English Language Arts Stimulus Considerations

Stimulus Materials

• Provide context, set up the prompt

• Text, audio or video recordings, visual aids

• Complete works and excerpts

• Different for each claim

Example ItemRead the following passage and then answer the question. Lizards are fascinating creatures. There are over 3,000 known species, including monitors, skinks, geckos, chameleons, and iguanas, and they vary greatly in appearance. The largest lizard, the Komodo dragon, can grow over ten feet long and the smallest, the Jaragua lizard, can fit on a dime. Skinks usually has smooth scales like snakes iguanas have mohawk-like crests running down their backs and the moloch is covered with spikes from head to tail. Lizards vary in color from shades of gray and brown to bright red or green, spotted or striped. Most have four legs but some are legless and easily confused with snakes (Hint: if it has external eardrums and eyelids it’s a lizard). Chameleons not only change color but also have prehensile tails, similar to those of monkeys, that wrap around branches and their eyes can move in different directions.

Select the correct way to revise the highlighted sentence.

A. Skinks usually have smooth scales like snakes iguanas have mohawk-like crests running down their backs, and the moloch are covered with spikes from head to tail.

B. Skinks usually have smooth scales like snakes, iguanas have mohawk-like crests running down their backs, and the moloch is covered with spikes from head to tail.

C. Skinks usually have smooth scales, like snakes iguanas have mohawk-like crests running down their backs and the moloch is covered with spikes, from head to tail. 

D. Skinks usually have smooth scales, like snakes, iguanas have mohawk-like crests running down their backs, and the moloch are covered with spikes from head to tail.

Claim 1 Stimuli

• Reading comprehension

• Selected Response, Constructed Response, and Technology-Enhanced Items

• Literary texts – narratives, dramas, poems

• Informational texts– literary nonfiction, historical, scientific, and technical texts

• On grade level

• May include multiple texts

Claim 2 Stimuli

• Writing, revising, and editing

• Selected Response, Constructed Response, and Technology-Enhanced Items

• Literary and informational texts, audio/video presentations, texts needing editing/revising

• Shorter than other stimuli

• Should be one grade below grade level

Claim 3 Stimuli

• Speaking and listening

• Selected Response, Constructed Response, and Technology-Enhanced Items

• Audio and video presentations

Claim 4 Stimuli

• Research skills

• Selected Response, Constructed Response, and Technology-Enhanced Items

• Includes literary text, informational text, audio presentations, video presentations, statistical data, simulated web pages, and visual stimuli

• May use multiple stimuli

• Should be one grade below grade level

Performance Task Stimuli

• Includes literary text, informational text, audio presentations, video presentations, statistical data, simulated web pages, visual stimuli

• Should be one grade below grade level

• Multiple stimuli

Selecting Appropriate Materials

• Interesting and grade appropriate topics

• Free of bias and sensitivity issues

• Follow passage length guidelines:

Grade Maximum Word Count

3 650

4 750

5 750

6 950

7 950

8 950

High School (9–11) 1,100

Text Complexity

• Quantitative and qualitative measures– The quantitative

measures determine the grade band for a text (e.g., 6–8), while the qualitative measures help determine the appropriate placement within the band (e.g., 8)

• Quantitative measures– Flesch-Kincaid index– Lexile– Word count– Range of difficulty

Common Core Lexile Grade Level Ranges

Text Complexity Grade Band in the Standards

Lexile Ranges Aligned to CCR Expectations

K-1 N/A

2-3 450-790

4-5 770-980

6-8 955-1155

9-10 1080-1305

11-CCR 1215-1355

Shortcomings of Quantitative Measures

• Measures difficult to obtain for– poems and dramas– highly complex ideas

Qualitative Measures of Text Complexity

English Language Arts State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards Rubrics– Meaning/Purpose– Text Structure– Language Features – Knowledge Demands

Common Core State StandardsAppendix A

• Quantitative Measures – Pages 4-7

Stimulus Metadata

• Title

• Author

• Source

• Copyright status

• Genre

• Topic

• Length

• Reading level

• Level of complexity

Summary

• Types of stimuli for Claims 1-4

• Multiple stimuli for Performance Tasks

• Appropriate complexity and content for grade levels and claims

• Metadata