Standards-based Tests in Spanish (STS)

General Information

The Standards-based Tests in Spanish are multiple-choice tests that are required for Spanish-speaking English learners in grades two through eleven.

Items on these tests are developed by bilingual, biliterate California educators and test developers and are written specifically to assess students' achievement of California's content standards for English–language arts and mathematics.

Visit the STAR STS Blueprints page on the CDE Web site to see the STS blueprints.

• Will have been enrolled in a school in the United States less than 12 cumulative (not consecutive) months on the first day of testing; or
• Are receiving instruction in Spanish regardless of the length of time they have been enrolled in school in the United States.

At the option of the school district, schools may also test Spanish-speaking English learners who will have been in school in the United States 12 cumulative (not consecutive) months or more who are not receiving instruction in Spanish.

• Designated EO (English-only)
• Designated initially fluent English proficient (I-FEP)
• Reclassified fluent English proficient (R-FEP)
• English learners whose primary language is not Spanish
• Students in dual immersion classes who do not meet the inclusion criteria described above

Students who take the STS are required to also take the CSTs and/or CMA appropriate to their grade level.

2010 Test Materials

Further Information

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document