are you ready for parcc and sbac writing? december 18, 2013
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome! Scott has taught students in all grade levels, K-12. He has served as a literacy coach, as an instructional specialist, as a coordinator of writing instruction, and as an author of ELA curriculum. While employed with Clovis Unified School District, Scott helped establish the “Buchanan Area Writing Project.” The Project successfully articulated a process-based, trait-specific model for writing instruction among nearly three hundred teachers in nine area schools.
Scott Miller, M.Ed., Curriculum Design,
Senior Instructional Consultant and Consulting Author, Strategies for Writers
PARCC
SBAC
Partnership (for)
Assessment (of)
Readiness (for)
College (and)
Career
SmarterBalancedAssessmentConsortium
Next-Generation Assessment Consortia:
Poll Question 1:
Which of the following statements is false?
A. Both PARCC and SBAC include technology-enhanced items in ELA and math.
B. Both PARCC and SBAC use a combination of electronic and human scoring.
C. Both PARCC and SBAC include computer adaptive technology.
D. Both PARCC and SBAC provide optional interim assessments.
Next-Generation Technology-Based AssessmentsPARCC
• Summative in Grades 3-11• 2:1 student-to-computer ratio
for largest tested grade level (1:1 for largest grade in K-8 school)
• Fixed-form delivery• Provides interim assessments
and resources• Electronic and human scoring• Scores available in 2 weeks• Online score reporting
SBAC
• Summative in Grades 3-8 and 11• 8:1 student-to-computer
ratio (total students in all tested grades)
• Adaptive delivery• Provides interim assessments
and resources• Electronic and human scoring• Scores available in 2 weeks• Online score reporting
• C.A.T. tailors questions for each student based on his or her responses – Correct answers lead to more challenging questions– Incorrect answers lead to less challenging questions
• C.A.T. yields more specific and detailed data• C.A.T. informs instruction better than other tests• C.A.T. takes less time than paper-pencil tests
Computer Adaptive Testing claims:
C A T
Next-Generation Technology-Based AssessmentsPARCC
• Summative in Grades 3-11• 2:1 student-to-computer ratio
for largest tested grade level (1-1 for largest grade in K-8 school)
• Fixed-form delivery• Provides interim assessments
and resources• Electronic and human scoring• Scores available in 2 weeks• Online score reporting
SBAC
• Summative in Grades 3-8 and 11• Requires 8:1 student-to-
computer ratio (total students in all tested grades)
• Adaptive delivery• Provides interim assessments
and resources• Electronic and human scoring• Scores available in 2 weeks• Online score reporting
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respond to text……using a computer
Grade 6
PARCC & Smarter Balanced Assessments will test your students’ mastery of Common Core writing skills
very, very soon.
Poll Question 2:
Which of the following statements is false?
A. The Common Core Writing & Language Standards (CCSS) are based on the six traits of writing.
B. PARCC and SBAC scoring guides do not include the trait language.
C. The traits help define the CCSS text-types.
D. The traits help define the CCSS writing process.
Formatting
Spelling patterns
Domain-specific words
Handwriting
Tone
Style
Humor
Sentences flow
Linking words
Temporal wordsEvidence
Concrete words & phrases
Figurative Language
Ideas logically grouped
Sense of closure
Perfect verb tenses
Pronoun person/number
Sentences have rhythm
Provide a reaction
Reader interest
Reasons
Opinion
Develop experiences
Varied sentence patterns
All writing standards, all writing lessons, all writing tests, and all writing rubrics
are trait-based.
PARCC & SBAC scoring guides are trait-based, So are the writing rubrics used to
assess students’ work.
What kinds of writing will students have to produce on PARCC, SBAC, and other
next-generation tests?
Poll Question 3:
Which of the following statements is false?
A. Argument writing is an advanced form of opinion writing.
B. Informative and explanatory are different kinds of writing.
C. Writing to persuade is not addressed by the Common Core Standards.
D. Common Core Standards include the word “expository.”
PARCC“Analytic Essays”
The Common Core defines, specifies, and emphasizes instructional text-types:
“Opinion”
“Argument”
“Informative/Explanatory”
“Narrative”
Part of the other modes
“Persuasive”
“Expository”
“Narrative”
“Descriptive”
How Does the Common Core Define Narrative Writing?
