Comparing Results for the Computer-based Assessments
Aggregate results can be viewed at and downloaded from the public Test Results for California’s Assessments website as well as from CERS (for properly credentialed users).
When making comparisons across years within a given grade level and content area, it is important to understand that even when the number of students is the same, the group’s composition from year to year may be quite different if student mobility (transiency) is high. Such comparisons are actually comparisons of different groups of students with different traits taking different tests. Generally, there will be more variance in scores from year to year, when small numbers of students are tested.
Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments
Because of the vertical scaling of the Smarter Balanced assessments, scale scores for a test may be compared to scale scores for the same student or groups of students in different years for the same content area, as well as between specific grade levels and content areas. This allows users to say that achievement for a given content area and grade level was higher or lower one year as compared with another. Scale scores for the Smarter Balanced assessments may be compared across grade levels since the scales are vertically aligned across grade levels. Refer to the CDE Assessments - Average Scale Score Change web page to download spreadsheets that report the average change in scale score points from one grade level to the next by administration year. These reports show how scale scores changed among all students statewide in prior years. Note that this web page is updated with data from the just-tested year in the fall following the test administration.
Scores for the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments PPT forms are linear but have the same scale as the computer-based assessments.
In addition to the scores for the current administration, results for the past two administrations are available for comparison. Refer to the CERS User Guide for more information about reviewing data for previous years.
Comparing ELA and Mathematics Scale Scores and Achievement Levels for Groups
An example of how group-level scale scores for 20XX–YY may be compared to the 20YY–ZZ scale scores for the same content area and grade level is shown in table 1 using Smarter Balanced for ELA scores. In this table, hypothetical average scale scores for ELA are compared between 20YY–ZZ and 20XX–YY for the students in a particular school. In addition to comparisons for all students, similar grade level–by–grade level comparisons of scale scores may be made for different student groups of interest.
| Grade | 20XX–YY No. of Students | 20XX–YY Mean Scale Score | 20YY–ZZ No. of Students | 20YY–ZZ Mean Scale Score | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5 | 120 | 2440.0 | 111 | 2451.3 | 11.3 |
| Grade 6 | 100 | 2510.0 | 124 | 2510.3 | 0.3 |
| Grade 7 | 90 | 2590.0 | 102 | 2593.2 | 3.2 |
Table 2 uses Smarter Balanced for Mathematics scores to provide a second hypothetical example of how group-level Smarter Balanced results may be compared. In this example, the percentage of students scoring at Standard Met or Standard Exceeded in mathematics is compared between 20XX–YY and 20YY–ZZ across grade levels for the same school.
| Grade | 20XX–YY No. of Students | 20XX–YY % Standard Met or Standard Exceeded | 20YY–ZZ No. of Students | 20YY–ZZ % Standard Met or Standard Exceeded | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5 | 120 | 31% | 111 | 35% | 4% |
| Grade 6 | 100 | 33% | 124 | 33% | 0% |
| Grade 7 | 90 | 29% | 102 | 31% | 2% |
| All Grades | 310 | 31% | 337 | 33% | 2% |
Comparisons between 20XX–YY and 20YY–ZZ in table 2 indicate the same trends as indicated by table 1: a slightly higher percentage of students in grades five and seven scored at Standard Met or Standard Exceeded and the same percentage of grade six students scored at Standard Met or Standard Exceeded.
Note that table 2 also provides a comparison of overall results for the entire school. Because Standard Met or Standard Exceeded in mathematics is a standards-based classification, 20XX–YY and 20YY–ZZ results for the entire school may be calculated by averaging across grade levels. The resulting school-level averages may be compared from year to year. However, for each year, these school-level averages should be weighted to reflect the number of students in each grade level. For example, the results for grade five carry more weight in the calculations for 20XX–YY than the other two grade levels, but grade six carries more weight in the calculations for 20YY–ZZ than the other two grade levels.
While these examples have made comparisons across only one year, it is important for program evaluation that results be compared across a number of years to verify that the trend is stable. The same sort of table could be used to compare year-to-year results for any test group.
Comparing Results for the Science Assessments
Comparisons of CAST or CAA for Science results should only be made within the same grade level; that is, it is acceptable to compare the grade five CAST in the previous test administration year to the grade five CAST in the current test administration year. However, no direct comparisons should be made between grade levels and between subjects; for example, results for the CAASPP Smarter Balanced for ELA (grade five) should not be compared with results for the CAST (grade eight).
Two types of comparisons are possible:
- comparing the average scale score within a grade level; or
- comparing the percent of students scoring at each achievement level within a grade level.
Comparing Results for the California Alternate Assessments for ELA and Mathematics
Comparisons of CAA results should only be made within the same content area and grade level; that is, compare grade four ELA in the previous test administration year to grade four ELA in the current test administration year, or grade eight mathematics in the previous test administration year to grade eight mathematics in the current test administration year. No direct comparisons should be made between grade levels and between subjects; for example, results for the CAA for Mathematics (grade seven) should not be compared with results for the CAA for Mathematics (grade eight), and results for the CAA for Mathematics (grade eleven) should not be compared with the result of the CAA for ELA (grade eleven).
Two types of comparisons are possible:
- comparing the average scale score within a grade level; or
- comparing the percent of students scoring at each achievement level within a grade level.
Comparing Results for the California Spanish Assessment
CSA results for the previous administrations are available. However, results are not comparable because the CSA is not scaled vertically.