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The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers:

Released Items for English Language Arts

Mary Beth Banios, Assistant SuperintendentShrewsbury, MA Public Schools

Robin Getzen, High School ELA TeacherLenox, MA Public Schools

Susan Wheltle, Director of Literacy and Humanities, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

January 23, 2014

• Basics on the Common Core State Standards and PARCC

• Previewing the PARCC ELA assessments• A close look at ELA items for grades 10, 3, and 6• PARCC Transition Plan for Massachusetts

Agenda

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PARCC 101: The Basics

PARCC is based on the Common Core State Standards, which are included in the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for ELA/Literacy and Mathematics. The ultimate purpose of the standards and assessments is to prepare students for success after high school.

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46 States + DC Have Adopted the Common Core State Standards

*Minnesota adopted the CCSS in ELA/literacy only

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Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)

English Language Arts

Building knowledge through content-rich non-fiction

Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational

Regular practice with complex text and academic language

Key ELA Shifts in the Common Core

ANCHORED IN COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS6

Common Core to PARCC

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Assessment DesignEnglish Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics, Grades 3-11

End-of-Year Assessment (EOY)

•Innovative, computer-based items•Required

Performance-BasedAssessment (PBA)• Extended tasks• Applications of

concepts and skills• Required

Diagnostic 2-8 / K-1 Formative Assessments•Early indicator of student knowledge and skills to inform instruction, supports, and PD•Non-summative

2 Optional Assessments/Flexible Administration

Mid-Year Assessment

•Performance-based•Emphasis on hard-to-measure standards•Potentially summative•Locally scored

Speaking And Listening Assessment• Locally scored• Non-summative, required, not included in summative score

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Administration Time

PARCC estimates that students will spend the approximate times below to complete the PARCC performance-based and end-of-year assessments in ELA/literacy and math:

• 8 hours annually in 3rd grade• Just over 9 hours in grades 4–5• A little less than 9 ½ hours in middle school• A little more than 9 ½ hours in high school

Schools and districts will have a maximum of one four-week window to complete the administration of the performance-based and another maximum four-week window to complete the end-of-year tests.

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PARCC Accessibility Features and Accommodations Manual

November 2013Second Edition Release

PARCC Comprehensive Accessibility Policies

Features for All Students

Accessibility Features*

Identified in advance

Accommodations**

* Available to all participating students**For students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities

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Accessibility Features for All Students

Accessibility Features for All StudentsAudio Amplification

Blank Paper (provided by test administrator)

Eliminate Answer ChoicesFlag Items for Review

General Administration Directions Clarified (by test administrator)

General Administration Directions Read Aloud and Repeated (by test administrator)

Highlight ToolHeadphones

Magnification/Enlargement DeviceNotePad

Pop-Up GlossaryRedirect Student to Test (by test administrator)

Spell CheckerWriting Tools

Line Reader Tool12

Accessibility Features Identified in Advance

Accessibility Features Identified in Advance

Answer Masking

Background/Font Color (Color Contrast)

General MaskingText-to-Speech for the Mathematics Assessments

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PARCC ELA Sample Item Review

Headlines

Question TypesEvidence Based Selected Response (EBSR)Technology Enhanced Constructed Response (TECR)Prose Constructed Response (PCR)

Performance-Based Assessment TasksLiterary analysisNarrative writingResearch simulation

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Headlines

Structure of Performance Based Assessment Tasks:Read several related texts, one of which may be a videoAnswer questions after each text/videoComplete writing task to demonstrate understanding

and synthesis across all texts/videosNote how EBSR and TECR questions for each text build

toward synthesis across all texts/videos

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Headlines

• The ELA assessment will include questions based on both literary and informational texts – Literary texts may include prose, poetry, and drama– Informational texts may include essays, memoirs, letters,

biographies, texts or videos in history/social science, science, technical subjects, and the arts

– There may be questions on maps, graphs, charts, or illustrations embedded in informational texts

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• Students carefully consider two literary texts worthy of close study.

• They are asked to answer a few EBSR and TECR questions about each text to demonstrate their ability to do close analytic reading and to compare and synthesize ideas.

• Students write a literary analysis about the two texts.

Understanding the Literary Analysis Task

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Literary Analysis (EBSR) Grade 10

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Literary Analysis (TECR) Grade 10

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Literary Analysis (PCR) Grade 10

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• Students begin by reading an anchor text that introduces the topic.

• EBSR and TECR items ask students to gather key details about the passage to support their understanding.

• Students read two additional sources and answer a few questions about each text to learn more about the topic, so they are ready to write the final essay and to show their reading comprehension.

• Finally, students mirror the research process by synthesizing their understandings into a writing that uses textual evidence from the sources.

Understanding the Research Simulation Task

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Research Simulation (EBSR) Grade 3

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Research Simulation (EBSR) Grade 3

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Research Simulation (Video Example) Grade 7

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• Students read one brief text and answer a few questions to help clarify their understanding of the text(s).

• Students then write a narrative story.

Understanding a Narrative Writing Task Based on a Literary Text

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Grade 6• Julie of the Wolves was a winner of the Newbery Medal in

1973.

• This text, about a young Eskimo girl surviving on her own in the tundra by communicating with wolves, offers a story rich with characterization and imagery that will appeal to a diverse student population.

Texts Worth Reading

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Narrative Writing (EBSR) Grade 6Julie of the Wolves

Which statement best describes the central idea of the text?

a) Miyax is far from home and in need of help. *b) Miyax misses her father and has forgotten the lessons he

taught her.c) Miyax is cold and lacks appropriate clothing.d) Miyax is surrounded by a pack of unfriendly wolves.

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Narrative Writing (EBSR) Grade 6Julie of the Wolves

Which sentence best helps develop the central idea?

a) “Miyax pushed back the hood of her sealskin parka and looked at the Arctic sun.”

b) “Somewhere in this cosmos was Miyax; and the very life in her body, its spark and warmth, depended upon these wolves for survival.”*

c) “The next night the wolf called him from far away and her father went to him and found a freshly killed caribou.”

d) He had ignored her since she first came upon them, two sleeps ago.”

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What does the word regal mean as it is used in the passage?

a) generousb) threateningc) kingly*d) uninterested

Narrative Writing (EBSR) Grade 6Julie of the Wolves

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Narrative Writing (PCR) Grade 6Julie of the Wolves

In the passage, the author developed a strong character named Miyax. Think about Miyax and the details the author used to create that character. The passage ends with Miyax waiting for the black wolf to look at her.

Write an original story to continue where the passage ended. In your story, be sure to use what you have learned about the character Miyax as you tell what happens to her next.

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PARCC Online Test Samples

Test drive the ELA and math assessment items!

The Technology Platform: http://practice.parcc.testnav.com/Notes about the online test sample:• Safari, Chrome (PC), Firefox 14 or higher• Some functionality on iPad 2

Additional ELA and math items: http://www.parcconline.org

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Massachusetts Transition Plan

• The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has voted to “test drive” PARCC– Spring-Fall 2014: Field Test and Analysis of Field

Test Data– Winter-Spring 2014-2015: MA Schools Administer

first PARCC operational tests– Summer-Fall 2015: Standard setting for PARCC

tests; Board votes on whether or not to adopt PARCC

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Resources

Any publicly released assessment policies, evidence tables, item prototypes, PARCC Model Content Frameworks, and other valuable resources can be found at www.parcconline.org

Information on PARCC Transition Plan and Field Tests in Massachusetts:•http://www.doe.mass.edu/parcc (MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education)•http://www.mass.edu/currentinit /parcc.asp (MA Department of Higher Education)

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Thank You

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