1. Comparing Traditional Literacy Assessment to CCSS Literacy Assessment 2014

2. How Are The Standards Any Different?An Overview The CCSS bring three key shifts to literacy instruction and assessment. • Complexity: Regular practice with complex text and its academic language • Knowledge: Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction • Evidence: Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational

3. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – An OverviewShift 1: Regular practice with complex text and its academic language

4. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – An OverviewShift 2: Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational

5. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – An OverviewShift 3: Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction

6. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment - Text Complexity (Shift 1) In the next few slides, you will learn more about how the texts on assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards differ from those used on past assessments.

7. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Text Complexity (Shift 1) CCSS reading and writing assessments are based on texts of appropriate complexityfor the grade level, as determined by quantitative and qualitative analyses. Texts build a staircase of increasing complexity within each year and from grade to grade so that students are ready for college and careers.

8. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Text Complexity

9. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Text Complexity

10. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment of Vocabulary (Shift 1) In the next few slides, you will learn more about how the Common Core State Standards measuring vocabulary differ from those used on past assessments.

11. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Vocabulary (Shift1) CCSS vocabulary items focus on determining the meaning of words using context. Vocabulary items usually assess tier 2 words*, and the tested words must be important to the central ideas of the text. * Words that have wide use in academic writing and are important to student learning across many topics and all grade levels. They also: • Are critical to reading comprehension • Have power for students, in that they generally are members of word families and appear in many forms (e.g., secure, insecure, security) • Can be used in a variety of ways and connect to other words and concepts • Provide precision and specificity in describing a concept or event

12. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Vocabulary

13. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Vocabulary (Shift 1) CCSS items assessing figurative language ask for analysis of the meaning or intended effect of figurative language, rather than asking for literary terms for figurative language.

14. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Vocabulary

15. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Textual Analysis (Shift 2) In the next few slides, you will learn more about CCSS reading test questions. Even the multiple-choice questions, ask students to read closely and engage in analysis of the text—they do not ask for simple recall or superficial analysis.

16. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Textual Analysis

17. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment– Textual Analysis

18. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment– Textual Analysis

19. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment– Textual Analysis

20. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment– Textual Analysis

21. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Use of Textual Evidence (Shift 2) CCSS reading items ask students to use specific textual evidence to justify and support claims about the text.

22. A New MC Format for CCSS-Aligned Assessment – Calling for Use of Textual Evidence

23. A New MC Format for CCSS-Aligned Assessment – Calling for Use of Textual Evidence

24. A New MC Format for CCSS-Aligned Assessment – Calling for Use of Textual Evidence

25. A New MC Format for CCSS-Aligned Assessment – Calling for Use of Textual Evidence

26. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Writing to Sources (Shift 2) Using textual evidence is also important when assessing writing. CCSS-aligned writing prompts ask students to make claims or inferences about text(s), or to integrate information in texts, and to refer specifically to the text(s) in their response.

27. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Writing to Sources

28. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Writing to Sources

29. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Informational Text (Shift 3) As students progress through the grades, they need to become more skillful at reading high-quality complex informational text, so that they are ready for the demands of college and careers. Literature is also important and does not go away! But assessments should present an increasing proportion of high-quality informational texts—texts that are worth reading.

30. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Informational Text How do we evaluate whether or not an informational text is content-rich? Here are some guidelines: • Most texts should be previously published because published texts have been accepted and edited by professional publication editors. • Whether previously published or not, a text must reflect a professional editing process and represent excellence in the author’s craft, e.g., • Its content must be tightly and clearly structured • Its content must be comprehensive and error free • History/social studies or science/technical content, specifically, must reflect the kind of writing that is produced by authorities in the particular academic discipline.

31. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Informational Text How to evaluate informational texts, continued • Many of the informational texts on assessments should use informational text structures rather than a narrative structure, so that students are challenged with text structures similar to what they will encounter in college and careers. (Informational texts with narrative structures will usually be history or literary nonfiction rather than science and technical subjects.) • Whether previously published or not, a text must enable students to develop rich content knowledge.

32. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Informational Text

33. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment – Summary Shift 1: Regular practice with complex text and its academic language

34. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment - Summary Shift 2: Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence from text, both literary and informational

35. Comparing Traditional Assessment to CCSS Assessment - Summary Shift 3: Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction

36. Additional Resources: • There are several sites that provide more CCSS-aligned items. • For PARCC sample items and practice tests, grades 3-11, go to www.parcconline.org. • For SBAC practice tests, grades 3 – high school, go to www.smarterbalanced.org. • For mini-assessments that can be used in the classroom, go to www.achievethecore.org and click on the “Assessment Questions” tab. • Information about the Shifts can be found at: http://achievethecore.org/content/upload/122113_Shifts.pdf

37. Thank you for taking the time to learn more about CCSS-aligned assessments!