1. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers:
Released Items for English Language Arts
January 23, 2014
Mary Beth Banios, Assistant Superintendent
Shrewsbury, MA Public Schools
Robin Getzen, High School ELA Teacher
Lenox, MA Public Schools
Susan Wheltle, Director of Literacy and Humanities, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

2. Agenda Basics on the Common Core State Standards and PARCC
Previewing the PARCC ELA assessments
A close look at ELA items for grades 10, 3, and 6
PARCC Transition Plan for Massachusetts

3. PARCC 101: The Basics
PARCC is based on the Common Core State Standards, which are included in the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for ELA/Literacy and Mathematics. The ultimate purpose of the standards and assessments is to prepare students for success after high school.

4. 46 States + DC Have Adopted the Common Core State Standards
TALKING POINTS:
46 States and the District of Columbia have adopted the Common Core State Standards
Most states are committed to implementing the standards by the school year
*Minnesota adopted the CCSS in ELA/literacy only

5. Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC)
TALKING POINTS
PARCC is an alliance of 19 states, educating nearly 25 million students, that are working together to develop a common set of K- 12 assessments in English and math anchored in what it takes to be ready for college and careers. PARCC is led by 16 governing board states (and D.C.) represented in Purple.
CLICK: The chair of the governing board is Mitchell Chester, Education Commissioner of Massachusetts, and the state of Florida is serving as its fiscal agent.
CLICK: Achieve is the project manager for PARCC, essentially serving as the staff for the consortium and coordinating the work. Collectively the PARCC states educate nearly 25 million students.
Governing States will pilot and field test the assessment system components over the next three years and administer the new assessment system during the school year. Governing States will use the results from the PARCC assessments in their state accountability systems
The chief state school officers of the Governing States serve on the PARCC Governing Board and make decisions on behalf of the Partnership on major policies and operational procedures
Participating States (light blue) provide staff to serve on PARCC’s design committees, working groups, and other task forces established by the Governing Board to conduct the work necessary to design and develop PARCC’s proposed assessment system. By 2014–15, any state that remains in PARCC must commit to statewide implementation and administration of the Partnership’s assessment system Any PARCC Participating State prepared to make the commitments and take on the responsibilities of a Governing State can become one
NOTES
Leadership Team: Comprised of delegates of K-12 chiefs from Governing Board States (e.g., Assoc. Supt for Curriculum, Assessment and/or Instruction)
Technical Advisory Committee: Comprised of state/national assessment experts
Governing Board: Comprised of K-12 chiefs from Governing Board States
Operational Working Groups: Comprised of national, state, and local experts and leaders in their specific areas of expertise
ACCR: Comprised of national and state postsecondary leaders

6. Key ELA Shifts in the Common Core
English Language Arts
Building knowledge through content-rich non-fiction
Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text,
both literary and informational
Regular practice with complex text and academic language
TALKING POINTS
Focus, coherence and clarity
MATHEMATICS
Focus on key topics at each grade level
Coherent progressions across grade levels
Addresses long-heard criticism of mile-wide, inch-deep math curricula
Procedural fluency and understanding of concepts and skills
Content standards require both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency
Mathematical proficiencies
Mathematical proficiencies students should develop (e.g., abstract reasoning, modeling, precision, perseverance, strategic use of tools, making arguments)
Using mathematics to understand a problem – even in new or unfamiliar contexts
Organized around conceptual categories
Standards are organized into conceptual categories and models of traditional, integrated, & advanced courses
Promotes various approaches to high school curriculum
ELA/LITERACY
Reading
Balance of literature and informational texts
Focus on text complexity and what students read
Writing
Emphasis on argument and informative/explanatory writing
Writing about sources (evidence) – answer questions that require students to have read the text
Speaking and Listening
Inclusion of formal and informal talk
Literacy standards for history, science and technical subjects
Promotes the idea that teaching literacy skills is not just the job of the English teacher
Complements rather than replaces those subjects
BOTH CONTENT AREAS
Anchored in college and career readiness
Explicitly define the knowledge and skills that students must master to be college and career ready by the end of high school, and the knowledge and skills in each grade that build towards that goal
ANCHORED IN COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS

