Following the board’s approval, students who demonstrate a high degree of grade-appropriate Spanish literacy in reading, writing, listening and speaking by reaching Level 3 on the CSA can use that as an indicator of readiness to earn the State Seal of Biliteracy.

Proposed revisions to the CSA SSRs consider the Spanish assessment’s expansion to include full writing and speaking elements. With this change, the CSA is moving from score reporting ranges to threshold scores and levels, among other changes. The SSRs are anticipated to be generated and sent to local educational agencies in December 2025, according to CDE staff.

• Implement the California assessment system during the 2027–32 school years with the development and administration of high-quality assessments that are authentic, culturally responsive, inclusive and provide actionable results that inform teaching and learning.
• Provide a robust assessment system that is comprehensive and coherent; flexible and accessible to support the needs of educators, students and families while providing data that supports valid inferences; innovative to increase value and efficiency; and designed with technology solutions that meet industry best practices and standards.
• Support California in complying with applicable state and federal laws.

The board also continued discussion on the concept and purpose of CAST mini-performance tasks (mini-PTs) that were introduced during the July meeting as part of the broader CAST Innovations initiative. The state’s assessment contractor, ETS, is leading the development of science mini-PTs.

The board approved the CAST Innovations Mini-performance Tasks Assessment Development Plan, which outlines the high-level steps and deliverables for designing the assessment framework, creating task sketches and storyboards of the mini-PTs, conducting cognitive labs and usability testing, and analyzing findings. The board will receive final recommendations at its September 2026 meeting.

The CDE meets statutory requirements to support CCGI’s creation of universal “Basic” student accounts for all public school students enrolled in grades 6-12 by providing CCGI with weekly enrollment files from the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System. Students with a Basic Account can explore college and career options and find information on financial aid and college and career planning through grade-level appropriate lessons.

By next summer, LEAs serving students in grades 9-12 are required to have signed a data-sharing agreement with CCGI and provided CCGI with individual student course enrollment and completion data from their student information system on an ongoing basis. Doing so will enable CCGI to provide students with transcript-informed accounts that will allow users to apply for admission to California’s public colleges and universities, as well as financial aid, directly from their student account. Students will have their transcripts verified by CCGI for accuracy with A–G eligibility data and imported into their University of California and California State University applications.

• The September SBE meeting represented the first for the board’s new student board member, ABC Unified School District student Vanessa Ejike.
• CDE staff celebrated the completion of Vietnamese American Experiences, Cambodian American Studies, Hmong History and Cultural Studies, and Native American Studies model curricula required under Assembly Bill 167 (2021). All four model curricula are now available at no cost to LEAs at camodelcurricula.ucdavis.edu/modelcurricula.