Common Core/FCAT 2.0 Reading/Language Arts February 2012

1. Welcome. Please sign in. Common Core/FCAT 2.0 Reading/Language ArtsFebruary 2012

2. Our goals for today: • Provide update on Common Core Standards in Florida. • Analyze organization and content of Common Core Standards. • Discuss text complexity and its implications for students’ close reading of text. • Participate in a close reading exercise. • Review FCAT 2.0. • Discuss with colleagues best practices for instruction and assessment. Essential Question: How do we teach in a time of transition from FCAT 2.0 to Common Core?

3. knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs • a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). • English-language arts and math were the first subjects chosen for the common core state standards. • The Common Core State Standards Initiative was and will remain a state-led effort What is Common Core?

4. CCSS are “fewer, deeper, clearer.” • Students will be assessed on the FCAT 2.0 (based on NGSS) through the spring of 2014. • Florida’s adoption of Common Core includes implementation of the content area literacy standards. • Florida Statute includes Next Generational Content Area Professional Development (NGCARPD) for content area teachers which sets the stage for Common Core content area literacy standards. • Level 2 students must be served in a reading class with reading endorsed/certified teacher or a content class with an NGCARPD trained teacher. Updates on Common Core

5. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a 24-state consortium working together to develop a common set of K-12 assessments in English and math. • The PARCC assessments will be ready for states to administer during the 2014-15 school year. • PARCC is contracting with two research universities to develop models of innovative, online-delivered items and rich performance tasks proposed for use in the PARCC assessments. These prototypes will include both assessment and classroom-based tasks. What are the PARCC Assessments?

6. Let’s take a look at the English Language Arts standards.

7. Highlight the strand labels at the top of the following pages: • Reading – Literature and Informational (page 35) • Writing (page 41) • Speaking and Listening (page 48) • Language (page 51) Organization of Common Core Standards for English Language Arts Grade 6-12

8. Read the introductory paragraph. Based on what you read, what are anchor standards? • There are 10 anchor standards for reading. Study each of them and the four categories of organization. Explain the organization of the standards. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading Strand – page 35

9. Read “Note on range and content of student reading.” • Highlight words and phrases that describe the types of texts students should be reading to become college and career ready. • Underline the words and phrases that show the outcomes of using these types of text. College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading – page 35

10. Based on page 35, how are the standards for Reading a departure from the Next Generation Sunshine State Standards? Discuss at your table. Be prepared to share.

11. Highlight reading strand on page 36 – “Literature.” • Highlight reading strand on page 39 – “Informational Text.” • There are two types of text within Reading Strand. Organization of Reading Standards

12. Reading Strand (R) • Literature (L) • Grade (6, 7, 8, 9/10, 11/12) • Standards (1-10) Identify the standard: RL.9-10.7. Go to page 36 – Reading Standards for Literature 6-12.

13. Identify the standard of this: RL.9-10.7. Analyze how an author draws on and transforms source material in a specific work (e.g. how Shakespeare treats a theme or topic from Ovid or the Bible or how a later author draws on a play by Shakespeare. Go to page 36 – Reading Standards for Literature 6-12.

14. RL. 7.2 Reading Literature Grade 7 Standard 2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text; provide an objective summary of the text. At your table, locate the following Reading standards:

15. RI.8.8 RI.11-12.8 Now let’s try locating standards for Informational Text. Locate the following standards.

16. RI.8.8 - Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced. RI.11-12.8 – Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal US texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning.

17. For each of the pages referenced above: • Read the “Note on range and content….” in the right margin. Highlight elements that are a departure from Sunshine State Standards. • Review categories and anchor standards. Highlight elements that are a departure from Sunshine State Standards. • Be prepared to share with whole group. Take a few minutes to review the information for writing, speaking and listening, and language strands.See pages 41 (writing), 48 (speaking and listening, and 51 (language).

18. Review the Performance Items provided for you. • Select a couple of the literary standards from Common Core we identified earlier. • Locate the corresponding literature performance task. • What challenges will this present for teachers of language arts/reading? • How will it impact our teaching? Discuss at your table.Be prepared to share.

