Initial ELPAC Testing Appointment
Dear Parent or Guardian:
You indicated that your child’s primary or home language is not English when registering for school. In California public schools, all students entering school for the first time will be assessed with the Initial English Language Proficiency Assessments for California, or “Initial ELPAC,” if their home language is not English.
You will schedule your child to take the Initial ELPAC in person with our testers. Using the calendar below, please select a date and time for the 90-minute test session.
Register with your child’s first and last name, your child’s SLUSD email, and student ID number. (Please refer to the original email you receive for this information)
After a testing appointment has been made, you will receive an email confirmation.
If no testing schedule available, we will coordinate with site administrators to schedule your child’s Initial ELPAC. Starting August 18, district ELPAC testers will come to each site to administer Initial ELPAC to eligible students.
Parent/Guardian Resources
The Starting Smarter websites help parents understand student scores and reports, view sample test questions, and provide additional free resources to support your child’s learning.
This web page provides students guest access to practice and training tests. Select “Sign In” as a Guest User and Guest Session to take a practice or training test with your child. Select your child’s grade and choose a practice or training test for the following tests:
Smarter Balanced English-language Arts or mathematics
California Alternate Assessments for English-language Arts or mathematics
California Science Test
California Spanish Test
English Language Proficiency Assessments for California
The Technology Readiness Checker for Students (TRCS) is a game-like tool students navigate to create a storyboard. The navigation through the TRCS is similar to the navigation used in a computer-based assessment and can be used to identify your child’s technology readiness for online testing.
The TRCS is not an assessment and does not provide scores.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) is California’s assessment system that is used to determine the English language proficiency of students whose primary language is not English. The ELPAC is aligned with the 2012 California English Language Development Standards and assesses four domains: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. The Initial ELPAC is used to identify students as being either an English learner or fluent in English. It is administered only once during a student’s time in the California public school system, based on the results of the home language survey. The locally scored Initial ELPAC will be the official score.
The purpose of the Initial ELPAC is to determine the English proficiency of students entering California schools for the first time. Identifying students who need help learning in English is important so students get the extra help they need to do well in school while receiving instruction in all school subjects.
The Initial ELPAC is given to students in grades K–12 whose primary language is not English to determine their English language proficiency status. Students with disabilities who cannot take one or more domains of the ELPAC with allowed universal tools, designated supports, or accommodations, will take an alternate assessment(s), as noted in their individualized education program
No. Parents and guardians cannot opt their child out of the ELPAC. State law (California) and federal law (Titles I and Ill of the Every Student Succeeds Act) require that all students whose primary language is a language other than English be assessed for English language proficiency (ELP). The legal basis for requiring ELP testing is that all students have the right to an equal and appropriate education, and any English language limitations (left unidentified or unaddressed) could preclude a student from accessing that right.
Yes. Students in year one of a two-year kindergarten program will take the kindergarten test. All students enrolled in the LEA in year one of a two-year kindergarten program, whose primary language is a language other than English, as determined by a home language survey, must be administered the ELPAC within 30 calendar days of enrollment or 60 calendar days prior to instruction, but not before July 1.