Student Eligibility and Assessment Participation

General

Initial Alternate ELPAC: All students in kindergarten through grade twelve, through age twenty-one, whose primary language is a language other than English, as indicated on their HLS, and whose IEP has indicated the use of alternate assessments must take the Initial Alternate ELPAC to determine whether they are EL students. Per 5 CCR Section 11518.5, this must be done within 30 calendar days after they are first enrolled in a California public school or 60 calendar days prior to instruction, but not before July 1.

Summative Alternate ELPAC: Every student in kindergarten through grade twelve, through age twenty-one, whose IEP has indicated the use of alternate assessments and who has been identified as an EL must participate in the Summative Alternate ELPAC as required by state and federal law, California Education Code Section 313, and California Education Code Section 60810.

Participation for Both: To be counted as having participated and to receive an SSR, each student must be administered, at a minimum, one receptive item and one expressive item using the response options provided, or by the TE’s indicating Mark as No Response in the context menu. Details on the use of the “Mark as No Response” feature are included in the Using the Mark as No Response Feature subsection of this manual. The DFA also includes additional information on the “Mark as No Response” feature along with more information on the participation rules and how to distinguish the expressive and receptive items during testing. The TE may use the Response Options for Alternate Assessments flyer for guidance on various response options available when administering alternate assessments to students.

IEP teams should refer to the Alternate Assessment Decision-Making Tool for California to confirm decisions on student eligibility to participate in the CAAs and the Alternate ELPAC. Refer also to the CDE Alternate Assessment IEP Team Guidance web page for additional information about participation criteria. Finally, LEAs can refer to the Alternate ELPAC Participation and Scoring flyer for more information about student participation.

Nonpublic, Nonsectarian Schools

An LEA with students at an NPS is responsible for ensuring all eligible students at that NPS are tested. If the NPS uses preprinted picture cards sent by the LEA, the LEA ELPAC coordinator for the LEA that has assigned students to NPSs on the basis of IEP team recommendations will continue to be responsible for picture cards, ensuring they are destroyed securely.

Accessibility Resources

The computer-based platform of the ELPAC has provided a variety of innovative universal tools that are embedded in the TDS, as well as designated supports and accommodations to support all students, including those with special assessment needs. For more information about these accessibility resources, and to assist ELPAC users in implementing them, the following resources are available:

In addition, LEA ELPAC coordinators or site ELPAC coordinators can request unlisted resources, which are non-embedded supports that may be provided if specified in an eligible student’s IEP or Section 504 plan. Use will be granted only upon approval by the CDE. However, if the unlisted resource changes the construct of the assessment, the student will be given the LOSS.

Requests for unlisted resources may be submitted in TOMS via the [Students] navigation tab, [View & Edit] action tab, View & Edit Students screen, and then the [Unlisted Resources] tab. Requests must be made a minimum of 10 business days before the student’s first day of testing.

Finally, additional accessibility resources are available, such as eye gaze (refer to the Guidance on Using Eye Gaze as an Alternate Response Option web document and the CAASPP and ELPAC Accessibility Guide), optional individualization (additional information provided in the DFA and PFA), AAC devices, and picture cards. LEAs can also refer to the CDE ELPAC web page for more information.