19. Go to page 57 in the Standards packet to review elements of text complexity.

20. Text Complexity • Text complexity is defined by: Qualitative measures – levels of meaning, structure, language conventionality and clarity, and knowledge demands often best measured by an attentive human reader. Quantitative measures – readability and other scores of text complexity often best measured by computer software. Quantitative Qualitative Reader and Task considerations – background knowledge of reader, motivation, interests, and complexity generated by tasks assigned often best made by educators employing their professional judgment. Reader and Task

21. Quantitative Measures • Measures such as: • Word length • Word frequency • Word difficulty • Sentence length • Text length • Text cohesion Step 1: Quantitative Measures

22. Additional Resources • Lexile Measures and the Common Core State Standards • http://www.lexile.com/using-lexile/lexile-measures-and-the-ccssi/ • Accelerated reader and the Common Core State Standards • http://doc.renlearn.com/KMNet/R004572117GKC46B.pdf • Coh-Metrix • http://cohmetrix.memphis.edu/cohmetrixpr/index.html • Coh-Metrix calculates the coherence of texts on a wide range of measures. It replaces common readability formulas by applying the latest in computational linguistics and linking this to the latest research in psycholinguistics. Quantitative Measures

23. Step 2: Qualitative Measures • Measures such as: • Structure • Language Demands and Conventions • Knowledge Demands • Levels of Meaning/Purpose

24. Step 3: Reader and Task • Considerations such as: • Motivation • Knowledge and experience • Purpose for reading • Complexity of task assigned regarding text • Complexity of questions asked regarding text

25. A Four-step Process: Determine the quantitative measures of the text. Quantitative Qualitative Analyze the qualitative measures of the text. Reader and Task Reflect upon the reader and task considerations. Recommend placement in the appropriate text complexity band. Determining Text Complexity

26. Choose an excerpt of text from Appendix B as a starting place: We could…. Use available resources to determine the text complexity of other materials on our own. or… Where do we find texts in the appropriate text complexity band?

27. Common Core Lesson Plans by Grade Common Core Curriculum Maps http://www.commoncore.org/free/

28. Review the texts for your particular grade and subject. See CCSS Appendix Table of Contents. Discuss with your colleagues the appropriateness of documents in the Appendix for your standards and students. Also discuss the question: “How can we ensure that the documents we use in our classes are appropriately complex?” Be prepared to share with the group. The Common Core Standards also focus on Performance Tasks that include written response to complex texts.

29. What strategies can you incorporate in your teaching that addresses the types of texts and tasks required in Common Core while continuing to teach benchmarks assessed on FCAT 2.0?

30. Locate section entitled, “Building Capacity Through Close Reading.” • Select short, worthy passages. • Design the lesson so students re-read. • Ask students to read with a pencil. • Remind students to note confusions. • Model the text. • Discuss the text. • Ask text dependent questions. Implications for InstructionArticle: “Engaging the Adolescent Learner”

31. Close Reading ActivityLaurie LeeJust Read Florida Office

32. Lunch Time

33. 2012 FCAT 2.0 Please answer questions on pretest to the best of your knowledge.

34. More standards are addressed on the 9th and 10th grade tests than are addressed on the 6th, 7th, or 8th grade tests. False Each FCAT 2.0 question must be written to address only one benchmark. False FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test

35. One benchmark may be broken down into multiple tasks reflected by different types of questions. FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test True Words used in vocabulary questions may be two grade levels above the tested grade. True

36. Test writers may use the exact wording from the passage for correct answer choices in low complexity questions. False In multiple choice items, one-word answer choices are always arranged alphabetically; longer answer choices are always arranged by length. True FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test

37. What is the passing score, or score to achieve a level 3, for your grade level? FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test

38. What groups are most affected by the State Board of Education’s recent decision to change the FCAT Reading Achievement Levels? • Elementary schools • Middle schools

41. Students (grades 6-12) who scored Level 3 on the 2011 FCAT Reading who would be 2’s Under the New Achievement Levels • Chiles – 3 Deerlake – 44 • Godby – 4 Fairview - 81 • Lincoln – 3 Ft. Braden - 34 • Rickards – 1 Griffin - 52 • Cobb – 56 Montford - 84 • Nims – 52 Raa – 76 • Swift Creek - 52

42. What is the percentage of literary text vs. informational text for your grade level? FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test

43. What is the percentage of points in each reporting category for your grade level? FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test

44. What is the average length of a text for your grade level? FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test

45. What is the percentage of low, moderate, and complex questions for your grade level? FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test

46. Low Complexity – may require a student to solve a one-step problem • Moderate Complexity – may require multiple steps • High Complexity – may require a student to analyze and synthesize information • The complexity of a question can be affected by the complexity of its answer choices! FCAT 2.0 Pre-Test

47. If you’ve got the time, check the specs!

49. Talk with your table about lesson/activities that you do to help prepare students for FCAT. • List strategies on chart paper. • Be prepared to share with the group. Test Prep: The Elephant in the Room

50. M/HS Content Focus & Sample Item Crosswalk