1. The PARCC Model Content Frameworks English Language Arts/Literacy Grades Version 2.0—August 2012

2. Common Core State Standards for ELA/Literacy
Introduction
College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards
Reading
Writing
Speaking and Listening
Language
Grade-Specific Standards
K-5 ELA/Literacy
6-12 ELA6-12 History/Social Studies, Science, & Technical Subjects
Appendices

3. Key Shifts in ELA/Literacy
Complexity
Regular practice with complex text and its academic vocabulary
Evidence
Reading and Writing grounded in evidence from text
Knowledge
Building knowledge from content-rich nonfiction and informational texts

4. CCSS Goal: All Students College and Career Ready
What capacities should literate college- and career-ready students exhibit by the time they graduate from high school?

5. CCSS Goal: All Students College and Career Ready
Demonstrate independence
Build strong content knowledge
Adjust communication for audience, task, purpose, and discipline
Comprehend as well as critique
Value evidence
Employ technology and digital media strategically and capably
Understand other perspectives and cultures
CCSS, Introduction, p. 7

6. Changes in Classroom Practice
Teacher-centered Discrete lessons Teach isolated texts Test over the text
Student-centered Connected lessons for deep learning on a topic Use texts to gain deep understanding Communicate understanding about topics orally and in writing

7. Purposes for the PARCC Model Content Frameworks
To serve as a bridge between the Common Core State Standards and the PARCC Assessment System by
Supporting implementation of the Common Core State Standards
Reflects integrated and iterative nature of the CCSS
Reflects key shifts of the CCSS
Supports shared responsibility for literacy development
Informing development of item specifications and blueprints for the PARCC assessments

8. Purposes for the PARCC Model Content Frameworks
To serve as one model for teachers, curriculum directors, and administrators
Grades 3-5 ELA/Literacy across all content areas
Grades 6-11 ELA with foundational ideas for literacy instruction in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects

9. A Model for Curriculum Developers and Teachers
Illustrates one way of organizing the content of the standards over the course of the school year
Reflects the key shifts in the standards
Provides insight into the development of the PARCC Assessment System
Presents standards in an integrated and iterative fashion
Weaves standards into modules that progressively develop student understanding
Focuses on essential knowledge, skills, and understandings that students must develop for college and career readiness
Note: The Frameworks are NOT a complete guide for curriculum.

10. A Bridge to the PARCC Assessment System
CCSS Key Shifts
PARCC Major Claims
Regular practice with complex texts and its academic vocabulary
Reading and writing grounded in evidence from text
Building knowledge from content-rich nonfiction and informational texts
Read and comprehend a range of sufficiently complex texts independently
Write effectively when using and/or analyzing sources
Build and present knowledge through research and the integration, comparison, and synthesis of ideas

11. An Aligned System Common Core State Standards Model Content Frameworks
Model Instructional Lessons/Units
PARCC Assessment System

12. Overview of the PARCC Model Content Frameworks
Consists of two major sections
Introduction
Grade-specific frameworks, Grades 3-11
Available as PDF or searchable electronic version at
Definition of terms available on the electronic version

13. PARCC Model Content Frameworks
Introduction

14. Connections to the PARCC Assessment System
Supports PARCC Assessment System through
Reading complex texts
Writing effectively when using and/or analyzing sources
Conducting and reporting on research
Speaking and listening
Language use for reading, writing, and speaking
Places emphasis on regular opportunities to
Grapple with close, analytic reading of grade-level complex texts
Construct increasingly sophisticated responses in writing

15. Structure of Grade-Level Frameworks
Grade-Level Frameworks divided into four sections
Narrative Summary of the ELA Standards
The Model Content Framework Chart
Key Terms and Concepts for the Model Content Framework Chart
Writing and Speaking and Listening Standards Progressions Charts

