1 K-2 Smarter Balanced Assessment Update English Language Arts February 2012

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Updates Content Specifications for Summative Assessment of CCSS for ELA & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects  Assess reading for both literary and informational texts  Attention to reading closely  Attention to reading texts of increasing complexity at all grade levels 2

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Updates Assess 3 types of writing considering balance of types across grade levels  Narrative  Argumentative (Opinion/Persuasion)  Informative/Explanatory 3

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Updates SBAC summative assessment design proposes to sample all CCSS strands, with the exception of Reading Foundational Skills  Evaluate Reading Foundational Skills in the early grades  Many early reading assessments are available to assess the developing reading and literacy skills of young children.  Reading Foundational Skills are best assessed locally to make instructional decisions  For grades above K-2 Reading Foundational Skills should be addressed systematically where appropriate 4

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Updates K-2 testing will not be developed through SMARTER Balance. MDE given limited funding and is working with Great Start to design an assessment system for K-2. Looking to the other assessment consortium in their early childhood assessment. 5

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Updates Language Standards: Not a test of vocabulary memorization  Word analysis skills  Close reading  Determining meanings in context  Interpret figurative uses of language 6

A lexile or frequency count is only one consideration when it comes to determining text complexity. Factors that influence text complexity (Hess & Biggam, 2004)  Word difficulty and language structure  Text structure  Discourse style  Genre and characteristic features of the text  Background knowledge and/or degree of familiarity with content  Level of reasoning required  Format and layout of text  Length of text 7

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Updates There are 5 learning outcomes or CLAIMS for the CCSS ELA standards: 1. Read closely and critically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts. 2. Produce effective writing for a range of purposes and audiences 3. Employ effective speaking and listening skills for a range of purposes and audiences. 4. Engage appropriately in collaborative and independent inquiry to investigate/research topics, pose questions, and gather and present information. 5. Skillfully use and interpret written language across a range of literacy tasks. 8

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Updates Summative assessments will be administered across grades 3-8 and grade 11. The next slide is included in the K-2 Smarter Balanced Update so that K-2 teachers will have some idea of what summative assessments may expect of third graders. 9

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Updates What to expect with short research performance tasks for Claim 4:  At grades 3-5, students might read/view and discuss a short informational article about a science topic, such as static electricity.  Then they conduct a designed experiment with a partner to collect data about how static electricity behaves under certain conditions.  Individually, students prepare and present their results to show that they can draw conclusions that integrate or compare what they read about and what they observed (using data collected and text evidence as support). 10

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Updates Claim 4: Grades 3-5 students might be asked to read and discuss several short personal accounts of US citizens who immigrated to this country when they were children (firsthand accounts) And an article (secondhand account) about different immigration patterns across US history Then respond to a research question where they would have to integrate or compare both sources. 11