FWIW, a quick look at the sample test item posted by the district leads back to this UC Berkeley project on performance assessments aligned to Common Core math standards, and their menu of end-of-course assessments:
https://www.map.mathshell.org/tests.phpNote that the MARS tests are actually only 80 minutes long in total, divided into two 40-minute sessions. So the nominal 5 hours of testing probably simply allows for 100% extended time.
I still don't agree with the rigid limitations on math placement options (especially, tbh, in a district as likely to be overweighted at the top end as PAUSD), but I think that in this case, the brouhaha over the validation tests is more a reflection of poor communication on the part of the district (which often is related to poor distrct-family relationships) than of unreasonable placement testing demands.
A problem in its own right, but a different problem.