17. Model Content Framework Chart
Provides educators flexibility to order the modules and content within modules to suit purposes and needs
Knowledge and skills embedded across 4 modules address ALL the standards for each grade level; therefore, order of the 4 modules is not critical
What changes throughout the modules
Focus and Emphasis on types of texts read and written
What remains constant throughout the modules
Cultivation of students’ literacy skills in preparation for college and career readiness and PARCC assessments

18. Key Terms and Concepts for the Model Content Frameworks Chart
Provides explanation of elements within Framework Chart
Elements play a key role within CCSS
Elements reflect critical emphasis within PARCC Assessment System
NOT intended to limit the types of texts
educators may use

19. Key Terms and Concepts for the Model Content Framework Chart
Reading complex texts
Writing to texts
Research project
For reading and writing in each module
Cite evidence and analyze content
Understand and apply grammar
Understand and apply vocabulary
Conduct discussions and report findings
Foundational reading skills (grades 3-5)

20. Reading Complex Text
Model Content Frameworks highlight close, sustained analysis of complex text
Includes all students, struggling reader to advanced
Linked to significant gains in reading proficiency
A key component in college and career readiness
Overlapping in complexity while spiraling to more complex text, with appropriate scaffolding
Builds content knowledge through comparison and synthesis of ideas across multiple texts
* Apply a text complexity tool to determine complexity

21. Three Measures of Text Complexity

22. Websites with Text Complexity Resources
Common Core State Standards
Appendix A
Supplemental Information for Appendix A
Student Achievement Partners
Text Complexity Collections(qualitative and grade-band quantitative tools)
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Text Complexity: Qualitative Measures Rubric
PARCC Text Complexity Tools
Literary Complexity Analysis Worksheet
Informational Text Analysis Worksheet

23. Close Reading of Complex Texts
A thorough and methodical examination of meaning through deliberate reading and rereading
Close reading and gathering knowledge from specific texts must be at the heart of classroom activities, reflecting on
meanings of individual words and sentences
the order in which sentences unfold
the development of ideas over the course of the text

24. Close Reading of Complex Texts
Aligned curriculum should explicitly direct students to re-read challenging portions of the text
Multiple readings allow students to glean information, gather evidence, and build knowledge
Full comprehension of individual texts aids in comparison and synthesis of multiple sources

25. Text-Dependent Questions
High-quality sequences of text-dependent questions
Cultivate mastery of the specifics of what a text says explicitly
Draw inferences based on evidence in a text and make valid claims
Make comparisons with other texts and synthesize information across texts to build knowledge about a topic
Cite specific evidence when offering an oral or written interpretation of a text (arguments, explanations, analyses)
Do not require information or evidence from outside the text or texts; focus is on the text or comparisons between texts

26. Writing to Texts Generates a deeper understanding of a text or topic
Reflects the emphasis to write effectively and proficiently
Focuses shifts from narratives in lower grades to analytical writing (arguments, informational)
Includes a variety of writing
routine writing for comprehension and building writing skills
analytical writing to advance an argument or explain an idea
narrative stories and descriptions

27. Narrative Description
Narrative Writing
Narrative Story
Narrative Description
Real or imagined situations
Uses time as its structure
Includes creative fiction, memoirs, anecdotes, biographies, and autobiographies
Creates a vivid impression of a person, phenomenon, event, or procedure
In history/social studies, might include descriptions about individuals and events
In sciences, might include descriptions of step-by-step procedures of investigations so others can replicate and test results

28. Research Project Build, integrate, and deepen knowledge on a topic
Connect to texts selected for close reading
Read, compare, and synthesize ideas across multiple texts
Gather additional information
Present findings in formal and informal contexts

29. For Reading and Writing in Each Module
Knowledge and Skills
Connections to Standards
Cite evidence and analyze content
Understand and apply grammar
Understand and apply vocabulary
Conduct discussions and report findings
For grades 3-5, acquire and develop foundational reading skills
Explanation of the knowledge and skills that connect and support the standards related to reading, writing, and research
Critical to building content knowledge

