Benicia Unified School District is committed to preparing our students to achieve academic success by demonstrating mastery of the Common Core State Standards. A variety of local and state assessments are used in classrooms throughout the District to drive instruction, monitor student progress and identify next instructional steps.
State Assessments:
- California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress: California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) is California’s new student assessment system. All students in grades 3-8 and 11 take this assessment in math and ELA.
- California Science Test (CAST): The CAST is a component of the California state assessment program adn is administered to all students in grades 5, 7 and 10.
- English Learner Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC) measures English proficiency of students whose primary language is not English for students in grades TK-12.
- Physical Fitness Test (PFT) assesses the following fitness areas: aerobic capacity, body composition, upper body strength, abdominal strength, trunk strength, and flexibility to students in grades 5, 7, and 9
- California Dashboard: This dashboard houses a variety of data that is used to inform Districts about their progress and areas of need as it relates to attendance, performance on statewide assessments, graduation rates, suspensions, and college and career readiness.
Local Assessments:
- NWEA-Map: This assessment is given to all students K-12 in reading and math three times per year. This assessment allows teachers to identify specific areas of strength and struggle and use this information to support students’ ongoing learning. Additional assessments are used as needed and may include:
- DIBELS: This primary reading assessment is used with all students in grades K and 1 and students who are struggling through 5th.
- Directed Reading Assessment (DRA)
- Fountas and Pinnel (F&P)
- Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI)