Introduction to the Interim Assessments

The interim assessments are computer-based assessments that provide educators with important information to guide instruction and support student learning. Smarter Balanced for ELA and mathematics, CAST, and ELPAC interim assessments are now available to improve teaching and learning in the classroom.

Please note that the ELPAC Writing interim assessments for kindergarten, grade one, and grade two require students to hand write responses on a provided response sheet included in the DFA located within TOMS. Then, educators enter the scores for each response into the Data Entry Interface.

All Interim Assessments

LEAs have the flexibility to administer any interim assessment to any student, regardless of the student’s enrolled grade level.

Interim assessment results are generally available in CERS within 20 minutes after all scoring—including hand scoring—has been completed.

  • A minimal delay may occur when there are high testing volumes during the summative testing window and when responses are flagged during quality assurance checks.
  • If an interim assessment requires hand scoring, then the hand scoring must be completed and submitted before student results will be generated in CERS.
  • Hand scoring of interim assessments is the responsibility of the school or LEA that administers the assessments.

Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments

The Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments are aligned with grade-level content in ELA and mathematics for grades three through eleven.

Three types of interim assessments are available: Interim Comprehensive Assessments (ICAs), Interim Assessment Blocks (IABs), and Focused IABs (FIABs).

  • ICAs are built on the same blueprints as the original full-form Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments. The ICAs include the same item types and formats, including performance tasks, as the summative assessments and yield results on the same vertical scale.
  • IABs focus on smaller sets of targets (one to eight) and therefore provide more detailed information for instructional purposes. The IABs yield overall information for each block.
  • FIABs fall under the umbrella of IABs and assess one to three targets. They are called out specifically in this user guide only when there are differences.

CAST Interim Assessments

The CAST Interim Assessments, like the summative assessments, are aligned with the California Next Generation Science Standards. Each interim assessment consists of a set of discrete items and one performance task. Each CAST Interim Assessment in grades three through five aligns with and explores the performance expectations of all three science domains in each specific grade level. Each of the CAST Interim Assessments in middle school and high school aligns with and explores a single science domain: Earth and Space Sciences, Life Sciences, or Physical Sciences. The engineering subdomain (Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science, otherwise known as ETS) is subsumed in the three science domains.

ELPAC Interim Assessments

The ELPAC Interim Assessments are aligned with the 2012 California English Language Development Standards and assess students’ English language proficiency skills in the four domains of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. The ELPAC Interim Assessments are available for individual grade levels and grade spans: kindergarten, grade one, grade two, grade span three through five, grade span six through eight, grade span nine and ten, and grade span eleven and twelve.

Each ELPAC Interim Assessment consists of two to five tasks for each of the four domains of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. Each task includes discrete items or performance tasks designed to demonstrate proficiency for each domain.

Security Requirement

In California, the CAASPP and ELPAC interim assessments are available only to public school educators in California LEAs. (Nonpublic school educators who provide direct instruction to California public school students may also have access.)

In the event of a security compromise, LEA staff members should notify their LEA CAASPP coordinator or LEA ELPAC coordinator immediately. Immediate action should be taken to contain and limit the scope of the compromise by collecting and destroying any hard copy or electronic materials containing test content.