CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

TOM TORLAKSON, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
916-319-0800
1430 N Street Sacramento, CA 95814-5901

MICHAEL W. KIRST, President
916-319-0827

November 29, 2016

The Honorable John B. King, Jr., Secretary
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202
The Honorable Ann Whalen, Senior Advisor to the Secretary
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202
Dear Secretary King and Senior Advisor Whalen:
We appreciate your review of California’s waiver request to avoid double testing eligible
students in California as our State continues development of assessments aligned to the
California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS). We also thank you for providing
us an opportunity to respond to your September 30, 2016, letter in which you requested
additional information on how the waiver, if granted, will further academic achievement
among California students. Thus, California respectfully requests that you consider this
additional information in support of our waiver request, and allow California to:
Pilot and field test new CA NGSS-aligned assessments without creating an unduly
burdensome double testing situation for eligible students enrolled in grades five,
eight, and high school;
Suspend the current science assessments that are based on outdated science
standards that are no longer supported by daily classroom instruction; and
Temporarily suspend the required reporting of individual student scores for the
2016–17 and 2017–18 school years (SYs) for the CA NGSS general education
assessment and 2016–17 through the 2018–19 SYs for the alternate science
assessments. California intends to publicly report student participation rates at
school, district, and county levels for both the pilot and field tests.

 John B. King, Jr., Secretary
Ann Whalen, Senior Advisor to the Secretary
November 29, 2016
Page 2
California’s Plan for Advancing Student Academic Achievement
California’s transition plan to administer CA NGSS-aligned assessments provides an
efficient and effective transition to support and inform instruction focused on these rigorous
standards. Since the State Board of Education’s (SBE’s) adoption of the CA NGSS in 2013,
California local educational agencies (LEAs) have slowly begun the process of shifting their
science instruction to align to the new State academic content standards. The SBE’s
adoption of a curriculum framework aligned to the CA NGSS in November 2016 will further
this instructional shift, as the framework provides a roadmap for educators on how to teach
the new science standards.
Administering pilot and field tests of the CA NGSS-aligned assessments provides schools
and districts with opportunities to address and become familiar with logistical challenges
related to online testing. This universal experience to eligible students will provide valuable
information for educators about the format, content, and student experiences of using new
assessment instruments. Granting the waiver request will ensure full implementation of the
new science standards sooner rather than later, enable a successful transition to the new
assessment protocol, and allow more accurate reporting of students’ progress in learning
the new standards when the new assessments are fully operational.
The waiver will ensure that eligible students across California will not lose valuable
instructional time in preparing for tests aligned to outdated science standards. Even though
continuing to administer outmoded tests will provide individual student results, they will not
meet the educational needs students, educators, and parents demand from assessments.
Allowing California to not double test eligible students will expose those students to new
methods of assessments in the pilot and field testing phases in a high-stakes-free
environment. Students will have the opportunity to experience the new CA NGSS-aligned
item types and functionality while receiving no direct consequences; instead, they will
benefit from engagement with the new assessments aligned with the standards reflective of
daily classroom instruction. Reducing unnecessary testing that does not produce
educational benefits to students, teachers, and parents is also consistent with the goals of
California and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Monitor and Evaluate Effectiveness of Implementation Plan
The application of testing industry standards and practices to any new assessment system
through pilot and field testing ensures the validity, reliability, and fairness of the
assessments and improves the quality and meaning of their results. California is fully
committed to meeting the requirements set forth by the American Educational Research
Association, the American Psychological Association, and the National Council on
Measurement in Education in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
(Standards) in developing a CA NGSS-aligned assessment. As directed in Section 3 of the
Standards, all aspects of test development (including test design, validation, development,
administration, and scoring) should be considered to ensure fairness in testing. In
accordance with these provisions, the CDE will document all activities related to the
development of the science assessments and provide all necessary documentation for peer
review.

 John B. King, Jr., Secretary
Ann Whalen, Senior Advisor to the Secretary
November 29, 2016
Page 3
Provide Assistance to Student Groups
California plans to administer the pilot and field test of the new science assessments to all
students in grades five and eight. Administration of the pilot and field test for high school
students will occur once to ensure that all students experience the format and content of the
new science assessment. To support learning and preparation for the new assessments,
California plans to provide training tests such that all LEA stakeholders will have access to
the sample test items. Training tests will also expose stakeholders to the complex nature of
the NGSS-aligned items.
Requiring students to complete two different assessments on different standards represents
a misuse of crucial instructional time and will likely produce mixed and confusing results to
students, teachers, and parents. California stakeholders strongly oppose the continuation of
outdated science assessments (see attachment). Collectively, we find it unfair to continue
evaluating student performance using assessments based on outdated standards that are
no longer supported by daily classroom instruction. Data from current tests will not provide
practical, usable information to students, educators, and parents about their success toward
mastering the new standards. In fact, it may provide information to parents which is
confusing or conflicts with other information they receive about student progress and
instructional quality and could provide misleading information on schools’ science education
programs.
Maintain or Improve Transparency in Reporting
California aims to utilize comprehensive assessments and produce score reports to provide
valuable data for LEA staff. In accordance with this aim, we recognize that individual score
reporting of CA NGSS items, newly adopted standards, and innovative assessment
measurements would not follow best practices until the assessments are fully operational,
as identified by the State and its stakeholders and outlined in the Standards. In addition,
reporting individual scores using an assessment that is no longer relevant defies the
Standards best practices for reporting scores. Moreover, reporting these results misleads
students, educators, and parents because it would provide inaccurate measurements of
based on content no longer used in daily classroom instruction.
The approval of this waiver request provides students with an opportunity to experience the
new assessments during their development through the pilot and field testing phases.
Eligible students will have the opportunity to experience the new CA NGSS-aligned item
types and functionality without concern of the consequences associated with performance
measurements and score reporting. We recognize the benefits of student engagement with
the CA NGSS-aligned assessments and the potential to demonstrate a thorough and
accurate understanding of science that satisfies the educational goals of instruction and to
prepare all students for a possible future building from their science education.

