hiset® ela reading & writing for the common core · • maryland state department of education...

HiSET®ELAReading&WritingfortheCommonCore

John Reier, Independent Educational ConsultantHiSET® Language Arts Professional Development Provider

PresentationOutline• Introduction• Background on Development of the Common Core• HiSET® Reading and the Common Core‐‐Side by side HiSET® Content Processes and CCRS Anchors‐‐Professional Development Sample Instructional

Strategies• HiSET® Writing and the Common Core‐‐Side by side HiSET® Content Processes and CCRS Anchors‐‐Professional Development Sample Instructional

Strategies• Teacher Development Training Opportunities• Q & A

Hi,I’mJohn!• Maryland State Department of Education MSDE Advanced Professional Certification in Secondary English Language Arts and Secondary Administration & Supervision

• 30 years ELA Teaching Experience Grades 8‐12• 2 years Writing Instructor [Adjunct] University of Maryland’s University College [Composition and Advanced Composition]

• Authored McGraw‐Hill/Contemporary’s test preparation books for 2002‐Series GED Language Arts, Reading

• 2001‐2009 Language Arts, Writing Test Specialist for the American Council of Education’s (ACE) GED Testing Service

• 2010‐2014 Independent consultant serving as the Scoring Director for the Accomplished Principals Program with the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)

StandardsDevelopmentTimeline

• 1990s states began developing their own standards

• 2007 Council of Chief State School Officers began discussions for developing standards

• 2008 CCSSO is joined by the National Governors Association, and Achieve1

• 2009 Common Core Standards (CCSS) development begins

• 2010 Draft prepared for feedback• 2011 States begin review for

adoption

1A bipartisan group of governors and corporate leaders who believed that all students should graduate from high school ready for college, careers and citizenship. They are dedicated to standards‐based education reform.

The CCSS and CRSS Standards are

• Drawn on the most important international models

• Research and input from numerous sources, including state departments of education, scholars, assessment developers, professional organizations, educators from kindergarten through college, parents, students, and other members of the public

• The design and content refined through successive drafts and numerous rounds of feedback

BackgroundCCSS• The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English Language Arts & Literacy in

History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (“the standards”) represent the next generation of K‐12 standards designed to prepare all students for success in college, career, and life by the time they graduate from high school.

• The standards also lay out a vision for what it means to be a literate person who is prepared for success in the 21st century.

Alvin Toffler wrote in Future Shock [1970], “The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn.”

• The Common Core asks students to read works of fiction and non fiction, as well as more complex texts that provide facts and background knowledge in areas such as science and social studies.

• Students will be challenged and asked questions that push them to refer back to what they’ve read. CCSS stress critical‐ thinking, problem‐solving, and analytical skills that are required for success in college, career, and life.

TheHiSET®TestwasdevelopedtoreflectCollegeandCareerReadinessCCRS• The HiSET® program is aligned with the College‐and‐Career Readiness Standards CCRS for Adult Education released by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education in April 2013.

• The CCR ELA/Literacy anchor standards [grades 11‐12] that the HiSET® Reading and Writing tests measure are aligned to the Common Core State Standards CCSS in ELA. The HiSET® Reading test includes the mix of both literary and informational texts as defined by the CCSS.

• The HiSET program incorporates the CCRS anchor standards in the grades 9‐12 grouping into the design specifications for the item pool and the assembled forms.

• The CCSS provide what is desirable for students to learn; the CCRS provide what is essential for adults to know to be prepared for the rigors of postsecondary training, work, or citizenship.

HiSET®Reading

Literary Text—60%

Informational Text—40%

DescriptionoftheReadingTestFormat

• 40 items Multiple‐choice• 65 minutes• Passage length 400‐600words

• Items [Key + 3 alternatives]

Genres• Memoirs• Essays• Biographical sketches• Editorials• Poetry• Narratives

ProcessCategory‐‐Comprehension

Comprehension• Understand restatements of information

• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text

• Analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone

[Connotation, Denotation, Irony, etc.]

