• CAASPP Score Reports for 2023 are Being Released!

     

    We are excited to announce that CAASPP score reports are being provided by the state for all rising 4th- through 8th-grade students who took CAASPP and CAST tests in the spring of 2023 and will be available for families to access through the online Aeries Portal as they are released.

     

    Note: This is the same Aeries Portal that middle school families use to access the Gradebook and Progress Reports, that rising sixth grade families used to sign up for middle school electives, and where score reports for 2021-22 were available. There is a menu option for Test Scores and State Test Score Reports. Instructions for rising fourth grade families to access the portal are found below.

  • What is CAASPP?

    CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress) assessments are given across the state of California to students in 3rd through 8th grades, and 11th grades, in the spring of each school year. All students take the English-Language Arts and Math assessments; 5th and 8th grader students also take the Science assessment (CAST). 

     

    CAASPP Score Reports

    The CAASPP score reports provide an overall score and scale score for English-Language Arts and Math (and Science for 5th and 8th graders). The overall score for each test is provided as Standard Exceeded, Standard Met, Standard Nearly Met, or Standard Not Met. “Standard Met” and “Standard Exceeded” are the state targets for all students. Students are also provided a scale score; ranges of scaled scores correspond to the Standard Met, etc. overall scores.

     

    Due to the Covid pandemic, CAASPP tests were not administered in 2020 or 2021.  In 2021-22, the state of California administered a shortened CAASPP assessment for English-Language Arts and Math, and this shortened assessment was used again this year (2022-23). Due to the shortened nature of the assessment, there are no Area Performance sub-scores. Instead, students only received an overall score and scale score.

     

    Current Aeries Portal Users

    If you have a current MVMS student or a rising 5th- or 6th-grade student, and already have a parent portal account, your CAASPP score reports should be available in the Aeries portal. If you have a rising 4th-grade student and already have a portal account, your rising 4th-grade student should be automatically linked to your existing parent portal account. If you do not see your student in the CHANGE STUDENT menu in the Aeries Parent Portal, please try logging out and logging back in. You may also need to change school sites to their elementary school from the middle school. If that does not work, please contact aeriesportal@mvschools.org. 

     

    New Aeries Portal Users

    If this is your first time using the Aeries portal, use the instructions below to access your portal account. 

     

    1. Use the set-up email you will receive this week from aeriesportal@mvschools.org to access the Aeries Parent Portal. 

      If you do not receive an email, please go to the Portal Login page, enter your email, and click the Forgot Password link for a verification code to be generated and used as a temporary password - even if you did not receive a password via email. If the Forgot Password link does not generate an email from aeriesportal@mvschools.org, please check with your school office to ensure your email address is accurate in Aeries. Email aeriesportal@mvschools.org for additional support or if your school office is closed.

    2. Log in to your Aeries Parent Portal account. (Portal login page here.)

    3. Go to the TEST SCORES menu tab on the left. 
      Menu tabs are across the top in the “old” Aeries Portal - find TEST SCORES there if you do not see it on the left.

    4. Select STATE TEST SCORE REPORTS.

    5. Under CAASPP you will see a clickable button for any test score reports for which your student took the CAASPP assessments. Click on the button for ENGLISH next to 2023 to see your student’s score reports from the spring 2023 CAASPP administration.  If your home language is a language other than English, there may be an additional button for a score report in a language other than English. That is provided by the state of California. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide score reports in languages other than those available automatically in the Aeries Portal.

     

    Problem Solving

    If you have difficulty logging onto the Aeries Parent Portal, please email aeriesportal@mvschools.org for support.

     

    You can find additional information about the Aeries Parent Portal as well as a link to the portal login page at https://www.mvschools.org/aeriesportal, including information about what will be available via the portal when your student is a middle schooler. 
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  • General Information about CAASPP/Smarter Balanced Assessment

    Taking a Look at the Test

    If you are interested in taking a closer look at what the assessment looks like and the kinds of questions that your child will encounter, go to this link: Smarter Balanced Assessment Practice & Training Tests. Once there, click on the green Student Interface Practice and Training Test’ button, sign in as a guest, and select a grade. You will then be able select a test to take - Practice tests, training tests and performance tasks in English Language Arts, Math and Science (5th & 8th grade only), as well as Alternative Assessment practice tests and training tests

     

    Ongoing information about the Smarter Balanced Assessment will be shared with you in the upcoming weeks. Feel free to learn more by visiting http://www.smarterbalanced.org/

     

    What are the CAASPP/Smarter Balanced Assessments?

    This spring, Mill Valley School District will again be giving annual state standardized assessments to students in grades 3-8.  These will include California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Tests.  As a part of CAASPP, Smarter Balanced Assessments are computer-based tests that measure our students’ knowledge of Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics.  In addition to the Smarter Balanced Assessments, 5th and 8th grade students are also required to take the California Standards Test (CST) for Science.  Unlike the Smarter Balanced Assessment, these are paper-pencil, multiple-choice tests. 

     

    While assessments based on the new Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are being developed, our students will continue to be tested with the California Standards Test (CST) for Science.  As our teachers are transitioning their teaching practices to the new science standards, there may not be total alignment with the CST in Science, and this discrepancy may affect students’ CST scores.  This does not mean that our students are any less proficient in science than they used to be.  It simply means that teachers are transitioning to the more rigorous Next Generation Science Standards and may not cover all of the same content from the former state science standards.

     

    What are our beliefs about state standardized testing in Mill Valley School District?

    In Mill Valley, one of our core beliefs is to focus on the whole child.  State tests are only one measure of a student’s success in school.  CAASPP tests provide one snapshot of our students’ knowledge and skills.  We also refer to progress report grades, student work, tests and quizzes, contributions in the classroom, performances, along with other important tools to gauge our students’ progress.  We encourage you to keep these state tests in perspective of our overall goals for our students’ development.

     

    What do I need to know about the CAASPP/Smarter Balanced Assessments?

    ●      The computer-adaptive format of the Smarter Balanced Assessment adjusts the level of difficulty based upon a student’s responses.

    ●      There is a wide variety of question types, including short and long answer, multiple-choice, and highlighting parts of the text, among other kinds of questions.

    ●      Students are tasked with demonstrating critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and applying their knowledge and skills to real-world problems.

    ●      There are embedded supports for students with different needs.

    ●      These tests have a four-level scoring scale, which includes Standard Exceeded, Standard Met, Standard Nearly Met, and Standard Not Met. 

     

    To learn more about CAASPP testing, visit these sites: http://www.smarterbalanced.org/ and http://www.caaspp.org/.  If you have questions about CAASPP testing, please speak with the principal at your child’s school.

     

    Other Resources