CAASPP Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield CAASPP facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. A student writes: 'The experiment was conducted by the scientists carefully.' Which revision best improves this sentence? → The scientists carefully conducted the experiment.
2. In professional documentation for CAASPP, what is the best practice for organizing information? → Logical structure with clear headings and progression
3. When adapting speech for different audiences and purposes, a California student should primarily consider: → The audience's background knowledge and the formality of the context
4. Which characteristic of sound waves determines whether a sound is perceived as high-pitched or low-pitched? → Frequency
5. A store marks up a $40 item by 15%. What is the new price? → $46
6. Which approach best demonstrates mastery of literary analysis in CAASPP practice? → Applying principles to novel situations with sound judgment
7. A poem with fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter is known as a: → Sonnet
8. In professional documentation for CAASPP, what is the best practice for organizing information? → Logical structure with clear headings and progression
9. Which number is irrational? → √7
10. Is this a geometric or arithmetic sequence? 0,2,4,6,8,.. → Arithmetic
11. Which of the following is an example of a primary source document that students might analyze in a CAASPP informational text task? → A letter written by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War
12. Which of the following BEST describes a primary source? → A diary written by a soldier during the Civil War
13. A scientist discovers a fossil of a sea creature in the middle of a desert. What does this evidence suggest? → The desert region was once covered by an ocean or sea
14. What is the purpose of active listening in CAASPP professional interactions? → To fully understand the speaker's message and respond appropriately
15. Which question would be MOST useful when evaluating whether a source is biased? → Does the author present only one side of the issue without acknowledging other viewpoints?
16. What is the purpose of active listening in CAASPP professional interactions? → To fully understand the speaker's message and respond appropriately
17. What is the slope of a line that passes through the points (2, 3) and (6, 11)? → 2
18. Which element is MOST important in establishing a clear point of view in a narrative? → Consistently using first-person (I/we) or third-person (he/she/they) pronouns
19. Which of the following sets of ordered pairs is NOT a function? → {(1,2), (1,3), (2,4)}
20. Which property is used when you write 3(x + 4) = 3x + 12? → Distributive Property
21. A student is writing about the history of the Golden Gate Bridge. Which source would provide the MOST reliable historical facts? → An encyclopedia article from a reputable publisher
22. Which of the following best describes a negative correlation in a scatter plot? → As x increases, y decreases
23. Which inequality represents 'x is at most 7'? → x ≤ 7
24. What is the function of a topic sentence in a body paragraph? → To state the main idea of the paragraph and connect it to the thesis
25. A farmer has a triangular plot of land with a base of 120 feet and a height of 80 feet. What is the area? → 4,800 ft²
26. Which sentence correctly uses a colon? → He packed everything he needed: a tent, sleeping bag, and flashlight.
27. In a stem-and-leaf plot, the stem 4 has leaves 1, 3, 7. What values do these represent? → 41, 43, 47
28. What is the most important professional competency for CAASPP certification in research skills? → Deep knowledge combined with practical application skills
29. Which of the following functions has the greatest rate of change (steepest slope)? → f(x) = −4x + 2
30. Which type of text structure would an author MOST likely use to explain the similarities and differences between two species of birds? → Compare and contrast