College and Career Readiness Standards‐‐Anchors

• Read and comprehend complex literary and informational text independently and proficiently.

• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.

ProcessCategory—InferenceandInterpretationInference and Interpretation

• Make inferences from the text• Draw conclusions or deduce meanings not explicitly present in the text

• Infer the traits, feelings, and motives of characters or individuals

• Apply information• Interpret nonliteral language[Based on evidence found in the text]

College & Career Readiness Standards‐‐Anchors

• Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

• Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem

ProcessCategory‐‐Analysis

Analysis• Analyze multiple interpretations of a text

• Determine the main idea, topic, or theme of a text

• Identify the author’s or speaker’s purpose or viewpoint

• Distinguish among opinions, facts, assumptions, observations, and conclusions

• Recognize aspects of an author’s style, structure, mood, or tone

• Recognize literary or argumentative techniques


• Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.

• Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.

• Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and false reasoning.

• Analyze a case in which grasping a point of view requires distinguishing what is directly stated in a text from what is really meant (e.g. satire, sarcasm, irony, or understanding.

ProcessCategory—Synthesis&Generalization

Synthesis & Generalization• Draw conclusions and make generalizations

• Make predictions• Compare and contract• Synthesize information across multiple sources


• Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

• Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

TrainingProgramstohelpteacherspreparetheirstudentsfortheHiSET®ReadingTest

1.UseHiSET®TestData

• When the 2014 Test Year has concluded, I can obtain the performance data from the three operational Reading Test forms from the year.• I will perform an item analysis for the test takers from the state/district and identify the top 20 common difficulties for test takers who‐‐just missed meeting the cut score by less than 1 SEMNEAR‐‐missed the cut score by 2 SEMBELOW

2.ProvidestrategiestomeetthecontentdemandsoftheHiSET®ReadingTest

A. AddresstheitemscommonlymissedbyHiSET®candidates[basedonitemanalysisoftheoperationalforms].

B. ProvideteachersofHiSET®studentswithinstructionalstrategiesthatareresearch‐basedandhavehelpedstudentsbecomethecriticalreadersdemandedbytheCCRS.

NOTE: In my previous training sessions, I provided the teachers with exercise samples and a list of resources they could use with their students.

TobesuccessfulonHiSETReadingandWritingtests‐‐

• One Must Read!!!!There’s no shortcut!

• The CCRS require candidates to read a broad range of high‐quality, increasingly challenging literary and informational texts.

Whattoread:• Take advantage of print and online digital newspapers [e.g., New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, et al]. Read the editorials, op eds, commentaries, reviews, features, etc.

• Read magazines like Time, et al. • Encourage your students to be “frequent fliers” at their local libraries.

“Whoquestionsmuch,shalllearnmuch,andretainmuch.”

FrancisBacon1561‐‐1626

HowtobeaCriticalReader‐‐Before you read, • Ask what you know about the topic or what you expect to readAfter reading,• Restate or summarize what you read,• Cite the main issues the author raised,• State how effectively the author conveyed the issues to the reader,• Identify issues where you agree with the author,• Identify issues where you disagree,• Cite evidence [from readings, experience, etc.[ that supports your agreement/disagreement, [Writing Test & Essay]

• Offer alternative solutions and explain why the alternatives are better, [Writing Test & Essay]

• Analyze and Comment on the author’s language, examples, sentence structure and style, [Writing Test & Essay]

CrossoverWritingBenefit• Part II of the HiSET® Writing Test, which is a written response/essay, will require evidence‐based responses.

• Reading articles that cover a broad range of subjects [culture, social issues, science, etc.] may provide the candidates with a foundation of knowledge and additional sources of evidence to support the development of their written responses.