30. Writing and Speaking and Listening Progressions Charts

31. PARCC Model Content Frameworks Grade-Level Frameworks

32. Key Changes from Grade to Grade
Rigor of the CCSS Standards
Complexity of texts
Number of short texts read as well as emphasis of text types
Number of analyses and narratives written
Research demands
More specific and detailed evidence to support claims and topics
Deeper understanding of content
Increased ability to communicate knowledge effectively in writing and speaking, using academic and domain-specific vocabulary and language

33. A System of Instruction and Assessments Aligned to the Common Core State Standards

34. Evidence-Centered Design in the Classroom
Claims
inferences about what students should be able to do
aligned to standards
Evidence
supports claims
drawn from student work
formal and informal
formative and summative
Tasks
classroom activities designed to elicit evidence
*Supports the PARCC Assessment System

35. Backward Planning Curriculum Tools that Support Evidence-Centered Design
Literacy Design Collaborative, Grades 4-12
Modules begin with a CCSS-related Performance Task
Understanding by Design, Grades K-College
Units begin with Transfer Goals, Understandings, & Essential Questions
PARCC Model Content Frameworks, Grades 3-11
Modules begin with a Research Project
Covers the full range of standards, recommended in each module
Supports the iterative nature of the CCSS as well as its key shifts in learning and PARCC Major Claims

37. Curriculum Design to Build Content Knowledge
Units/Modules on topics/themes worth learning
Authentic and relevant topics worth researching
Analyses worth writing
Questions worth answering
A range of grade-level texts worth reading
Assessment opportunities for gathering evidence to determine weaknesses, gaps in learning, and evaluating performance

38. Role of the Tri-State Rubric in Supporting High-Quality Modules/Units
Builds capacity of educators in determining quality and alignment to the CCSS
Uses clear, descriptive criteria in four dimensions to review and evaluates multi-day lessons or modules/units
Encourages collegial review, by applying a common language for reviewing and evaluating lessons or modules/units

40. Evidence-Centered Design in the PARCC Summative Assessment
Claims
Master Claim, Major Claims, Sub-claims
inferences about what students should be able to do
aligned to standards-based evidence statements
Evidence
supports claims
drawn from writing arguments (opinions-grades 3-5), informative/explanatory texts, and narratives
Tasks
Literary Analysis Task, Narrative Task, Research Simulation Task
aligned to the standards-based evidence statements
* Also includes a non-summative Speaking & Listening Task.
** Non-summative components to be developed (Diagnostic Tool and Mid-year Assessment)
***Supports the CCSS Key shifts in learning

42. PARCC’s Core Commitments to ELA/Literacy Assessment Quality
Texts Worth Reading: The assessments will use authentic texts worthy of study instead of artificially produced or commissioned passages. Questions Worth Answering: Sequences of questions that draw students into deeper encounters with texts will be the norm (as in an excellent classroom), rather than sets of random questions of varying quality. Better Standards Demand Better Questions: Instead of reusing existing items, PARCC will develop custom items to the Standards. Fidelity to the Standards (now in Teachers’ hands): PARCC evidences are rooted in the language of the Standards so that expectations remain the same in both instructional and assessment settings.

43. Texts Worth Reading
Range: Reading across the disciplines and helping to satisfy the split of informational text to literature at each grade band.
Quality: The passages include content-rich literature and informational texts.
Complexity: Quantitatively and qualitatively, the passages have been validated and deemed suitable for use at each grade level.

