Assessments
Saratoga Union School District's (SUSD) goal is to educate each child to their highest potential. To achieve this, teachers and staff use many measures throughout the school year and over multiple years to determine how students are learning, growing and how our schools and district are meeting student needs.
Teachers use multiple measures every day to see how well students are growing academically, emotionally, and behaviorally. Teachers gauge students’ progress through classroom observation, performance on tasks, classroom assessments and homework. We also use District and state assessments to look at student progress longitudinally during their years in Saratoga Union School District.
Data regarding SUSD student performance, attendance, discipline and other areas are summarized every year in the areas below:
California School Dashboard
The California School Dashboard (Dashboard) is an online tool that shows how local educational agencies and schools are performing on the state and local indicators. It is part of California's school accountability system based on the 2013 Local Control Funding Formula.
The Dashboard features easy-to-read reports on multiple measures of school success, including test scores, graduation rates, English learner progress and suspension rates. Users can search to see the reports for any local educational agency or school.
As an accountability tool, the Dashboard will help the state identify schools (including charter schools) and districts needing targeted assistance. In the past, accountability systems for districts and schools relied solely on test scores. But one test taken on one particular day doesn't provide a complete picture of all the ways schools are helping students succeed.
School Accountability Report Cards (SARC)
School Accountability Report Cards (SARC) are required by state law and are a summary report to the community including information about curriculum, class sizes, demographics, academics, school climate, staffing fiscal data and more.
SARCs are posted annually for the previous academic school year.
School Reports
California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASP)
Third through eighth-grade students participate in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) each spring, where students take either the Smarter Balanced Assessment or the California Alternate Assessment (IEP dependent).
The tests:
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Measure how well your child has mastered the skills and content in mathematics and English language arts at his or her grade level (third through eighth grades) and in science for fifth and eighth grade.
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Align with instruction that takes place in the classroom every day.
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Match the learning goals of each grade level.
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Assess critical thinking, analytical writing and problem solving skills, which are needed for success in college and a 21st century career.
Fifth and eighth graders also take the California Science Test (CAST), as a part of CAASP.
Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA)
The Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) is a plan of action to raise the academic performance of all students ot the level of performance goals established under the California Academic Performance Index. California Education Code sections 41507, 41572 and 64001 and the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) require each school to consolidate all plans for programs funded through the School and Library Improvement Block Grant, the Consolidated Application and NCLB Program Improvment into the Single Plan for Student Achievement.
Other Testing
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Our English Learners take the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC). Read our District webpage for more information.
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Fifth through seventh-grade students participate in physical fitness testing (PFT), utilizing FITNESSGRAM. The test measures aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, strength and flexibility. The state goal of the test is to help students in starting life-long habits of regular physical activity.