7. Common Core to PARCC

8. 2 Optional Assessments/Flexible Administration
Assessment Design English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics, Grades 3-11
Performance-Based
Assessment (PBA)
Extended tasks
Applications of concepts and skills
Required
2 Optional Assessments/Flexible Administration
End-of-Year
Assessment (EOY)
Innovative, computer-based items
Required
Diagnostic 2-8 / K-1 Formative Assessments
Early indicator of student knowledge and skills to inform instruction, supports, and PD
Non-summative
Mid-Year Assessment
Performance-based
Emphasis on hard-to-measure standards
Potentially summative
Locally scored
PARCC states are developing an assessment system comprised of four components. Each component will be computer-delivered and will leverage technology to incorporate innovations.
Two summative, required assessment components designed to
Make “college- and career-readiness” and “on-track” determinations
Measure the full range of standards and full performance continuum
Provide data for accountability uses, including measures of growth
Two interim, optional assessment components designed to generate timely information for informing instruction, interventions, and professional development during the school year
In English language arts/literacy, an additional required, non-summative component will assess students’ speaking and listening skills
Speaking And Listening Assessment
Locally scored
Non-summative, required, not included in summative score

9. Administration Time
PARCC estimates that students will spend the approximate times below to complete the PARCC performance-based and end-of-year assessments in ELA/literacy and math:
8 hours annually in 3rd grade
Just over 9 hours in grades 4–5
A little less than 9 ½ hours in middle school
A little more than 9 ½ hours in high school
Schools and districts will have a maximum of one four-week window to complete the administration of the performance-based and another maximum four-week window to complete the end-of-year tests.

10. PARCC Accessibility Features and Accommodations Manual
November 2013
Second Edition Release

11. PARCC Comprehensive Accessibility Policies
Features for All Students
Accessibility Features*
Identified in advance
Accommodations**
PARCC intends to provide opportunities for the widest possible number of students to demonstrate knowledge and skills while maintaining high expectations for all students to achieve the Common Core State Standards.
The draft Manual details a three-tiered process of providing access to the assessments for all students:
Features for All Students: Tools embedded in the computer-delivered system available to all students to use (e.g. font magnification, highlighting tool, bolding, underlining)
Accessibility Features (identified in advance): Tools embedded in the computer-delivered system open to all students to use, but must be made available at the discretion of school-based educators (e.g. background/font color)
Accommodations: Supports for students with disabilities and English learners that increase access while maintaining a valid and reliable score (e.g. braille form, extended time, word-to-word native language dictionary)
* Available to all participating students
**For students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities

12. Accessibility Features for All Students
Audio Amplification
Blank Paper (provided by test administrator)
Eliminate Answer Choices
Flag Items for Review
General Administration Directions Clarified (by test administrator)
General Administration Directions Read Aloud and Repeated (by test administrator)
Highlight Tool
Headphones
Magnification/Enlargement Device
NotePad
Pop-Up Glossary
Redirect Student to Test (by test administrator)
Spell Checker
Writing Tools
Line Reader Tool
During the assessment, students can choose which accessibility features they need on an item-by-item basis. Examples include: audio amplification, highlighting, pop-up glossary, etc.
Students should be given the opportunity to select these features and practice using them.

