Mar 11, 2026 - Education

What to know about CAASPP testing this spring

Claire Trageser

Illustration of a standardized test answer sheet with a cursor — Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Elementary and middle school students are starting their California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, or CAASPP, testing this spring.

Why it matters: The annual statewide testing shows how students and schools are progressing or falling behind.

The tests impact a school's overall performance rating, and if students skip the tests, schools can also lose funding, per SDUSD.

How it works: Students in grades 3-8 take the tests, which usually span a week.

San Diego Unified students will take the tests between March 2 and the end of the school year.
Each school sets the schedule of when testing happens.

Zoom in: Here are a few examples of the types of questions and tasks included on the test third graders take, according to the CAASP website.

Megan baked 28 sugar cookies and 24 chocolate chip cookies. How many cookies did she bake in all?
Reading five paragraphs and answering detailed questions about the text.
Writing an informational article using two sources provided in the test.

By the numbers: San Diego Unified students' CAASP scores improved in 2025 from the year before.

56.17% of students met or exceeded the state standard in English.
45.3% of students met or exceeded the state standard in math.
That's an increase of 1.95% in English and 1.41% in math from 2024.

Zoom out: Across California, 48.81% of students met or exceeded the state standard in English and 37.3% of students met or exceeded the state standard in math in 2025.

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What to know about CAASPP testing this spring

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