• Many articles/commentaries found in newspapers may also provide models for the candidates to use in structuring their own writing. (From the previous slide: “Analyze and Comment on the author’s language, examples, sentence structure and style, [Writing Test & Essay]”)

HiSET®Writing

Writing Conventions—55%

Organization of Ideas—20%

Language Facility—25%

DescriptionoftheWritingTest• There are two parts of the Writing Test

Part I 50 multiple‐choice items—75 minutes‐‐measures a candidate’s ability to edit and revise written text

‐‐questions are embedded in complete texts in theform of letters, essays, newspaper articles, personal accounts, and reports

Part 2 Direct assessment of writing in response to a single essay question—45 minutes‐‐measures a candidate’s ability to generate andorganize ideas in writing

Embeddingquestionsinthetext

Draft feature article Spread‐out version

WritingPart1—Multiple‐choice

Testing: Organization of Ideas, Language Facility, & Writing Conventions

ContentCategory—Part1

Content Category• Organization of Ideas—20%‐‐Select logical or effective opening, transitional, and closing sentences‐‐Evaluate relevance of content‐‐Analyze and evaluate paragraph structure‐‐Recognize logical transitions and related words and phrases


• Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

• Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.


Content Category• Language Facility—25%

‐‐Recognize appropriate subordination and coordination, parallelism, and modifier placement‐‐Maintain consistent verb tense‐‐Recognize effective sentence combining


• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.


Writing Conventions—55%

• Recognize verb, pronoun, and modifier forms

• Maintain grammatical agreement

• Recognize idiomatic usage• Recognize correct capitalization, punctuation, and spelling

College and Career Readiness Standards—Anchors

• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

• Demonstrate command of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

• Acquire and use accurately general academic and domain‐specific words and phrases, sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career‐readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.

GoodSourceforIdiomshttp://www.englishcurrent.com/idioms/esl‐idioms‐intermediate‐advanced/

WritingPart2‐‐Essay

Theholisticscoringguidereflectstheskillleveldemonstratedinrespondingtothetask—• Development of Ideas

Focus on central idea [thesis; supporting ideas [topic sentences]Explanation of supporting ideas

• Organization of IdeasIntroduction and conclusionSequencing of ideasparagraphingtransitions

• Language FacilityWord choiceSentence structureExpression and voice

• Writing ConventionsGrammar, Usage, & Mechanics

Part2—TheEssayFormat

• A single prompt eliciting a direct response—persuasive

• 45 mins. to plan, draft, and revise [Writing Process]

• 6 pt. Holistic Scoring Scale• Double scored• A min. score of 2 is required to generate a composite Writing score (MC + Essay)


• Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

• Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurate‐ lythrough the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

• Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.

Part2—TheEssaySample Prompt College and Career Readiness

Standards‐‐Anchors• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the develop‐ment, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade‐specific expectations for writing types are defined in the first three standards from the previous slide).

• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well‐chosen details, and well‐structured event sequences.

Task

Purpose & Audience

TrainingProgramstohelpteacherspreparetheirstudentsfortheHiSET®WritingTest

1.UseHiSET®TestData• When the 2014 Test Year has concluded, obtain the performance data from the three operational Writing Test forms from the year.• Perform an item analysis for the test takers from the state/district and identify the top 20 common difficulties [from each of the three forms] for test takers who‐‐just missed meeting the cut score by less than 1 SEMNEAR‐‐missed the cut score by 2 SEMBELOW

2.ProvidestrategiestomeetthecontentdemandsoftheHiSET®WritingTest

A. Address the items commonly missed by HiSET® candidates [based on item analysis of the operational forms].

B. Provide teachers of HiSET® students with instructional strategies that are research‐based and have helped students become effective writers as demanded by the CCRS.

Howmostpeoplereactwhenaskedtowrite‐‐

SomePreliminaryThoughtsaboutWriting• The building block of an essay is a paragraph.• The unit of a paragraph is the sentence.

• A sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought.

How words come together in a sentence (syntax) determines the reader’s understanding of that thought.

• The topic sentence is the controlling idea of a paragraph.• A thesis is the controlling idea of a multi‐paragraph essay.