44. Every Question Requires Supporting Evidence
Students’ Command of Evidence with Complex Texts is at the Core of Every Part of the Assessment!
SO. . .
Two standards are always in play—whether they be reading or writing items, selected-response or constructed-response items on any one of the four components of PARCC. They are:
Reading Standard One (Use of Evidence)
Reading Standard Ten (Complex Texts)

45. Three Innovative Item Types
Evidence-Based Selected Response (EBSR)—Combines a traditional selected- response question with a second selected-response question that asks students to show evidence from the text that supports the answer they provided to the first question. Underscores the importance of Reading Anchor Standard 1 for implementation of the CCSS. Technology-Enhanced Constructed Response (TECR)—Uses technology to capture student comprehension of texts in authentic ways that have been difficult to score by machine for large scale assessments (e.g., drag and drop, cut and paste, shade text, move items to show relationships). Range of Prose Constructed Responses (PCR)—Elicits evidence that students have understood a text or texts they have read and can communicate that understanding well both in terms of written expression and knowledge of language and conventions. There are four of these items on each annual performance-based assessment.

46. PARCC Performance-Based Assessment with EBSR, TECR, and PCR Items
The Performance-Based Assessment consists of three types of tasks:
Literary Analysis Task
Narrative Task
Research Simulation Task

47. Understanding the Literary Analysis Task
Students carefully consider two literary texts worthy of close study.
Students 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.

48. Understanding the Narrative Writing Task
Students read one brief text and answer a few questions to help clarify their understanding of the text.
Students then write either a narrative story or a narrative description (e.g., writing a historical account of important figures; detailing a scientific process; describing an account of events, scenes, or objects).

49. Understanding the Research Simulation Task
Session 1: Students will
Read an anchor text that introduces the topic and answer EBSR and TECR items to gather key details and to support their understanding.
Write a summary or short analysis of the piece.
Session 2: Students will
Read two additional sources (one may include a multimedia text) and answer a EBSR and TECR questions to show their reading comprehension.
Mirror the research process by synthesizing their understandings into an analytic essay, using textual evidence the sources.

50. Understanding the End-of-Year Assessment
Students will be given several passages to read closely.
EBSR and TECR questions will be sequenced in a way that they
will draw students into deeper encounters with the texts and
will result in thorough comprehension of the concepts to provide models for the regular course of instruction.
Questions will draw on higher order skills such as
critical reading and analysis,
the comparison and synthesis of ideas within and across texts, and
determining the meaning of words and phrases in context.

51. Big Changes Content Knowledge Needed for Some Teachers
Pedagogical Practices of Teachers
Administrators’ Expectations of Teachers
Teacher Education Programs
Professional Development
Policy Changes

52. Achieving Connected Learning
The PARCC Model Content Frameworks support connected learning aligned to the CCSS by
Being an integral part of an aligned system of curriculum, instruction, and assessment
Helping educators gain a deeper understanding of the CCSS and PARCC Assessment System
Encouraging collaboration across the content areas
Ensuring that the full range of CCSS are included when developing curriculum and instruction

53. Resources
Video recording of the presentation by writers of the PARCC Model Content Frameworks and Achieve
August 2012
Model Content Frameworks
Item Prototypes

54. Resources Arkansas’s Big Shifts

55. Resources for Text Complexity
Qualitative Dimensions of Text Complexity
CCSS, Appendix A, pg. 6
Supplemental Information for Appendix A
Text Complexity Measures (pg. 4)
Qualitative Dimensions Tool (pg. 6)

56. Resources for Text Complexity
Text Complexity Collections
Quantitative Tools (including links)
Qualitative Tools (including grade-band tools)
Text Complexity: Qualitative Measures Rubric
Informational Texts
Literary Texts

57. Resources for Text Complexity
PARCC Text Complexity Tools
Literary Complexity Analysis Worksheet
Informational Text Analysis Worksheet
Final documents coming Spring 2013 to
Currently, drafts can be accessed through Solicitations: RFP Try-out. Then follow the link to and download Appendix A.

58. ADE Professional Development for ELA/Literacy
Disciplinary Literacy Overview
Close Reading of Complex Text
Tri-State Quality Review Rubric for ELA/Literacy

59. Contact Information
Dr. Tracy Tucker, Director, Curriculum & Instruction
Melody Morgan, Director, Student Assessment
Dana Breitweiser, ELA, Student Assessment & Curriculum
Sherri Thorne, ELA, Curriculum & Instruction