Reporting Overall Performance on CAST

CAST Interim Assessments

A scale score and an achievement level are provided for each student. Those achievement levels describe how student performance relates to standards of student performance provided in the Standard Setting Technical Report for the California Science Test (CAST). A student is assigned to one of the three achievement levels:

1. Below Standard: The assessment results indicate that the student has not yet displayed sufficient evidence of understanding the standards measured by this test.
2. Near Standard: The assessment results may be just above, at, or just below the achievement level which indicates the student has met the standard for their grade level.
3. Above Standard: The assessment results indicate that the student understands and can apply subject-area knowledge to the standards measured in this test.

Student achievement levels are assigned on the basis of scale scores. Each CAST Interim Assessment form has its own scale score range. Scale scores provide a common reference between test administrations. The achievement levels should be understood as representing approximations of levels at which students demonstrate mastery of a set of concepts and skills as well as the concepts and skills associated with the scale scores just above and below the score received. An achievement level should be understood as a general band of performance.

• For middle school and high school interim assessments, the scale cut scores for the reporting categories were the same as those for the domain performance levels (referred to as the domain scale cut scores) in the summative assessment. The domain scale cut scores were established in the 2018–19 test administration on the basis of the level 3 cut scores from the standard setting, and then reevaluated using the 2021–22 test administration data because of the revised test blueprint and the significant increase in item information. Detailed information about the standard setting study and the reevaluation study can be found in the Standard Setting Technical Report for the California Science Test and California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress California Science Test 2021–22 Technical Report.
• The CAST Interim Assessments for grades three, four, and five were built by grade level instead of by domains. As a result, the grade five domain scale cut scores from the summative assessments do not apply to these grade levels. The scale score ranges for the reporting categories for grades three, four, and five were calculated using a method analogous to how the domain scale cut scores were established on the basis of simulated student data.

The minimum and maximum scale scores for each achievement level vary for interim assessment forms. The scale score ranges and achievement levels for form I and form II are presented in table 1 and table 2.

Note the following abbreviations for table 1 and table 2:

• MS = middle school
• HS = high school
• ESS = Earth and Space Sciences
• LS = Life Sciences
• PS = Physical Sciences

CAST Summative Assessments

A scale score and an achievement level are provided for each student. Those achievement levels describe how student performance relates to standards of student performance established in the Standard Setting Technical Report for the California Science Test.

The ranges of the reporting scale scores are 150–250, 350–450, and 550–650 for grade five, grade eight, and high school, respectively.

A student is assigned to one of four overall achievement levels:

• Level 1—Minimal: The assessment results indicate that the student has not yet demonstrated sufficient understanding of the standards measured by this test.
• Level 2—Developing: The assessment results indicate that the student has partially met the grade-level standard and demonstrates some understanding of the knowledge and skills measured by this test.
• Level 3—Proficient: The assessment results indicate that the student has met the grade-level standard and demonstrates adequate understanding and application of the knowledge and skills measured by this test.
• Level 4—Advanced: The assessment results indicate that the student has exceeded the grade-level standard and demonstrates advanced understanding and application of the knowledge and skills measured by this test.

Student achievement levels are assigned on the basis of scale scores. The CAST summative assessment uses a common vertical reporting scale to allow results to be compared across grade levels and test administration years. The achievement levels represent ranges of performance that correspond to varying degrees of mastery of the California Next Generation Science Standards. Each range should be understood as a general band of performance rather than an exact cut point.

The overall achievement levels are categorical labels associated with specific scale score ranges. These ranges vary by grade level and are presented in the California Science Test subsection of Appendix A: Scale Score Ranges in the Scoring and Reporting Guide. Achievement levels were established during the standard setting study conducted in 2018–19 and reviewed in subsequent years to confirm stability of the scale cut scores as item banks and blueprints evolved. More information about achievement level descriptors and scale score ranges can be found in the “Scores and Results Reporting” section of the California Department of Education California Science Test web page and in the California Science Test 2024–25 Technical Report.

The minimum and maximum scale scores for each overall achievement level vary by grade level or the high school grade band. The scale score ranges for the CAST summative assessment are presented in table 3.

In addition to overall achievement levels, domain performance levels are reported for Earth and Space Sciences, Life Sciences, and Physical Sciences when students respond to the minimum number of items required in each domain. These domain levels describe performance on groups of items representing the integration of science and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts:

• Earth and Space Sciences: Focus on Earth’s place in the universe, Earth’s systems, and Earth and human activity
• Life Sciences: Focus on structures and processes in living things, ecosystems, heredity, and biological evolution
• Physical Sciences: Focus on matter and its interactions, motion and stability, energy, and waves and their applications

Because domain performance levels are based on a smaller number of items, there is a greater likelihood of classification error. For this reason, domain performance is reported using only three levels:

1. Above Proficient
2. At or Near Proficient
3. Below Proficient

Table 4 through table 6 provide the adjusted domain scale cut scores.