CTE AND ELA STANDARDS
LESSON AND EVALUATION IDEAS
ACTEAz Midwinter Conference
February , 2015
Judy Tapia and Ann Tebo
Mesa Public Schools

SESSION OBJECTIVES
Demonstrate how English Language Arts AZ College and Career Ready Standards can be integrated and evaluated in all CTE Programs
Share a brief overview of the Mesa Public Schools’ district-wide academic integration lesson, including online resource access

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF MESA CTE’S HISTORY AND
PROCESS
2005 – 06: CTE Literacy Coaches instituted
2011 – 12: CTE Math Coaches instituted
2013 – 14: All MPS CTE pulled out for all full-day academic integration training in the fall according to their Professional
Learning Communities
2014 – 15: Same as above, but this time the Education and
Earning Potential lesson expectations were outlined
All CTE teachers implement the lesson in order to receive their CTE
Perkins Goal stipend

LESSON
Multi-day lesson including:
• Reading at least two different sources of challenging texts
• Discussion and collaboration relating to the text
• Answering text dependent questions
• Students complete interest/aptitude career assessments
• Math lesson including graphing earning potential based upon education levels
• Culminating reading/writing performance task
• Evaluative tools to give student feedback to improve their writing to make them more college and career ready

ALL DOCUMENTS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE
CHECK THE FIRST HANDOUT FOR THE PATH

CLICK ON THE PERKINS GOALS – ACADEMIC
INTEGRATION BUTTON ON THE MPS CTE SITE

THE SECOND TABLE WILL CONTAIN LINKS

CTE HAS ELA STANDARDS TO BE TAUGHT!
Reading Standards specifically designed for Science and
Technical Standards are part of the Az College and
Career Ready Standards (tan colored document in folder)
Additionally, there are
Writing Standards specifically designed for History/Social
Studies, Science and Technical Subjects (green colored document in folder)

WHERE TO START?
PREPARING FOR READING WRITING
LESSON CHECKLIST
Refer to handout in your packet (also available online)
1. Choose appropriate text
 Must align with a CTE Technical Standard
 Must be complex enough to challenge student (at the appropriate Lexile level)

2. CRAFT AND ASK TEXT DEPENDENT QUESTIONS
• Questions must be specific enough that they can only be answered by the reading the text
• Every question must relate directly to the text
• Students must use evidence in their responses

3. IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT THE
QUESTIONS
• Questions must be worded in a way that they are understood by students, and scaffolded if necessary (help with potentially tricky parts)
• Questions provide opportunity to use context clues
• Questions address vocabulary, structure, and inferences
• Students have the opportunity to collaborate

4. ORGANIZING THE QUESTIONS
• Start with easy questions to build student confidence
• Sequence them coherently
• Stay focused on the text
• Be clear if using multiple texts

5. CREATE AND ASSIGN THE PERFORMANCE TASK
• Must reflect answers to the text dependent questions
• Students must be required to use evidence gained from the text
• Task must be understandable and worthy
• Students must use the rubric as they work

TEACHERS NEEDED SUPPORT
EVALUATING STUDENT WRITING
Most CTE teachers don’t think of themselves fully aware of what it takes to give students the feedback required to make them better readers and writers, so we adapted some rubrics to help them out (pink and blue documents in folders).

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR
DEVELOPING PERFORMANCE TASKS
Measures understanding, analysis, and the ability to provide relevant evidence
Synthesizes information from multiple sources, if possible
Demonstrates knowledge and skills of content covered as well as reading and writing proficiency
Reflects real-world tasks when feasible
Requires students to plan, write, revise, and edit

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR
PERFORMANCE TASKS
Performance task are extended responses that reflect the summary of the content covered through text-dependent questions
Academic and domain-specific vocabulary should be used in student writing
CTE Performance Task Writing Rubrics should be used for assessment – there is one for Explanatory, and one for Argumentative pieces

THERE ARE TWO VERSIONS OF THE RUBRIC,
DEPENDING UPON THE WRITING TASK

SCORING INFORMATION (REFER TO A RUBRIC)
How CTE performance tasks will be scored:
 Followed directions/addressed prompt—how well the writer understood and fulfilled the requirements of the task.
 Elaboration of evidence or claim—how well the writer provided evidence from sources about his/her opinions and elaborate with specific information
 Sentence flow – sentences read naturally and make sense
 Organization—how well ideas logically flowed from the introduction to conclusion using effective transitions
 Language and Vocabulary—how effectively the writer expressed ideas using precise language that is appropriate for the audience and purpose
 Spelling and Grammar—how well the rules of usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling were followed as well as the accuracy of spelling
 Citing evidence – how effectively the writing refers back to the relevant information in the article

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING AND ADMINISTERING
PERFORMANCE TASKS
Refer back to the text dependent questions
Construct a prompt that incorporates most, if not all of the information gained from answering text dependent questions
Share the rubric being used with students
Have students write first drafts
Students edit (possibly reading aloud to a partner)
Final drafts are written and submitted for assessment

IT’S IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO REPEAT…
GO OVER THE RUBRIC IN DETAIL WITH STUDENTS PRIOR TO
ASSIGNING THE PERFORMANCE TASK!
Copy enough rubrics for students to have access to throughout the writing process, and turn in a copy with their final papers

THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING OUR
SESSION!
Contact us if you have any questions