Grade Two Diagnostic Assessments
Information about the optional diagnostic assessments for students in grade two for English-language arts and mathematics that meet the requirements of California Education Code, Section 60644.With the sunset of the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program, the requirement that students in grade two participate in the summative assessment was eliminated. To ensure that teachers have information about the developing language arts and computational skills of their grade two students, California Education Code (EC) Section 60644
requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to gather information regarding existing diagnostic assessments, evaluate that information to ensure that the legal requirements and other criteria are met, and to make the information available to local educational agencies (LEAs).
The “Request for Information Timeline of Activities” table below summarizes activities undertaken by the CDE to meet the requirements of EC Section 60644, beginning with an online survey of LEAs. The online survey included questions about the specific diagnostic assessments currently used by classroom teachers for mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA) in grade two and the features that teachers find useful in supporting classroom instruction and informing educational decisions. Over 1,100 respondents completed the online survey and the results of the survey were used to develop the submission requirements for the Request for Information (RFI), which may be found on the CDE Grade Two Diagnostic Assessments RFI Web page.
Request for Information Timeline of Activities
Activity |
Date |
|---|---|
Online survey of current grade two diagnostic tests in ELA and mathematics |
May 29–June 10, 2014 |
RFI released |
August 25, 2014 |
Intent to Submit form due |
August 28, 2014 |
Deadline to submit questions |
September 3, 2014 |
Responses to questions posted |
September 8, 2014 |
Submissions due |
September 22, 2014 |
Review of submissions |
September 23 – October 16, 2014 |
Post list of diagnostic assessments that meet established criteria on the CDE Web page |
October 31, 2014 (Tentative) |
A set of four tables, for both ELA and mathematics, summarize the results from the review. Tables 1 and 2 provide the list of the grade two diagnostic assessments that met the review criteria for alignment with the Common Core State Standards in ELA or mathematics, validity and reliability, and appropriateness for intended use as required by EC Section 60644 for each subject. Tables 3 and 4 provide additional information about the administration and scoring and reporting of the assessments that may be of interest to educators. The information in Tables 3 and 4 may be subject to change and may be further explored with the test publishers.
Per EC Section 60644, the cost savings realized from the elimination of the grade two assessments shall be used by LEAs to administer the grade two diagnostic assessments identified through this RFI process. Per California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 862(a)(8), beginning in 2014–15, LEAs will be required to report to the CDE the number of students in grade two who are administered a diagnostic assessment pursuant to EC Section 60644. This information will only be used to determine apportionment funding as set by the State Board of Education annually. All costs associated with the use of any diagnostic assessment will be the responsibility of the LEA. Additionally, LEAs will be required to contract for those services directly with the identified test provider, not with the CDE.