Purpose of the test: The California Standards Test is aligned with state academic standards. The tests assess students' knowledge of the California content standards, which specify what children are expected to know and be able to do in each grade or course. It measures proficiency in English-language arts and math in grades two through eleven; history and social science in grades eight, ten and eleven and science in grades five, nine and eleven. All test questions are multiple choice except for grades four and seven which have writing components.

What's next: Results of the standards test are used to calculate each school's Academic Performance Index. The standards test also are used to determine the progress elementary and middle schools are making toward meeting the federal No Child Left Behind adequate yearly progress requirement of having all students score at proficient or above on these tests.

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