13. Accessibility Features Identified in Advance
Answer Masking
Background/Font Color (Color Contrast)
General Masking
Text-to-Speech for the Mathematics Assessments

14. PARCC ELA Sample Item Review

15. Headlines Question Types Evidence Based Selected Response (EBSR)
Technology Enhanced Constructed Response (TECR)
Prose Constructed Response (PCR)
Performance-Based Assessment Tasks
Literary analysis
Narrative writing
Research simulation

16. Headlines Structure of Performance Based Assessment Tasks:
Read several related texts, one of which may be a video
Answer questions after each text/video
Complete writing task to demonstrate understanding and synthesis across all texts/videos
Note how EBSR and TECR questions for each text build toward synthesis across all texts/videos

17. Headlines
The ELA assessment will include questions based on both literary and informational texts
Literary texts may include prose, poetry, and drama
Informational texts may include essays, memoirs, letters, biographies, texts or videos in history/social science, science, technical subjects, and the arts
There may be questions on maps, graphs, charts, or illustrations embedded in informational texts

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

19. Literary Analysis (EBSR) Grade 10

20. Literary Analysis (TECR) Grade 10

21. Literary Analysis (PCR) Grade 10

22. Understanding the Research Simulation Task
Students begin by reading an anchor text that introduces the topic.
EBSR and TECR items ask students to gather key details about the passage to support their understanding.
Students read two additional sources and answer a few questions about each text to learn more about the topic, so they are ready to write the final essay and to show their reading comprehension.
Finally, students mirror the research process by synthesizing their understandings into a writing that uses textual evidence from the sources.

23. Research Simulation (EBSR) Grade 3

24. Research Simulation (EBSR) Grade 3

25. Research Simulation (Video Example) Grade 7

26. Understanding a Narrative Writing Task Based on a Literary Text
Students read one brief text and answer a few questions to help clarify their understanding of the text(s).
Students then write a narrative story.

27. Texts Worth Reading Grade 6
Julie of the Wolves was a winner of the Newbery Medal in 1973.
This text, about a young Eskimo girl surviving on her own in the tundra by communicating with wolves, offers a story rich with characterization and imagery that will appeal to a diverse student population.

28. Narrative Writing (EBSR) Grade 6 Julie of the Wolves
Which statement best describes the central idea of the text?
Miyax is far from home and in need of help. *
Miyax misses her father and has forgotten the lessons he taught her.
Miyax is cold and lacks appropriate clothing.
Miyax is surrounded by a pack of unfriendly wolves.

29. Narrative Writing (EBSR) Grade 6 Julie of the Wolves
Which sentence best helps develop the central idea?
“Miyax pushed back the hood of her sealskin parka and looked at the Arctic sun.”
“Somewhere in this cosmos was Miyax; and the very life in her body, its spark and warmth, depended upon these wolves for survival.”*
“The next night the wolf called him from far away and her father went to him and found a freshly killed caribou.”
He had ignored her since she first came upon them, two sleeps ago.”

30. Narrative Writing (EBSR) Grade 6 Julie of the Wolves
What does the word regal mean as it is used in the passage?
generous
threatening
kingly*
uninterested

31. Narrative Writing (PCR) Grade 6 Julie of the Wolves
In the passage, the author developed a strong character named Miyax. Think about Miyax and the details the author used to create that character. The passage ends with Miyax waiting for the black wolf to look at her.
Write an original story to continue where the passage ended. In your story, be sure to use what you have learned about the character Miyax as you tell what happens to her next.

32. PARCC Online Test Samples
Test drive the ELA and math assessment items!
The Technology Platform:
Notes about the online test sample:
Safari, Chrome (PC), Firefox 14 or higher
Some functionality on iPad 2
Additional ELA and math items:

33. Massachusetts Transition Plan
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has voted to “test drive” PARCC
Spring-Fall 2014: Field Test and Analysis of Field Test Data
Winter-Spring : MA Schools Administer first PARCC operational tests
Summer-Fall 2015: Standard setting for PARCC tests; Board votes on whether or not to adopt PARCC

34. Resources
Any publicly released assessment policies, evidence tables, item prototypes, PARCC Model Content Frameworks, and other valuable resources can be found at
Information on PARCC Transition Plan and Field Tests in Massachusetts:
(MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education)
/parcc.asp (MA Department of Higher Education)

35. Thank You
Thank You