The California Achievement Test (CAT) is one of the most widely used of the student assessments for basic academic skills. The CAT provides educators, students and their parents with a measure of achievement and national comparison in reading, language, spelling, and mathematics.
Meeting most state and umbrella school requirements for annual testing, the California Achievement Test offered by Academic Excellence provides insight into students' scholastic progress by scoring grade equivalency, percentile ranking, and stanine. Click here for an explanation of the scores.
Benefits of utilizing Academic Excellence online achievement testing include:
◦ Reliable and up-to-date results based on biannual norming
◦ Freedom to test according to your schedule
◦ No bachelor’s degree required for test administration
◦ Flexibility to divide tests into multiple sessions, as needed
◦ Our tests do not expire
◦ Stress free testing with complete proctoring by the online system
◦ Immediate scores and results
◦ 24/7 access to tests and results
◦ Printable results
◦ Device friendly; access using desktop, laptop, and/or tablet with no scrolling necessary to take the test
◦ Professionally developed and produced with the permission of the original publisher
◦ Widely recognized and accepted by state and local educational agencies
Certificate of Completion: As an added value to our customers, Academic Excellence is pleased to provide a free, printable certificate of achievement to all students who complete an AE California Achievement Test. You can view a sample of the certificate here.
Premium Scoring: Receive additional scoring, such as composite scores, along with charts and graphs for easier analysis of test results. Click here to view a sample premium scoring report.
Practice Test: We understand that parents may have some reservations prior to the first time their students take an online test. As an option, we offer an additional practice CAT in order to acclimate students to the online testing process. This test is approximate 25% the length of the actual test, and provides only a count of the correctly answered questions. If this option fits your need, please select it above.
Recommendation Service: Academic Excellence's independent recommendation service is for home educators who would like to receive customized curriculum recommendations based upon the achievement test results. Academic Excellence is not affiliated with any curriculum publisher and provides objective, experienced feedback on curriculum. The Academic Excellence staff have been involved in home education since 1987 and have extensive experience with curriculum providers and the spectrum of homeschooling philosophies.
The resource recommendations from Academic Excellence are strategically selected to strengthen and improve competency and mastery in academic areas presented in standardized testing. These key selected resources make excellent "tutoring aides" and addenda to any curriculum. Our goal in developing the Academic Excellence recommendation service is to provide parents with user friendly, economical resources that strengthen students' academic achievement and testing skills; focus tutoring and teaching efforts; and facilitate preparation for and success in ACT, SAT, and college testing. All recommendations are based upon the student's test scores and our staff's extensive experience with home education. Each of the primary recommendations are provided in correlation to individual students' scores to questions and sections of standardized tests. Secondary resources are often challenging, educational games or less formal learning practices. Each recommendation is measured by ease of use by parents; levels of response, enjoyment, and success by students; and affordability. By targeting and addressing students' deficit areas with easy to use and economical tutorial resources, test scores, grades, and confidence elevate and improve. Recommendations in students' areas of proficiency keep students engaged, challenged, and progressing in all subject areas. We have found this to be an easy, economical way to ensure academic excellence and success.
Ordering Instructions:
◦ Student First Name - Enter the first name of the student to be tested in the space provided.
◦ Student Last Name - Enter the last name of the student to be tested in the space provided.
◦ Grade Level - If you are testing in the middle of school year, select the student's current grade level. If you are testing at the end of school year or between school years, select the next grade level for the student; not the student's past grade level.
◦ Premium Scoring - Now standard on all full tests at no extra charge.
◦ Add Practice CAT - Select if you would like to receive a practice online achievement test for your student.
◦ Recommendation Service - Indicate if you want Curriculum Recommendation Service.
◦ Add to Cart - Enter information for one student only, then select the Add to Cart button.
Once you have placed your California Achievement Test purchase with Academic Excellence, you will receive both an order confirmation and an email containing the user name and password to log into the Academic Excellence education portal. Please allow up to twenty minutes to receive this email and check your spam folder if you do not receive the email.
If you wish to purchase testing services for another student, or wish to make other purchases, select the Continue Shopping link after viewing your shopping cart.
Downloads
CAT Brochure
I usually order a paper test for my homeschoolers, but I lost track of time and needed to get the test quicker this year. I am so glad I found this online test - this is what I'll be using from now on. It was extremely easy to navigate, the customer service was wonderful, and the results came back fast and were comprehensive. Amy on 14th Jun 2018
Awesome customer service! Unknown on 6th Jun 2018
My girls really enjoyed taking the test and had a very good testing experience. We had a little technical difficulty in the beginning with the way my browser displayed the test, but the online tech staff reached back to me right away and we were able to fix the issue quickly and move on with the test. :) Unknown on 2nd Jun 2018
I’m a home educator of over 16 years. I believe academic achievement needs to be measured in the same manner and environment in which the child is typically educated. These tests have helped me accomplish this! Great product! Elisabeth on 15th May 2018
The online assessment was easy to administer. I feel it was a great option for kids that are comfortable using technology. We did encounter a problem with one section of a test and the customer support center was fantastic! They helped us resolve the issue promptly and were very courteous. Unknown on 1st May 2018
The ease of use made this product one we will use again. SW on 27th Apr 2018
My son is in third grade and this was his first time taking an achievement test. He also hasn't had much experience using a computer, so I wasn't sure how this would work out. Our experience with the CAT exam via Academic Excellence surpassed my expectations. My son took the practice test and had no problem figuring out how to navigate through the sections. I'd planned to have him complete the exam over 2 days, but he wanted to keep going and finished in 2 1/2 hours. Everything went smoothly without any issues.
We will definitely do this again the next time he needs to be tested. Susanna on 19th Apr 2018
My students find these tests easy to navigate and I value the quality in the test questions as well as the instant results. This is by far the least stressful testing experience we've ever had! Unknown on 10th Apr 2018
We homeshchool our children. We used this exam for our son's 2nd and 3rd grade scores. This test serves to meet our state's requirements for homeschooling. The exam was easy to administer. Everything was bug/glitch-free.
I do recommend, for your child's benefit, that when they test you close all other running apps/software/etc. and perhaps have your computer just powered on. Optimally, you want it only focused on the exam; we found out the hard way that the timing was impacted by our computer's speed/internet was buggy one day and it mattered.
We purchased the premium reporting and felt it was worth having. Our son felt encouraged that his score was immediately available after each section. Instructions are crystal clear, customer service support is quick, and we appreciated the explanatory reporting that we received. The child's certificate at the end is parent optional and I'm betting some kids would really appreciate having that. (we had cake) ;-)
I think this makes for a good substitute for a classroom basic skills assessment. If your child is not comfortable with being timed, there is one without the timed limits and also just specific subject areas. For kids who are easily distracted in group testing situations, this testing option can provide an opportunity for a more controlled environment. Montessori Momma on 11th Jan 2018
I am so pleased with the test. It's not perfect, but it is a good measure of what your student knows as he/she moves to the next level. My 8th grader scored very well, and it reflected perfectly what I already knew, as to what his strengths and weaknesses are. We will continue to focus on the weaker areas, while maintaining the high levels of success he's achieved with the stronger areas of study. I really like knowing where they stand on a national level. Additionally I think this test is a good measure especially because he doesn't have a teacher "tutoring" on what is on the test prior to taking it as he has experienced in the classroom in the past. With the CAT, he takes it, and the scores are what they are. There is no prep. Just a good sound foundation of what he does know. Debbie Raynor on 6th Dec 2017