Research & Evaluation

The goals of assessment in the Pleasanton Unified School District are manifold and multi-layered. The staff uses assessment data not only to monitor continuous student progress and identify the areas of improvement, but also to measure the effectiveness of teaching strategies, to measure the progress made towards meeting district and state standards, to plan strategies and set goals for future, and to evaluate the implementation of the annual strategic planning goals.

This website is constructed to assist numerous district stakeholders in making informed educational decisions. The compilation of data has been carefully crafted to represent all aspects of education in Pleasanton schools.

Comprehensive Assessment System

No single assessment can provide all the necessary information to make fully informed curriculum and instruction decisions. A comprehensive assessment system, however, can provide useful data to assist the decision-making process. The following guiding principles are considered critical factors in the analysis of assessment data:

Assessments are an integral part of the instruction
Using multiple indicators of assessment to evaluate success is essential
Collecting and maintaining quality assessment data is important
Emphasizing comparison of assessment data from year to year rather than from school to school is the centerpiece of our improvement
Communication of assessment data helps make informed decisions

Assessments

NWEA MAP Growth Districtwide Assessment

PUSD has adopted the NWEA MAP Growth Assessment as its Districtwide local assessment. MAP Growth is administered to all students in grades 2–8 for Math and grades 3–8 for Reading. MAP Growth is administered during three testing windows throughout the school year. The 2024–25 Fall Assessment window was Aug. 12–Aug. 30, 2024.

On September 13th, the PUSD MAP Growth Family Report PDFs will be available through the Synergy ParentVUE portal, under the Documents section. This report will reflect your student's MAP Growth scores for Reading and Math and their level of growth and achievement.

Additional information for Parents and Guardians regarding Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth Assessments is provided below:

Parent Resources for MAP Growth from NWEA
- Parent Guide for MAP Growth
- Parent Toolkit for MAP Growth

State Mandated Assessments

Pleasanton Unified School District’s assessment system includes a number of different tests used for a variety of purposes.

Census tests are those taken by all students. They include:

California Assessments of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP)

California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP):

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Summative Consortium (SBAC) assessments for grades 3-8 & 11 have three components:
- The Summative Assessments in English Language Arts and Math
- California Science Test for grades 5, 8 and once in high school
- California Alternate Assessments (CAAs) for ELA, mathematics and science: Alternate assessments for students with disabilities who cannot take part in general statewide assessment programs.

English Learner Proficiency Assessment in California (ELPAC)

English Learner Proficiency Assessment in California (ELPAC): Students in grades TK–12 who have a home language other than English are required by law to be assessed in English language proficiency. The Initial ELPAC, given once upon entrance to CA public schools, allows schools to identify students who may need additional support to improve their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English. Students identified as English Learners are given the Summative ELPAC test each year to assess progress in English Language development, until they can be reclassified as Fluent English Proficient (RFEP).

Physical Fitness Testing

California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) & California School Staff Survey (CSSS)

District Benchmark Assessments

Ensure that instruction across the District is aligned to the adopted Common Core State Standards and standards-based core curriculum.
Inform teachers and administrators about student progress and effectiveness of instruction and materials.
Provide disaggregated student performance data to teachers and administrators to make decisions that will improve teaching and learning.
Assist in the monitoring of individual student progress in the core academic curriculum.
Provide data to identify under-served students who need intervention and support services.
Illuminate Data and Assessment (DnA) is an online data management system for collecting, creating, scoring, reporting and analyzing formative, benchmark, and state-mandated assessments. It also supports progress monitoring of student achievement aligned to Common Core State Standards (CCSS). It helps school districts meet the state and federal testing and reporting requirements, empowers teachers to modify instruction based on assessment results, and provides data that school and district administrators can use to plan appropriate professional development and support.

Other Assessments

Accountability

The Department of Research and Evaluation, working together with the members of the Local Control Accountability Council (LCAC), coordinates the implementation and accountability of the District’s Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). This group oversees the ongoing development and oversight of the Goals, Actions and Services contained in the LCAP. Each California District must develop an LCAP (approved by the County Office that identifies actions and services that best support the five Goals and federal categorical programs, along with ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations and laws). In addition, this department monitors school plans, including training for School Site Councils (SSC), and is responsible for administering the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS).

Title I: Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged
Title II, Part A: Preparing, Training, and Recruiting High Quality Teachers and Principals
Title III: Program for Limited-English-Proficient Students

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