State Testing Update

May 4th, 2021

Dear Grove Families,

We want to thank you for your continued patience and support as we adapt our school practices and procedures to meet the challenges of the past year.  We appreciate that parents, students, and staff continue to support The Grove School through the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As you may know, schools regularly administer standardized testing to measure student achievement and to understand the effectiveness of teaching techniques.  On March 16, 2021, the California State Board of Education (SBE) took action to move forward with administering the Smarter Balanced California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) to students in grades 7, 8, and 11.  However, at the same time, the SBE acknowledged with great sensitivity the additional stress that annual assessments can place on teachers and students, understanding that some districts will not be able to administer the CAASPP because of the pandemic.

Grove parents/guardians are more engaged than ever before in their student’s learning and progress. Therefore, it is important that I share with you the most up to date information.

Administration of the CAASPP assessment is not a viable option due to substantial number of students still receiving instruction through Distance Learning, widespread inconsistent or unreliable broadband access, the significant number of unmanaged devices students are using at home, and the disproportionate impact a CAASPP administration would create on instructional time.

Therefore, The Grove School will administer the UC/CSU Math Mathematics Diagnostic Placements Test (MDTP) and Renaissance STAR reading assessment. Parents/guardians will receive their student’s MDTP and STAR score reports from the 2020-21 Spring administration on or before June 10th, 2021.  These tests will be less burdensome to administer and will assist us in recognizing student progress and curriculum effectiveness.

Sincerely,

Andrew Christopherson

Head of School