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How California tests changed and why CAASPP makes year-to-year comparisons tricky
Summary
District staff explained differences among STAR/CST, the high school exit exam and CAASPP, demonstrated how CAASPP's adaptive format and performance tasks differ from older tests, and showed why comparing scores across eras requires careful cohort definitions.
At the workshop, curriculum director Kelly Grigsby reviewed three distinct testing eras in California and explained why district staff avoid direct comparisons across them: the STAR/CST era tested by course, the high school exit exam carried individual consequences and was limited in scope, and the CAASPP assesses grade-11 students online with a computer-adaptive test and a lengthy performance task.
Grigsby said CAASPP’s two-part structure — a CAT and a performance task — makes the test both longer and more complex for students. "The math CAASPP is made up of 2 parts, the CAT and the PT," Grigsby said, explaining the CAT adjusts item difficulty in real time and the performance task requires multi-step real-world problem solving. Staff demonstrated released items and asked trustees to practice noticing and wondering to mirror classroom protocols.
Renee Farrell noted data gaps from the COVID years: CAASPP was not administered in 2020 and optional in 2021, so district graphs show missing years and require caution when interpreting trends. Board members pressed staff on which student cohorts are represented in older tests versus CAASPP; staff responded that some charts isolate 11th graders in particular courses to make the closest comparisons possible.
