups to allow specific users access to assigned student results.

Status of Student Score Reports for the Alternate Assessments and California Spanish Assessment

The analysis and scoring processes for the CAAs for ELA, mathematics, and science and the CSA are still underway. SSRs for the CAAs and the CSA are expected to be available in September 2024.

Please direct any questions about CAASPP reporting for the 2023–24 test administration to your LEA's assigned Success Agent . Visit the California Outreach web page for other support options.