Administration Information for the CSA

Overview of the Assessment

The CSA is a computer-based, nonadaptive, summative, grade-level assessment for students in grades three through eight and high school who are seeking a measure that recognizes their Spanish reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. The CSA is an optional assessment.

The CSA is aligned to the CCSS en Español, which were developed as a joint effort between the San Diego County Office of Education, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the CDE. The CCSS en Español are a translated and linguistically augmented version of the English-language CCSS for English Language Arts & Literacy.

Tests were developed for each grade level from three through eight and one test for all high school grade levels.

For the 2023–24 CSA administration, items supporting domain expansion activities will be field-tested. There will be a full-write item for the writing domain, which will be scored by ETS during this and future test administrations. There will also be CR items for the speaking domain, which will be scored by ETS during this field test and by the TA during operational testing (2024–25 and thereafter). It is recommended to administer the CSA over multiple sessions spanning several days.

Test Structure

The CSA is composed of three sections—the first section includes three survey questions, the second section assesses listening and speaking, and the third section assesses reading and writing. Once a segment has been completed, a student can no longer go back and change responses.

For speaking items that require students to provide a verbal response, students first listen to a passage and then record their response to the prompt. Students have the opportunity to listen to the passages as often as needed and then record their responses. Students can rerecord their responses as often as needed until they are satisfied with their answer and are ready to move on to the next item. This domain assessment is fully administered in a group setting; it is not necessary to administer the speaking domain in a separate setting.

For full-write, CR items, students read a passage and are asked to respond to a prompt. All of the writing tools, such as inserting accent marks, are available in the writing section of the test.

Testing Window

The CSA can be administered between January 9, 2024, or 66 percent of the LEA’s instructional days, whichever is later, and the final day of the LEA’s instructional calendar or June 28, 2024, whichever comes first.

Student Survey

The CSA includes a student survey at the beginning of the assessment. The student survey comprises the first three questions on each assessment asking student-specific demographic questions. The TA should guide students through this survey, as accuracy is paramount.

Survey data will be analyzed and summarized once all CAASPP testing windows have closed.

Questions

Each grade-level test will present the following three demographic-related questions regarding the student at the beginning of each test form. For the first survey question, students should indicate whether or not they received instruction in Spanish, inclusive of content area courses, in the previous school year.

  1. Did you receive instruction in Spanish in the current school year? ¿Recibiste educación en español durante el presente año escolar?
    • Yes (Sí)
    • No (No)
  2. Which program were you enrolled in? ¿En qué tipo de programa escolar estuviste matriculado/inscrito?
    • One-Way Immersion (Inmersión únicamente para hablantes de español)
    • Dual-Language Immersion (Inmersión para hablantes de español y de inglés)
    • Developmental Bilingual (Programas de desarrollo del idioma)
    • Heritage Language or Indigenous Language (Programas para hispanohablantes [hablantes de español])
    • Spanish as a foreign language (i.e., Spanish I, Spanish II, etc.) (Español como lengua extranjera [es decir, Español I, Español II, etc.])
    • None of the above (Ninguno de los anteriores)
  3. What percentage of your school day instruction was provided in Spanish? ¿Qué porcentaje de tu educación diaria recibíste en español?
    • 0–25%
    • 26–50%
    • 51–75%
    • 76–100%

TAs are responsible for knowing this information about the students in their test session prior to administering the assessment so they can guide students to input the appropriate responses for the questions at the time of testing.

Resources

Preparing for Administration

The PFA for the CSA contains nonsecure information. A TE can use the PFA to prepare for test administration.

Test Administration Scripts

Directions for CSA administration, including instructions on approving tests and the script that must be read prior to test administration, can be found in Scripts for Administering the California Spanish Assessment. These instructions are in Spanish and should be used when administering the CSA only. Using these instructions to administer a different assessment is a test security incident and must be reported in STAIRS.

Student Accessibility Resources

The complete list of embedded and non-embedded universal tools, designated supports, and accommodations available for the CSA can be found in the CDE California Assessment Accessibility Resources Matrix. This document provides information for classroom teachers, English language development educators, special education teachers, and instructional assistants to use in assigning the appropriate accessibility resources to students.

Tests will include embedded and non-embedded universal tools, designated supports, and accommodations.

Practice and Training Tests

Practice and training tests for the CSA are linked on the CAASPP Online Practice and Training Tests web page. Practice tests can be accessed either through the secure browser or through a standard internet browser. There is one practice test for each of grades three through eight and one for all high school grade levels.

Scoring guides in English and Spanish are available on the Online Practice Test Scoring Guides, Preparing for Administration (PFAs), and Directions for Administration (DFAs) web page.