 John B. King, Jr., Secretary
Ann Whalen, Senior Advisor to the Secretary
November 29, 2016
Page 4

Assurances from California
California hereby assures that, if granted the requested waiver, the State will focus efforts
on:
ESSA Section 1204(e)(2)(A), which requires a State educational agency to apply
consistent academic achievement standards and to provide all public school children
in the State with equal access to the same academic assessments. California
requests this waiver to ensure that only the CA NGSS pilot and field tests are
administered to eligible students within California in order to meet the intent of this
section of the new federal law.
Approving this waiver request will allow California to administer pilot and field tests of
the new science assessment items for all eligible schools in various contexts, thus
promoting the validity and equity of administration without unduly burdening eligible
students and compromising their valuable science instructional minutes. The
utilization of pilot and field testing represents an essential component for developing
new and improved assessments, as they allow both the State and its testing
contractors to ensure that the assessment items represent accurate measurements
of student achievement of the CA NGSS.
Section 1111(b)(3)(C)(xii) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act and ESSA sections
1111(b)(1)(E), 1111(b)(2)(D), and 1204(e)(2)(B)(vii), requires the provision of
individual student interpretive, descriptive, and diagnostic reports to include
achievement results on State assessments.
If granted, the waiver will permit California and its LEAs to avoid the production and
dissemination of student performance reports on the pilot and field tests for eligible
students in grades five, eight, and high school. Otherwise they will be forced to use
the outdated science tests that will yield results that do not meet the educational
needs of students, educators, and parents and will not represent a fair, reliable, or
valid measurement of individual student achievement based on actual science
instruction.
Sections 8401(b)(1)(C) and (F) of the ESEA, as amended by ESSA, will enable
California to provide training tests so all LEA stakeholders will have access to the
sample test items as well as expose them to the complex nature of the CA NGSSaligned items to support learning and familiarity about the new assessments.
Sections 8401(b)(4)(A)(i) and (iii) of the ESEA, as amended by ESSA, will ensure
that parents and guardians of eligible students in each eligible school participating in
the pilot and field test of the new science assessments will be notified of the school’s
participation.

 John B. King, Jr., Secretary
Ann Whalen, Senior Advisor to the Secretary
November 29, 2016
Page 5
California and its LEAs and schools will ensure that all eligible students will participate in the
CA NGSS general and alternate assessments pilot and field tests and will properly notify all
LEAs of their required participation in the pilot and field tests.
This waiver request is similar to the waiver that California received from the U.S.
Department of Education (ED) in 2013 for English language arts and mathematics
assessments during the State’s transition to assessments aligned with the Common Core
State Standards (CCSS). The 2013 waiver significantly contributed to the smooth and
successful transition to the new Smarter Balanced assessments aligned to the CCSS. The
process yielded positive media exposure for the country’s most populous state, highlighting
high participation rates and widespread public support for the standards and assessments.
The ED served as a key partner with California during that successful transition.
California hopes this partnership may continue as California continues the difficult work of
developing a CA NGSS-aligned assessment to enable appropriate reporting of science
educational opportunities for California students.
Approving this waiver request will issue an important signal of support for California’s efforts
to transition to the new science standards and assessments using a process that replicates
the successful transition to new English language arts and mathematics standards and
assessments in 2013–14. If the waiver is not granted, California respectfully requests a
formal hearing, as allowed under Section 8401(b)(4)(B)(iii) of the ESSA, to ask that the ED
reconsider our request.
The attached document represents support from a variety of stakeholders that the State has
received to date in support of California’s waiver request. Please direct questions regarding
this request to Keric Ashley, Deputy Superintendent of the District, School, and Innovation
Branch, by phone at 916-319-0637 or by e-mail at kashley@cde.ca.gov. Thank you for your
consideration.
Sincerely,

Tom Torlakson
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
California Department of Education

Michael W. Kirst
President
California State Board of Education

TT/MK:cc
Attachment
cc: Patrick Rooney, Deputy Director, Office of State Support
2016-09069