Assessment of our students and schools in the St. Helena School District is ongoing and multifaceted. We use multiple measures throughout the school year to keep current with each student's achievements and needs.

• Some of our reports and assessments are state and nationwide, and these help us to measure how our students are doing in relation to their peers in other towns, counties and states. These include the SARC, CAASSP and ELPAC.
• Local assessments include NWEA MAP Growth district benchmark testing, SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory) and formative classroom assessments.  

Various components of our assessment system are described below: 

California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP)

Smarter Balanced Assessments - 

Students in grades three through eight and grade eleven will take the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments for English language arts/literacy (ELA) and mathematics. These assessments are administered online. A student may be exempted from taking the Smarter Balanced assessments in the following three situations:

1. The student is taking the CAAs.
2. The student has been designated as an English learner and is within his or her first 12 months of enrollment in a U.S. school as of April 15 of the previous year. (This exemption applies only to the ELA portion of the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment.)
3. The parent has expressed in writing that his or her student should be excluded from taking the summative assessments.

California Science Test -

The CAST can be administered beginning January 8, 2019. These assessments are to be administered to all students in grades five and eight and once to each student while that student is in high school. All students must take the science assessment by the end of grade twelve, but have the option of testing in grade ten or grade eleven. Students assigned to take an alternate assessment should take the CAA for Science.

California Science Assessment - 

The CSA is intended for Spanish-speaking students in grades three through eight and high school to measure competency in Spanish language arts to provide student-level data in Spanish competency and to provide high school students with a measure suitable to be used, in part, for the State Seal of Biliteracy. These are optional tests that can be administered online.

California Alternate Assessments - 

The CAAs for ELA and mathematics in grades three through eight and grade eleven are individually administered to students who have an individualized education program that indicates the use of an alternate assessment on statewide assessments. All eligible students are required to participate in these online assessments.

The CAA for Science field test can be administered beginning January 8, 2019. These assessments are to be administered to eligible students in grades five and eight and once to each eligible student while that student is in high school. All students must take the science assessment by the end of grade twelve, but have the option of testing in grade ten or grade eleven. Only eligible students may participate in the administration of the CAAs.

For more information on the CAASPP assessments, please visit www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca.

English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) 

The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) is the successor to the California English Language Development Test (CELDT). Beginning in 2017–18, the ELPAC is the required state test for English language proficiency (ELP) that must be given to students whose primary language is a language other than English. 

State and federal law require that local educational agencies administer a state test of ELP to eligible students in kindergarten through grade twelve. The ELPAC is aligned with California’s 2012 English Language Development Standards, and is comprised of two separate ELP assessments:

1. Initial ELPAC—an initial identification of students as English learners
2. Summative ELPAC—an annual summative assessment to measure an English learner's progress in learning English and to identify the student's ELP level.

https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/documents/elpacpgtu.pdf (English)

https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/documents/pgtu-summelpac-sp.pdf (Spanish)