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NCLB Tests

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND TESTS FOR SCIENCE

The No Child Left Behind act specifies that all students must be tested in science at least once within the grade spans K-5, 6-9 and 10-12.

To comply with the law, California tests students at grade 5 on the grade 4 and 5 standards, middle school students at grade 8 on the eighth grade physical science standards, and high school students at grade 10 on the high school biology and middle school life science standards.

The high school test is comprised of 60 items, 43 percent assessing the middle school life science standards and 57 percent assessing the high school biology standards.

Teachers and administrators need to be aware that the 10th grade NCLB test is given in addition to the state STAR tests (CST) administered at grades 9, 10 and 11, and is, in fact, now part of the state CST. NCLB requires all students at the selected grade, in this case, grade 10, to take the same test. Therefore, California’s high school STAR tests would not be sufficient measures under NCLB, as they are administered only to those students taking a specific standards-based science course covered by one of the tests.

California's NCLB tests are now part of the California Standards Tests (CSTs). Blueprints for all CSTs can be found on the CDE website at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/blueprints.asp.

A complete state testing schedule, including the CST, can be found on the CDE website at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sa//testdates0506.asp.