Building a CAST Schedule Around Ineligible Grades and Repeat Testers
A comprehensive high school with about 2,100 students schedules science testing in a single April window that overlaps the Smarter Balanced window. The science department chair proposes two things. First, test all ninth graders on the CAST so that students get practice with the platform and the department has a baseline before biology. Second, re-administer the CAST in eleventh grade to every student who already took it in tenth grade, arguing that families and colleges will want the most current score and that a second attempt can only help. A counselor notes that one junior took the CAST in tenth grade at her previous school in another California district, and that another junior transferred from Texas in January and has never taken it. The principal wants the site coordinator to approve the plan before the master schedule is built, noting that the school must test 'everyone who is in the building in April.'
1. Should the school administer the CAST to all ninth graders? Justify your answer and offer an alternative that meets the department's stated goal.
Read the worked answer
No. The California Science Test is required at grade five, grade eight, and once in high school, and the high school administration is limited to students in grades ten, eleven, or twelve, typically after the student has completed the corresponding life science or physical science course. Ninth grade is not an eligible grade for the high school CAST. Administering it would create results that serve no reporting purpose, consume instructional time, and leave records showing a CAST participation before the year the school is supposed to test the student, which complicates the once-in-high-school rule and any later verification.
The department's underlying goal, platform familiarity and a baseline, is legitimate; the instrument is wrong. CAASPP training and practice tests exist for exactly this purpose, are not scored as summative results, and can be used at any grade level. The coordinator should offer that alternative to the chair and put the decision in writing so the master schedule is not built around an ineligible administration.
2. Is re-administering the CAST in eleventh grade to students who tested in tenth grade permitted? How should the coordinator answer the chair's arguments?
Read the worked answer
No. The CAST is a once-in-high-school assessment. A student who tested in grade ten has met the participation requirement and is not retested in grade eleven to produce a fresher score; CAST scores do not expire, and there is no benefit-of-retake rule that picks a student's best attempt from multiple high school administrations. Re-administering the test would be a duplicate administration: it reuses secure items, can be flagged as an irregularity, and does not give the school a better number.
The coordinator should also separate two ideas the chair is blending. The CAST is a grade-level science achievement measure, not a college-admissions test, and postsecondary institutions do not use it. If the school wants an eleventh-grade science signal for instruction, that is a local assessment question and should be handled with local or interim tools designed for that purpose.
The written answer should state the rule, the reason, and the practical consequence: students who already tested should be scheduled for other work during the CAST block so staff and devices are not wasted.
3. How should the two juniors described by the counselor be scheduled, and what should the coordinator check first?
Read the worked answer
They go opposite ways, and the deciding fact is participation history, not grade level.
The junior who took the CAST in tenth grade at her previous California district has already participated. She should not be retested, and the site should verify her record before the schedule is finalized by checking the test delivery system, CALPADS, and, if needed, the prior district. If the record shows a completed administration, the school's job is to ensure that score is accounted for, not to re-administer.
The newcomer from Texas has never taken the CAST. California's requirement extends to students in grades ten through twelve who have not yet participated, and an out-of-state transfer carries no CAST result. She should be scheduled this year, provided she is in an eligible grade and the science course sequence supports testing now. Her language classification should also be checked so that any permitted supports are arranged in advance rather than improvised on test day.
The general lesson is to build the CAST roster from individual participation records rather than from a blanket 'all juniors' list.