Three ELPAC Decisions in One February Staff Meeting
An elementary school in a district with a large Spanish-speaking population faces three situations in February. First, a second grader, Mateo, arrived from Guatemala on November 3; the home language survey lists Spanish. The school gave him the Initial ELPAC on November 21 and he scored overall level 2, so he is classified as an English learner. His teacher now says he should not take the Summative ELPAC in March because he 'just took the test in November' and the results are still fresh. Second, a third grader with a significant cognitive disability and an IEP, who uses a communication device and participates in alternate achievement standards in ELA and mathematics, was given the regular Summative ELPAC last week; the test administrator stopped after two sessions because the student became distressed. Third, the parent of a fifth grader who is an English learner asks that her daughter be exempted from the Summative ELPAC this year because she is 'doing well in English' and the family finds testing stressful. The site administrator asks the English learner coordinator to approve all three requests.
1. Should Mateo be excused from the Summative ELPAC because he took the Initial ELPAC in November? Explain the difference between the two assessments and the applicable timing.
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No, and the teacher's reasoning, while understandable, confuses two different instruments. The Initial ELPAC is the identification assessment, administered within 30 calendar days of enrollment to determine whether a student whose home language survey indicates a language other than English is an English learner. The Summative ELPAC is the annual measure of progress, administered every year to every student who remains classified as an English learner, within the statewide window that runs February 1 through May 31.
Mateo was classified as an English learner on the basis of the Initial, so he must be scheduled for the Summative this spring. A November Initial does not substitute for the annual measure, and the fact that results are recent does not change the requirement. Skipping him would leave the school and district without an annual proficiency measure for a student who is entitled to one, would weaken the evidence base for the services he receives, and would be a compliance problem at both the state and federal level.
What the team can do is make the administration appropriate: a familiar examiner, a small-group or separate setting, breaks, and thoughtful ordering of domains. Being new to the country is a reason to plan supports, not a reason to skip.
2. What was wrong with administering the regular Summative ELPAC to the third grader, and what should happen now?
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This administration should not have happened as it did, and it should not simply be counted as-is. A student with a significant cognitive disability whose IEP team has determined that she participates in alternate achievement standards should be assessed with the Alternate ELPAC, not the regular Summative ELPAC. The regular instrument assumes access skills and response modes she may not have; two sessions ending in distress is a signal that the instrument, not the student, was wrong.
The immediate steps are to stop, convene the IEP team, and document the alternate assessment determination if it is not already recorded. The team should also review whether any domain should be exempted because her disability precludes meaningful participation in that domain, with the exemption recorded in the IEP. If the team confirms eligibility, the Alternate ELPAC should be administered within the window.
The district should contact the ELPAC contractor or the California Department of Education about the incorrect administration so the record is handled properly rather than left as an invalid regular result, and the site should add an eligibility check to its scheduling so the next student does not repeat this.
3. How should the coordinator respond to the fifth grader's parent, and what is the legitimate path if the family believes the student is ready to be reclassified?
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No exemption is available on the grounds given. Every student classified as an English learner participates in the Summative ELPAC annually, and a parent's waiver of bilingual or English learner services does not change the classification or excuse the assessment. Test anxiety is a reason to plan a better administration, such as a familiar room, shorter sessions, and breaks, not a legal basis for exemption. Narrow exceptions exist for students with disabilities, but those run through the IEP team and the domain-exemption process, not through a parent request.
The parent's real question appears to be whether her daughter is ready to be reclassified, and that question has its own process. Reclassification is a local decision that uses multiple criteria, including ELPAC performance indicating English proficiency, teacher evaluation, parent consultation, and the district's basic-skills measure. The coordinator should explain those criteria, say when this year's results will be available, and route the request into the district's reclassification review rather than approving an exemption.
Denying the request should be paired with a clear explanation of what the test is for and how the results will be used, so the family understands that the assessment is the route to reclassification rather than an obstacle to it.