Assessment and Accountability
Please click the assessment name below for more information.
CAASPP
CAASPP
The California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, or CAASPP, is the state academic testing program that includes the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) tests in English Language Arts and Mathematics and the California Science Test (CAST).
CAASPP is a system intended to provide information that can be used to monitor student progress and ensure that all students leave high school ready for college and career.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment System utilizes computer based tests and performance tasks that allow students to show what they know and are able to do. It is based on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English language arts/literacy (ELA) and Mathematics and has three components designed to support teaching and learning throughout the year: the summative assessments, the interim assessments, and the Digital Library of formative assessment tools.
Our Spring 2024 assessments will be given as follows:
- BHHS: April 11th through April 26th
- BVMS: April 29th through May 17th
- HAW: April 15th through May 17th
- HM: April 23rd through May 17th
ELA and Math: Grades 3-8 and 11
Science: Grades 5, 8, 10 and 12
More information can be found here: https://ca.startingsmarter.org/
Practice and Training Tests can be found here, select student portal: http://www.caaspp.org/practice-and-training/index.html
2020-21 (& Forward), 2019-20 (& Previous) CAASPP Scale Score Ranges
ELPAC
ELPAC
The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California, or ELPAC, is California's assessment system that is used to determine the English language proficiency of students whose primary language is not English.
Upon registration, parents will be asked to complete the Home Language Survey. If you respond with a language other than English to any of the first 3 questions, your child will be given the Initial ELPAC at their school.
The purpose of the Initial ELPAC is to determine the English proficiency of students entering California for the first time. Identifying students who need help learning English is important so students get the extra help they need to do well in school while receiving instruction in all school subjects.
More information can be found here:
https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/documents/elpacpgtu.pdf
OLSAT
OLSAT
The Otis-Lennon Ability School Test, or OLSAT, is the online evaluation given to determine whether or not a student qualifies for the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program.
The OLSAT is a multiple-choice assessment comprised of verbal and nonverbal sections The verbal section contains verbal comprehension and verbal reasoning questions while the nonverbal section contains different types of pictorial reasoning, figural reasoning and quantitative reasoning questions.
All students in 3rd grade are assessed in the spring, typically during the month of March. Please contact your school's assistant principal for information on testing for students in the 4th-8th grades.
More information can be found here: https://www.pearsonassessments.com/content/dam/school/global/clinical/us/assets/olsat8/olsat8-overview-brochure.pdf
SAT & PSAT
College Board Suite of Assessments
- Freshman attending BHHS will take the PSAT 8/9 on October 23rd
- Sophomores attending BHHS will take the PSAT 10 on March 5th
- Juniors attending BHHS will take the PSAT/NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) on October 23rd and the official SAT on March 5th.
Both the fall and spring School Day administrations are funded by the District.
Students can create an account and view their scores on College Board's online score reporting portal found here: https://studentscores.collegeboard.org/home
ACT
ACT
Free ACT practice exams are offered throughout the school year via the BHHS College and Career Center.
Most colleges accept the SAT or the ACT, so students do not need to take both exams. The best way to determine which test students should focus on (SAT or ACT) is to take a full-length practice test. This will provide students a comparison of scores, as well as their experience with each testing platform.
Keep in mind that many colleges and universities, including the UC schools, require the optional Writing section.
AP® (Advanced Placement)
Research consistently shows that AP students are better prepared for college than students who don't take AP, regardless of their exam score. They're more likely to enroll and stay in college, do well in their classes, and graduate in four years.
There are 38 AP courses in disciplines such as the arts, English, history, social science, math and computer science, the sciences, and world language and culture. You should choose an AP course based on what subjects you're passionate about as well as what classes you do well in.
Taking AP courses in high school can help you:
- Get a taste of college
- Develop college skills
- Discover your passion
- Boost your GPA
Taking AP courses and exams in high school could give you an advantage in college by letting you:
- Earn college credit and placement
- Stand out to colleges
- Save money and time
- Keep your options open
For more information visit https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/what-is-ap
AP Exams are May 5-16, 2025
i-Ready
What is i-Ready?
i-Ready is an online program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform instruction.
The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions based on student responses. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning.
i-Ready Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual strengths and areas for growth. These lessons are interactive and provide strategic supports to keep your child engaged as they learn.
For a brief family overview of i-Ready, please watch this short video: Introducing i-Ready for Families
What can I do to help?
To help prepare your child for the i-Ready Diagnostic, encourage them to:
- Get a good night's sleep and eat a full breakfast the day of the assessment.
- Try their best on each question and try not to rush.
- Try not to worry about questions they do not know - remind them that it is expected they will get only about half of the questions correct.
- Be respectful of other students who take longer to finish.
To support your child’s learning with online lessons, you can:
- Discuss your child's progress on their i-Ready lessons.
- Celebrate your child's learning and growth.
- If your teacher encourages them to use i-Ready lessons at home, reference these Fridge Tips to provide support.
i-Ready Suggestions:
- Communication Templates- here you’ll find a number of pre-drafted communications that our team has approved for use if you wanted to pull information from the templates. There are a number of communications overviewing components of i-Ready, including the Diagnostic and Personalized Instruction, that you may find helpful.
- Family Video- this video could be a helpful resource for families in understanding i-Ready.
- Social Media Kit- this is designed more so for posting on social media, however, you can utilize these resources as well if you would like to share any on your website.
NWEA MAP Growth
RIT Scores
MAP Growth uses the RIT (Rasch Unit) scale to help you measure and compare academic achievement and growth. Specifically, the scale measures levels in academic difficulty. The RIT scale extends equally across all grades, making it possible to compare a student's score at various points throughout their education.
What does a specific RIT score mean? A RIT score represents the level where a student is just as likely to answer items at a particular RIT score incorrectly as they would answer them correctly.
Relation to Standards
In addition to RIT scores, MAP Growth provides specific learning statements showing the content associated with each RIT band. Those learning statements are directly aligned to your state standards.
As standards change, NWEA makes new alignments so that RIT scores and learning statements still maintain the same meaning in terms of academic difficulty. Those changes result in new test versions, but the new versions will not significantly impact student scores, growth measurements, nor the ranking against NWEA norms.
However, it is possible that the introduction of new standards into MAP tests impact the Instructional Areas (or "goal areas") that appear on MAP reports. For this reason, the best practice is to adopt new tests at the start of your academic year, not mid-year.
Relation to Instruction
You can use MAP Growth to inform unit planning along with high-quality formative assessment to inform daily instruction and identify the most important learning needs and maximize growth for all students. For more information, see Instructional Resources.