Test Administration Options
Location
An LEA must implement in-person administration of the Alternate ELPAC as the only method of conducting the assessment. In-person administration occurs when the TE and student are in the same room while completing the assessment and is not limited to the school site. If a student is distance learning, assessments may be accomplished at a prearranged location or the student’s home, as long as both the student and the TE are together in the same room. The LEA should carefully limit physical contact and implement proper social distancing protocols that meet all state, county, and local health and safety guidelines for in-person administrations.
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 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:
- Accessibility Guide
- Alternate Assessment Participation Decision-Making Tool for California
- Alternate ELPAC Accessibility and Accommodations Guidelines
- California Assessment Accessibility Resources Matrix web page
- California Student Assessment Accessibility Graphic for the Computer-Based ELPAC
- ELPAC Student Needs Matching Tool
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.
Additional accessibility resources are available, such as eye gaze (refer to Guidance on Using Eye Gaze as an Alternate Response Option and the Accessibility Guide ), optional individualization (additional information provided in the DFA and PFA), AAC devices, and picture cards. Refer to the CAASPP & ELPAC Accessibility Resources web page and the CDE ELPAC web page for additional information and materials.