Volume IV, Issue 20, August 2015
A Publication of the California Department of Education
CCSS Update
New Resources
Week of Inspirational Math
Youcubed, a project of the Stanford Graduate School of Education, has developed aWeek of Inspirational Math, designed for teachers to use the first week of school to inspire positive math mindsets in their students. Each lesson is aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Standards for Mathematical Practice, can be adapted for several grade levels, and includes a video and surveys for teachers, students, and parents. Teachers can also discuss each lesson with each other on a discussion board.
Understanding the CAASPP Student Reports
Guides for helping parents and guardians interpret the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) student score reports can be found on the CDE Understanding the CAASPP Student Score Reports Web page.These student score report guides will soon be available in the following languages: Spanish, Vietnamese, simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Eastern Armenian, Korean, Tagalog, Hmong, Russian, and Punjabi.
2015–16 Interim Assessments Now Available
The Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments are now available for the 2015–16 school year. Other than the replacement of the grade eight English language arts performance task (because of copyright restrictions), no substantive changes have been made to the content of the interim assessments. Two key enhancements have been made, however, to the interim assessment delivery system:
LEAs may administer the interim comprehensive assessments (ICAs) up to three times per student, and the interim assessment blocks (IABs) may be administered an unlimited number of times. This is an increase from the limit of two opportunities that was in place for the ICAs and IABs during the 2014–15 school year.
LEAs may administer interim assessments for any grade level to any student. This is a change from the restricted availability of the interim assessments that was in place during the 2014–15 school year (i.e., availability at enrolled grade level, one grade level below enrolled grade, and one grade level above enrolled grade).
Further enhancements to the test delivery system are expected to be deployed this fall. Instructions for administering the interim assessments are available in the Administration of the Online Interim Tests Resource Guide.
If you find these updates and resources helpful, please consider forwarding this message to others who might benefit from receiving more information about CCSS implementation in California. Anyone can join by simply sending a blank e-mail message to .
CCSS Update from CDE
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