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ELPAC Updates
Certification in Moodle
LEA ELPAC Coordinators must complete certification training in Moodle for the Initial ELPAC and the Initial Alternate ELPAC so they can begin conducting trainings for test examiners in their LEAs prior to administration. New this year: Superintendents will be contacted for LEAs that have not completed the LEA certification course requirements.
For the Initial ELPAC, new and experienced test examiners must calibrate annually for the grade levels and grade spans for Speaking and Writing tests they are administering and scoring. For the Alternate ELPAC, there is a single Alternate ELPAC Test Examiner Certification course that covers both the Initial Alternate ELPAC and Summative Alternate ELPAC. The Alternate ELPAC—Test Examiner Certification course allows test examiners to administer both assessments until the new certification course's annual launch in early November. When the course is released on November 1, all test examiners must recertify prior to any administration of either the Initial Alternate ELPAC or the Summative Alternate ELPAC. This one-pager is a helpful summary of the training requirement information. It is highly recommended that current LEA staff members watch the new Introduction to the Initial Alternate ELPAC video available in Moodle.
Initial Alternate ELPAC and Alternate Assessment Decision Making Tool
In order to determine a student's eligibility for the Initial Alternate ELPAC, the IEP team must determine that alternate assessments as the most appropriate. This often times occurs in a transition IEP when a student transitions from a state preschool program to a public school transitional kindergarten or kindergarten program. If no IEP is in place, LEAs must administer the Initial ELPAC to students with the appropriate designated supports and universal tools. Once an IEP is in place and if the IEP team determines that alternate assessments are most appropriate, the student can then take the Summative Alternate ELPAC during the spring administration window.
The new Alternate Assessment Decision Making Tool for California assists IEP teams in determining the right assessments for each student. The Alternate Assessment Decision-Making worksheet is designed to guide and support IEP teams with a step-by-step process to determine whether the alternate assessments are the most appropriate for an individual student with the most significant cognitive disabilities.
As a reminder, LEAs must provide parents with notification that outlines their child’s identification as an EL and placement in a language instruction program. The 30-calendar day window for notification is a federal requirement and must be provided no later than 30 calendar days after the beginning of the school year or within the first two weeks of placement for ELs identified during the school year.
ELPAC Interim Assessments
Beginning 9/19/23, the ELPAC Interim Assessments will be available in the Interim Assessment Viewing System and at that same time, answer keys and hand scoring materials will become available in TOMS. Even though the Viewing System does not log responses or generate results, it provides preview access to full forms, appearing just as they will in the Test Delivery System. The answer keys will include static images of each item, the correct answer for each item, and metadata such as the associated standard or performance expectation for each item. The hand scoring materials will consist of scoring rubrics, anchor sets, and check sets for teachers to get familiar with the criteria for each available score point. There will be 1 month of preview access to the new interim assessments and supporting materials.
Beginning 10/19/23, the new interim assessments will be fully available to administer via the Test Delivery System. At that same time, individual and aggregate scores will be available in the California Educator Reporting System (CERS), as well as performance levels, custom aggregate reports, and key and distractor analyses. In late January 2024, all items and student responses will be viewable in CERS, just as they are currently for the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessment items. July 2024 is when the Individual Student Reports should be available in CERS.
It is important to note that California Education Code Section 60642.7(b) prohibited results from the interim assessments to be used for high-stakes purposes, including, but not limited to teacher or other school staff evaluation, accountability, pupil grade promotion or retention, graduation, course or class placement, identification for gifted or talented education, reclassification of English learners, or identification as an individual with exceptional needs.
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