Senate Bill 488 requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (Commission) to, beginning July 1, 2025, assess all Preliminary Multiple Subject, Education Specialist, and PK-3 Early Childhood Education Specialist Instruction candidates for competency in reading and literacy instruction using an approved teaching performance assessment.
Senate Bill 488 required the Commission to develop a new literacy performance assessment that will replace the RICA as of July 1, 2025. Beginning July 1, 2025, all newly enrolled credential candidates in Preliminary Multiple Subject, Education Specialist, and PK-3 Early Childhood Education Specialist Instruction credential programs must pass a Commission-adopted performance assessment that includes literacy instruction in order to be recommended for their credential.
Applicants for Preliminary Multiple Subject and Education Specialist credentials must show evidence of the completion of one of the following Literacy Performance Assessments:
RICA Examination:
The RICA exam was set to retire on July 1, 2025, but has been extended to October 31, 2025 for those who have completed all other credentialing and program requirements, including passage of a teaching performance assessment. (PSA 25-07)
- More information on the RICA Written Examination
- More information on the RICA Video Performance Assessment
Foundations of Reading Examination:
Beginning July 1, 2025, the Foundations of Reading Exam was approved as a literacy performance assessment for those who have completed all other credentialing and program requirements, including passage of a teaching performance assessment. (PSA 24-10)
CalTPA Literacy Cycle (25-26 version):
In compliance with the requirement to develop a new literacy performance assessment, the Commission developed a new Literacy Cycle embedded in the 2025-2026 version of the CalTPA that replaced the 2024-25 version of CalTPA Cycle 2. Passage of the 2025-2026 CalTPA Literacy Cycle alone fulfills the literacy performance assessment. Please note that this only satisfies the literacy performance assessment requirement and is separate from the CalTPA requirement which also includes the necessity of a math cycle, either from the 2024-2025 or the 2025-2026 (Revised PSA 25-03)
- More information on the General Education CalTPA
- More information on the Education Specialist CalTPA
For questions regarding the literacy performance assessment, please contact the Office of Licensures and Credentialing at olc@redlands.edu