Reading Factory: 6 th Grade Benchmarks

2. From the Florida Department of Education www.fcatexplorer.com Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Program Overview

3. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Interactive program offers practice on the FCAT-tested benchmarks Reinforces reading comprehension skills Available at no cost to all Florida public schools Accessible from any computer connected to the Internet

4. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Fidelity with the Official FCAT Strict adherence to the Sunshine State Standards and the DOE’s Test Item and Performance Task Specifications Rigorous item development process • Items drafted by reading teachers and professional item writers • Items reviewed by instructional designers, testing specialists, bias reviewers, and professional editors

5. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Input from Exemplary Education Professionals • Highly qualified classroom teachers • Recommended for expertise in subject area and grade level • National Board Certified • Recipients of Teacher of the Year awards • Experienced as FCAT Coach and/or Reading Coach • Masters Degrees

6. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Reading Factory’s Adaptive Support Model

7. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Adaptive Support Model INDIVIDUALIZED ADAPTIVE SUPPORT • Automatically adjusts instructionalsupport level based on student’s success with practice questions

8. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Adaptive Support Model ADAPTIVE SUPPORT LEVEL • Three levels for both sets of materials • Full Support: • Word Click: Click to hear any word • Embedded questions: Interim comprehension checks • Moderate Support: Embedded questions only • No Support: Neither

9. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Passages and Practice Items

10. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks FCAT-like Practice PASSAGES • Same average length and reading level as the FCAT • Same genres: poems, plays, articles and stories • Engaging illustrations reinforce important ideas

11. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks FCAT-like Practice PRACTICE ITEMS • Rigorous item development process • Written by professional item writers • Reviewed, edited, and approved by teachers • Revised as needed based on statistical item analysis • Same average number of items per passage as on the FCAT • No fewer than 5 items per skill • From 5 to 50 items per Benchmark • Same types of items as on the FCAT

12. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks FCAT-like Practice MULTIPLE CHOICE (MC) Careful review of every item for psychometric criteria • Item clearly supports the skill • All answer choices are parallel (e.g., in grammatical form) • Only plausible choices • One “clearly best” answer • Correct answer supported in the text

13. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Instructional Support

14. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Instructional Support • 1ST ATTEMPT CORRECT • Correct Answer Explanation (CAE) • Confirms the attributes that make an answer correct • Reinforces effective skill application

15. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Instructional Support • 1ST ATTEMPT INCORRECT • Hint (for vocabulary questions) • See clues (for comprehension questions) • Takes student back to passage • Student reviews highlighted clues

16. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Instructional Support • 2nd ATTEMPT • For CORRECT answer, CAE confirms and reinforces effective skill application • For INCORRECTanswer, CAE helps student understand why the correct answer is correct

17. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Special Features

18. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Special Features FLUENCY LIST • Glossary & Vocabulary Exercise words • Easy-to-use chart for recording progress • Effective pre-reading activity • Available from School Administrator’s Desk and Classroom Teacher’s Desk

19. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Special Features • VOCABULARY EXERCISES • Precede each passage • Teach five potentially challenging words • Word recognition • Phonics • Definition • Meaning in context • Engage students andincrease confidence & success

20. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Special Features “PURPOSE FOR READING” STRATEGIES • Purpose for Reading statements precede each passage to help establish good comprehension habits • “See Questions” feature allows students to preview item stems(not answer choices)

21. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Special Features GLOSSARY • Click linked (blue) words in passage • Click “speaker icon” to hear word pronounced • Definition & sample sentence • Spanish and Haitian Creole translations

22. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Special Features • “Look for the yellow highlighted clues.” • Reinforces re-reading the passage to find correct answer • Student must go to every page containing clues related to that question • After going to every page with relevant clues, student gets second attempt

23. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Special Features • MY CHALLENGE LIST • Links directly to items answered incorrectly • Helps students focus on skill improvement • Accessible from the Main Menu—just click the red circles to try a question again!

24. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Special Features • VOCABULARY ACTIVITIES • Three different game-like activities • Each activity reviews words from three Vocabulary Exercises

25. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Educators’ Tools

26. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Educators’ Tools Classroom Teacher’s Desk • Curriculum resources • Skills Location Map • Table of Benchmarks and Skills • Item Review • Letter to Parents School Administrator’s Desk • Information management tools • Sign-in names and passwords • Progress Reports • Messages to students District Administrator’s Desk

27. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Student Performance Reports At the Classroom Teacher’s Desk • Check progress on individuals or classes • View reading data by Benchmark, Skill, or Passage • View math data by Benchmark, Strand, or Theme • View Science data by Benchmark or Strand • Compare percentage correct before and after instructional support

28. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks The Parent & Family Guide • Accessible from the home page without a password • Available in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole • Helps parents, guardians, and mentors understand the Sunshine State Standards and the FCAT • Provides Everyday Activitiesto reinforce Benchmarks and Skills

29. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Visit the Educator Resources Page • Linked from the home page • Download this PowerPoint presentation • Download the School Administrator’s Desk Manual • Download the Teacher’s Desk Manual • Download other presentations • Reading Focus Overview • Math Focus Overview • Program-specific presentations

30. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks To get sign-in names & passwords School Principals: Contact your District Office and speak to the “District Administrator” for the FCAT Explorer Teachers: Contact your “School Administrator” for the FCAT Explorer FCAT Explorer Home Page (www.fcatexplorer.com)

31. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks Toll-Free Help Desk • Accessible from the home page without a password • 1-888-750-FCAT1-888-750-3228 • Weekdays 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

32. Reading Factory: 6th Grade Benchmarks www.fcatexplorer.com Log on to the FCAT Explorer!