• Includes a wide array of genres• Tells a real or imagined story• Employs time as its “deep
structure”
What’s New In Narrative Writing?• More rigorous expectations• Increasingly used to respond to text• Indicated in content-area classes• Used for a greater variety of purposes
Informative/Explanatory WritingExpository writing has traditionally been defined as:“A composition written for the purpose of informing, explaining, describing, or defining. Expository writing seeks to be factually accurate.”
“Informative” / “Explanatory”
Informative/Explanatory WritingInformative• Types • Features• Components• Size• Shape • Consistency• Little-known facts• Other characteristics
Explanatory• Processes• Relationships• Causes• Effects• Function• Behavior• How things work• Why things happen
A quick
example…
My computer is made out of black plastic.Informative Writing
It has a 14-inch screen, 4 USB ports, and
a standard Qwerty keyboard.
It has two speakers, one on each
side of the keyboard.
Turning my computer on is easy.Explanatory Writing
I just push the power button and
wait for the password prompt.
Then, I type my password and
left-click the “Enter” key once.
After a minute or two, my
desktop appears, and I’m ready
to go!
Opinion and Argument Writing
Argument Writing (6-12)…• makes a claim• defends the claim with reasons,
examples, and evidence• weighs and evaluates evidence
from experience and/or sources • moves beyond expository
structures (like cause/effect)• is more deeply analytical• is comparatively well developed
and sophisticated
Opinion Writing (K-5)…• states an opinion• supports the opinion with
reasons and examples• often focuses upon personal
experience• elaborates using expository
structures (like cause/effect)• is more concrete/observational• is still developing and less
sophisticated
A quick
example…
Opinion: I like my computer.Opinion Writing
Reason: It’s very durable.
Example: I dropped it yesterday,
and it didn’t break.
Claim: This is the best computer
for people who travel.
Argument Writing
Reason: It is very durable.
Example: Its case is made from
high-impact plastic.
Evidence: Consumer Reports
gives this model
4 stars for
durability.
So what do the prototypes and draft rubrics tell us?
So are the writing rubrics used to assess students’ work.
To Summarize:• Writing questions will require close reading.
• Prompts will require responses to multiple sources.
• Prompts will require the citation of textual evidence.
• Writing will be assessed in each tested grade level.
• Writing will be assessed in the content areas.
• Rubrics and scoring guides will be trait-based.
• Students will respond using newly redefined text-types.
• For these reasons, writing skills will have a more dramatic impact on test scores than ever before.
• And some of us don’t feel ready…
45
“I’m pretty good at teaching reading. It’s the writing part of the
test that really scares me.”-anonymous teacher
“My kids already struggle with writing, and now the bar is being set
even higher.”-anonymous teacher
“I don’t have time to teach writing in math.”-anonymous teacher
“I still don’t get how argument writing is different than
persuasive writing.”-anonymous teacher
“I’ve been pretending to teach writing for about the last twenty years, and I was afraid to say anything about it.”
-anonymous teacher
Houston. . . We have a problem.
“My district is writing its own writing program. That
completely terrifies me.”-anonymous teacher
“Our new Common Core reading program has writing lessons in it, so I
think we’re good-to-go.”-anonymous teacher
One Example New York Implements CCSS Assessments, 2013
• 2012 statewide reading proficiency: 55.1%• 2013 statewide reading proficiency: 31.3%• Recent pilot test (grades 3-8): 26% passing (down from 47% on previous assessment)• Pilots in other states have seen similar results.
Why?
• More rigorous standards*• Test-format transfer (digital assessment)• Increased performance expectations: – Higher order thinking skills– Advanced writing skills– Research skills
*Depending upon state and curriculum area
Contributing FactorsFor Decreased Scores on Common Core Assessments
Please join us on February 12, 2014 for our next webinar on instructional strategies to support PARCC and SBAC writing!
December 18, 2013