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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 SchoolsRobin Getzen, High School ELA TeacherLenox, MA Public SchoolsSusan 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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