Greetings Kent Community,

This spring we administer the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) at Kent for the first time since 2019. This statewide assessment tool is implemented to monitor our students’ progress in English Language Arts and Mathematics each year, and will give parents/guardians important insights into your child’s areas of strength and challenge. The CAASPP also provides our school with important information about our overall instructional strengths and areas for improvement.

CAASPP testing begins at Kent next week, and we want to support your child to be comfortable and confident while showing us what they know and are able to do on these important standardized tests. Please see the notes below to help anticipate what to expect with CAASPP testing at Kent starting next week, and to help prepare your child for successful test sessions.

• Linked here is the testing schedule for Kent. Please note that students will be taking the assessment in their regularly scheduled English classes the week of May 2, and their regularly scheduled math classes the week of May 9.
• The entire CAASPP assessment is computer based and includes two parts within each subject assessed, the Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) and the Performance Task (PT). The CAT includes short answer multiple choice, fill in the blank, and brief responses on each subject area, with the testing system adjusting stimuli based on how each student responds. The PT includes only a few prompts, though is intended to take a similar amount of time as the CAT, with more open-ended writing and problem solving scenarios presented to students.
• All parts of the CAASPP test are untimed, and students will be provided with as much time as they need to complete the assessment. At the end of each testing period, students will pause the test where they are, and resume the next day. If students do not finish during the time allotted, we will have make-up sessions offered the week of May 16.
• During advisory this week, we will be reviewing the testing schedule and discussing how to set up for success on the CAASPP this year at Kent. We will also be watching this video that explains how to access universal tools designed to help students while they are taking the assessment.
• Testing sessions will be occurring during regularly scheduled English and Math classes, meaning that testing time will happen at different times each day for your child depending on the day of the week. Please ensure that your child gets a good night’s sleep each night, eats a nutritious breakfast, and has a plan for access to nutritious food during the school day, including school lunch.
• 5th and 8th graders will be taking the California Science Test (CAST) the week of May 23, in nest class in 5th grade and in science class in 8th grade. The CAST is presented in an identical format to the CAASPP.

If you have any questions about your child’s testing experience or if you need to exempt your child from CAASPP testing this year, please contact our school site testing coordinator and assistant principal, Wendy Holmes (wholmes@kentfieldschools.org) or me (galthouse@kentfieldschools.org). We look forward to supporting our Falcons in their successful completion of their 2022 CAASPP assessment.

All my best,