OCASA Elementary - Tustin

EL Education

At OCASA, EL Education will be used in grades TK–6 to provide a comprehensive, literacy-rich curriculum that integrates reading, writing, speaking, and listening into engaging and meaningful learning experiences. Through EL’s module-based approach, students explore real-world topics such as science, history, and social studies while developing strong literacy skills and a love for reading.

Lessons emphasize collaboration, critical thinking, and student voice, encouraging children to ask questions, share ideas, and take ownership of their learning. By combining rigorous academics with character education and opportunities for students to create high-quality work, EL Education helps OCASA students build the knowledge, skills, and habits they need to thrive as learners and community members.

Read Naturally

Read Naturally’s research‑based reading interventions have helped millions of students become fluent readers and make solid gains in comprehension and vocabulary. Check out our transformative products — available for fluency, phonics, vocabulary, spelling, phonemic awareness, and assessment!

FOSS

FOSS (Full Option Science System) is a research‑based science curriculum for grades K‑8 developed at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley. FOSS has evolved from a philosophy of teaching and learning that has guided the development of successful active‑learning science curricula for more than 40 years.

The FOSS Program bridges research and practice by providing tools and strategies to engage students and teachers in enduring experiences that lead to deeper understanding of the natural and designed worlds.

Science is a creative and analytic enterprise, made active by our human capacity to think. Scientific knowledge advances when scientists observe phenomena, think about how they relate to what is known, test their ideas in logical ways, and generate explanations that integrate the new information into understanding of the natural and designed worlds. Engineers apply that understanding to solve real‑world problems. Thus, the scientific enterprise is both what we know (content knowledge) and how we come to know it (science practices). Science is a discovery activity, a process for producing new knowledge.

The best way for students to appreciate the scientific enterprise, learn important scientific and engineering concepts, and develop the ability to think well is to actively participate in scientific practices through their own investigations and analyses. The FOSS Program was created specifically to provide students and teachers with meaningful experiences through engaging in active participation in scientific practices.

Renaissance Star Assessments

Renaissance Star assessments are adaptive assessments given multiple times of year to measure how students have progressed compared to similar peers. It provides information to students and families about how much progress students are making and how close they are to grade-level standards. This assessment is used by teachers to create small groups and support them in their individualized needs.

CASSPP

CASSPP Online Practice Tests are used for standardized state assessments.

ELPAC

The English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) is the mandated state test for determining English language proficiency (ELP). It is administered as an initial assessment to newly enrolled students whose primary language is not English, as indicated on a home language survey, and annually as a summative assessment to students who have been previously identified as EL students. The ELPAC is aligned with the 2012 California English Language Development Standards (PDF).

The ELPAC is delivered via a computer‑based test delivery platform. The four domains (Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing) will be administered on the computer except for the Writing domain for kindergarten through grade two, which will remain as a paper‑based test.

Physical Fitness Test (PFT)

The physical fitness test (PFT) for students in California schools is the FITNESSGRAM®. The main goal of the test is to help students in starting lifelong habits of regular physical activity. Students in 5th Grade take the fitness test. The test has six parts that show a level of fitness that offers a degree of defense against diseases that come from inactivity. The test results can be used by students, teachers, and parents.