• Usage and mechanics help improve the effectiveness of sentences and paragraphs.

Useatwo‐prongapproachtobuildforsuccessontheHiSET®WritingTest1. An effective reading plan will help improve writing skills for both Parts of the Writing Test [ Multiple‐Choice & Essay]

2. Researchers have found that writing is best taught by [a]the inquiry approach or the candidates actually writing and [b]using sentence combining as an effective strategy for improving the quality of writing1.

1 I add to this instructional strategy exercises in sentence effectiveness and paragraph combining

ReadingfortheWritingTestEncourage HiSET® candidates to prepare for the Writing Test by:

• Reading articles of interest in their local newspapers.• Evaluating the evidence used by the writer.• Writing journals to agree, disagree, or evaluate the articles or Write a rebuttal.

• Responding to the articles by writing letters to the editor.

• Having HiSET® candidates see the articles they read as models of effective writing.

TeachingLanguageFacilityandWritingConventions• Rather than teach grammar, usage, and mechanics in isolation, point out examples from the student’s own writing and demonstrate how the correct use of the language conventions improves the effectiveness of the writing.

• Don’t teach the sentence as a grammar lesson: subject, predicate, complement and modifiers, but teach the sentence as a cohesive component of words, phrases, and clauses.

• Ask the students to analyze the processes they use to write, edit, and revise. [Megtacognition]

WritingSkillsImprovementResearchers have found that sentence combining is an effective strategy for improving the quality of writing.• Definition: Combining short sentences into longer ones and inserting elements into simple sentences.

• Scrambled Sentences—deconstruct words, phrases, and clauses; then have students put back together.

• Sentence Effectiveness—combine several small sentences into on effective sentence. [actually apply Writing Conventions and Language Facility]

• Scrambled Paragraphs—deconstruct sentences in a paragraph; then have students put the paragraph back together.

ScrambledSentenceExercises• Purpose: to see how words, phrases, and clauses function within a sentence to produce a complete thought.

• Directions: take a sentence [start with short and build to longer and more complex sentences. Divide at compound sentence elements, phrases, and clauses.

A. –would have rankedB. ‐‐of the worldC. ‐‐and the most determinedD. ‐‐in any ageE. ‐‐among the bravestF. ‐‐Helen Keller

From Junior Review Exercises Book II by Earl Wood Educator’s Publishing

Solution

A. –would have rankedB. ‐‐of the worldC. ‐‐and the most determinedD. ‐‐in any ageE. ‐‐among the bravestF. ‐‐Helen Keller

Solution: D, F, A, E, C, BIn any age , Helen Keller would have ranked among the bravest Preposition Phrase Subject Predicate Compound Prepositional Phrase

and the most determined of the world.Prepositional Phrase

ResearchalsosuggeststheusesomeversionoftheWritingProcess

ChangefortheEssayin2015

• The current essay prompt directs the candidate to write an argumentative or persuasive essay.

• In 2015, there will be a greater emphasis [in keeping with CRSS] to provide more evidence to support an assertion. The evidence may come from a text or it may come from the candidate’s experience.

*Once again the importance of a strong reading preparation can be beneficial for the essay. The candidate will gain multi‐disciplinary knowledge from reading texts. This knowledge can help provide evidence for the essay.

Thankyouforattendingtoday.

Together our efforts can provide that needed second opportunity for adults to earn their high school credential.

AndMost importantly, credential those skills these adults possess that enable them to be successful in college, career, and life—and be lifelong learners.

Please pick up one of my business cards before you leave, and please feel free to chat with me during the conference.

Teacherdevelopmenttrainingcanbeindividualizedfortheteachersinyourdistrict.

•GeneralMethodsofLanguageArtsinstructioninReadingandWritingfortheadultlearner

• Instructionbasedontheperformancedatafortesttakersinyourdistrict

hiset® ela reading & writing for the common core · • maryland state department of education...

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