STAR - CMA

California Modified Assessment (CMA)

General Information

Background
The CMA is an assessment for students who have an individualized education program (IEP) and meet the CMA participation criteria approved by the State Board of Education. Assignment of the CMA is made in the student’s IEP only; a student’s Section 504 plan is not to be used to assign a student to take the CMA in any content area (although accommodations may be named in the Section 504 plan or in the IEP).

The CMA tests 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 regarding English–language arts (ELA), mathematics, and science. The CMA are multiple-choice tests; in addition, eligible students in grades four and seven also complete a writing assessment—the CMA for Writing—as a part of the CMA for ELA.

See the California Department of Education's California Modified Assessment Web page for more information about the CMA.

Who Will Take the CMA?
Students in grades three through eleven may take one or more of the CMA tests if they:

Have an IEP that specifies that they take the CMA for one or more subjects; and
Have met the State Board of Education (SBE)–adopted eligibility criteria that are described on the CDE CMA Participation Criteria and Definition of Terms Web page.

In other words, students shall not take the CMA if they:

Do not have an IEP that designates the CMA; or
Are eligible to take the CAPA.

2013 Test Materials

Directions for Administration (DFAs)
Linked DFA documents correspond to printed DFAs.

Grade 3 DFA (Posted 02/04/13)
Grade 4 DFA (Posted 02/04/13)
Grade 5 DFA (Posted 02/04/13)
Grade 6 DFA (Posted 02/04/13)

Grade 7 DFA (Posted 02/04/13)
Grades 4 and 7 Writing DFA (Posted 02/04/13)
Grade 8 DFA (Posted 02/04/13)
Grades 9–11 DFA (Posted 02/04/13)

Sample Answer Documents
Sample answer documents are provided here for reference only. Do NOT use these samples for testing; use only the answer documents that you receive with the STAR materials.

Grade 3 CMA Sample (Posted 02/08/13)
Grade 4 CST/CMA Sample (Posted 02/08/13)
Grade 4 Writing (March) Sample (Posted 02/08/13)
Grade 4 Writing (May) Sample (Posted 02/08/13)
Grade 5 CST/CMA Sample (Posted 02/08/13)
Grade 6 CST/CMA Sample (Posted 02/08/13)
Grade 7 CST/CMA Sample (Posted 02/08/13)

Grade 7 Writing (March) Sample (Posted 02/08/13)
Grade 7 Writing (May) Sample (Posted 02/08/13)
Grade 8 CMA Sample (Posted 02/08/13)
Grade 9 CMA Sample (Posted 02/08/13)
Grade 10 CMA Sample (Posted 02/08/13)
Grade 11 CMA Sample (Posted 02/08/13)

Sample Test Question Transparency Blackline Masters

Grade 3 (Posted 02/19/13)
Grade 4 (Posted 02/19/13)
Grade 5 (Posted 02/19/13)
Grade 6 (Posted 02/19/13)
Grade 7 (Posted 02/19/13)
Grade 8 (Posted 02/19/13)

Grade 9 (Posted 02/19/13)
Grade 10 (Posted 02/19/13)
Grade 11 (Posted 02/19/13)
Algebra I (Posted 02/19/13)
Geometry (Posted 02/08/13)

Further Information

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document

Teleconference

CMA Teleconference Slides (Posted 12/19/07)

CMA Teleconference Recording (downloadable 13.2Mb MP3 file) (Posted 01/10/08)