Subject: Science
Grade Level(s): 5, 8 – 12
Measures Growth: No
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The California Standards Test is part of the STAR Program, administered each spring to all California students. The CST measures student achievement in science in grades 5, 8, and 10, as well as in Life Science, Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, and Physics.
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
The students have to undergo district-wide standardized testing every 6 weeks and then the CST in May. Parents and students feel overwhelmed. The classroom has become a testing machine; there is no more time for debates over issues, e.g. bioethics or for in-depth research projects.
Submitted by Erica Rose in California on May 11, 2013
Pros: Assesses higher-order thinking • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Not aligned to the standards I teach
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
Whose idea was it to test students in fifth grade for information they learned in fourth grade? These test scores are attributed to me, the fifth grade teacher. Why am I responsible for what another teacher may or may not have taught my students? Why do I have to review my students in last year's material? This is unfair and unsound testing practices.
Submitted by Carol in California on May 9, 2013
Pros: Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Not aligned to the standards I teach • Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
I am excited for the Common Core to be tested in the Sciences. This content does not drive up the Bloom's taxonomy and language is written to "trick" students (especially those with disabilities). I do not enjoy teaching knowing that this is the test that will determine what they learned. Data is not returned with enough time to inform practice, and the data provided is basically useless in providing feedback that would actually help me refine my instruction.
Submitted by Lindsey in California on May 9, 2013
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time
Since the 10th grade science CST is Biology and that is the only year it is given, it doesn't help me to see how my students are progressing in science. I would love to get the results back before the end of the year so that I could discuss them with the students. Instead, students get their results in the summer (I'll see the results in the fall) and sometimes don't know what to make of them. Another problem is that sometimes there are only two questions on a particular topic and if students don't understand those questions, it appears that, based on those two questions ONLY, that either I didn't teach that area well or that the students didn't understand. It is hard to determine teaching emphasis or student understanding based on only two questions. When asked a week later, most of my students (in Accelerated Biology) said that the test was of average difficulty (they also compared it to the NCLB Life Science test which they rated as easy).
Submitted by Anne in California on May 5, 2013
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
Seems to focus on vocabulary. Many questions poorly worded for fluent but ESL students. Given nearly two months before end of school yet tests all concepts. Used to compare this year's students to last year's students: apples and oranges. Used to compare students' current science course to past science course: apples and oranges. All sophomores must take life science test even if they are not enrolled in life science. Does not accurately measure growth of students who are below grade level because of language issues.
Submitted by C in California on April 22, 2013
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time
Questions seem to be simple recall questions. I see no higher order questions
It could not measure growth when looking at the biology test because the questions eem more like
middle school questions.
Submitted by bonnie in Tennessee on April 14, 2013
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer • Results returned quickly
Cons: Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
Several of the questions have "correct" answers that a more sophisticated student could quibble with.
"All of the above" and "none of the above" answers disproportionally burden ELs.
Submitted by Leo in California on April 11, 2013
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
Once I get the results, it is months after the students who took the test have left my classroom. In addition, the results are very difficult to understand. The results are for an entire unit and it does not tell me the specific standard with which students are struggling. For example, the results are broken down so that I am told how many students are proficient or advanced in the Density and Forces units which contain 11 different standards. I can guess at which standards students struggled with, but I would benefit more if I was told that 70% of students were unable to calculate the density of the object. Most importantly, however, the test does not measure higher-level thinking skills of students or their ability to solve problems.
Submitted by Samantha in California on April 10, 2013
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Assesses higher-order thinking • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer • Data I receive helps me understand where I am teaching well and where I need to improve
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data
At least it is something to work with.
Submitted by Kevin in California on March 8, 2012
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Assesses higher-order thinking • Assesses a range of students, including those from far below to far above grade level • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Pros: Easy to administer • Helps me track my students' learning gains over the course of the school year • Data is presented clearly • Data I receive helps me understand where I am teaching well and where I need to improve
Cons: Results are not returned quickly
It seems like that the Biology CST is a solid indicator of "what students NEED to know" by the end of the year; I've reviewed a number of other end-of-course exams for biology and many of them definitely challenge the students with higher-order thinking, but mostly in terms of "what would be NICE for students to know" vs. "what students NEED to know." The most significant challenges for me are 1) completing my pacing plan before CSTs are administered (but this schedule is chosen by the school site, no?) and 2) getting results back sooner (only because I'd like to cover these results with my current class as opposed to waiting until next year...and these resutls certainly inform my instruction for the next year). I'm anxious to find out how our state blueprint with change with the Common Core on its way.
Submitted by jm in California on March 4, 2012
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
In my experience, the CST science assessment for 5th grade covers too many topics in a superficial manner. The questions do not engage critical thinking skills, instead relying on mainly facts. There is a wide-range of standards to cover in the assessment, 2 grade levels. As a 5th grade teacher, I find that many of my students come to me with little 4th grade science standards taught to them because it was not a tested year. Science logic and reasoning should be tested every year just like ELA and math. It is unreasonable to think students should be able to retain and learn science in such a surface level.
Submitted by Angie in California on February 22, 2012
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Assesses higher-order thinking • Assesses a range of students, including those from far below to far above grade level • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Pros: Easy to administer • Data is presented clearly • Data I receive helps me understand where I am teaching well and where I need to improve
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time
While I would like to get faster results and more information about student growth, the CA science content standards are pretty strong and the CST covers them pretty well. I understand many teachers don't care for the "breadth" of the standards, which they believe comes at the cost of "depth", but I think that distinction is exaggerated.
Submitted by Paul in California on February 20, 2012
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Assesses higher-order thinking • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Results are not returned quickly • Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
I think it is an adequate assessment of students' abilities in general regarding science. However, I think it misses many necessary components of science, such as basic laboratory skills. It also doesn't seem to fairly question each standard to obtain a wide range of data regarding all of the standards. It takes way to long to receive the scores and doesn't really help me to see growth since there really isn't a pre-test.
Submitted by Christina in California on January 25, 2012
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach • Takes students a reasonable amount of time to complete
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer • Results returned quickly • Helps me track my students' learning gains over the course of the school year • Data is presented clearly • Data I receive helps me understand where I am teaching well and where I need to improve
This assessment is effective if you teach from the book. True science is meant to be hands-on and inquiry based. This assessment does not measure these areas. It helps me to see how prepared my students are to take the science CST. It is not performance based. It does not assess problem solving. It is an assessment of memorization ability.
Submitted by Pam in California on January 25, 2012
Pros: Aligned to the standards I teach
Cons: Does not assess higher-order thinking • Misses growth of some students, such as those far below and/or far above grade level
Pros: Easy to administer
Cons: Doesn't help me track my students' learning gains over time • It is hard to use the data • Is not helpful to my professional growth as a teacher
In my experience, the CST science assessment for 5th grade covers too many topics in a superficial manner. The questions do not engage critical thinking skills, instead relying on mainly facts. There is a wide-range of standards to cover in the assessment
Submitted by Angie in California on January 17, 2012
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