What is the CMA?
The CMA is a grade-level assessment for students who have an individualized education program (IEP); are receiving grade-level instruction; and whose progress to date, in response to appropriate grade-level instruction, including special education and related services designed to address the student's individual needs, is such that, even if significant growth occurs, the IEP team is reasonably certain that the student will not achieve grade-level proficiency within the year covered by the student's IEP plan.
The purposes of the CMA tests are to allow students with disabilities greater access to an assessment that helps measure how well they are achieving California's content standards and to provide information about how well schools and school districts are meeting state and federal accountability requirements in English–language arts (ELA), mathematics, and science. Eligible students in grades four and seven also complete a writing assessment—the CMA for Writing—as a part of the CMA for ELA.
What are the eligibility requirements for the CMA?
Students in grades three through eleven may take one or more of the CMA tests if they:
In other words, students shall not take the CMA if they:
How does the administration of the CMA differ from the administration of the California Standards Tests (CSTs)?
Except for the questions themselves, the CMA is administered in the same way as is done for the CSTs. Both tests are delivered to the students in a group; are administered in parts, one part at a time; require students to mark their own answers on an answer document or in a test booklet; and assist California in meeting the requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Are there different answer documents for the CSTs and the CMA?
It depends on the grade; the guidelines are as follows:
May students assigned to take the California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) test in some CST or CMA content areas?
No. However, students who have scored proficient or advanced on all CAPA content areas for two years in a row may take the CSTs or CMA if their IEP specifies that they should take the CSTs or CMA instead.
If a student has a Section 504 plan but not an individualized education program (IEP), is the student eligible to take the CMA?
No, the student would not be eligible to take the CMA. Only students with an IEP who meet other CMA participation criteria are eligible to take the CMA. The student's IEP team must specify in the student's IEP that the student should take the CMA.
May students taking the CMA and the CSTs be tested together in the same room at the same time?
Doing so is not recommended because those tests are administered using different Directions for Administration.
Does the testing window for the CMA differ from the testing window for the CSTs?
No, the testing windows do not differ; all the tests in the STAR Program are administered within the same testing window.
What are the end-of-course (EOC) CMA tests?
The EOC CMA tests are Algebra I and Geometry.
Who determines which EOC test a student will take?
The district STAR coordinator, in collaboration with the district mathematics specialist or department and the student's IEP team, determines the EOC CMA to be administered.
If an Algebra I course began later in the school term and will not be completed by the end of the year, would the students take the test in the spring that year?
The students would not take the Algebra I test in spring because they would not have completed the course by the end of the school year. If the students were in grade seven, they would take the CMA for Mathematics (Grade 7).
If a student takes a content area test, such as mathematics, in both the CST and the CMA, will the student receive scores for both the CST for Mathematics and the CMA for Mathematics?
No. The student will receive a score for the CMA test only if the appropriate circle was marked in Section 7c, "Assessed with CMA," on the first page of the CST/CMA or CST answer document and/or if the "Student will be assessed with CMA–Math" indicator was set in Pre-ID. If the "CMA for Math" circle was marked or the Pre-ID indicator was set, the student's score for the CMA for Mathematics will be reported. If the "CMA for Math" circle was not marked and the Pre-ID indicator "Student will be assessed with CMA–Math" was not set, the student will receive a score for the CST for Mathematics taken. In the case of grade three, which uses a test booklet rather than an answer document, if the CMA test booklet was returned, the indicator in the Pre-ID file must also have been set for the student to receive a CMA score.