ELA Assessment Results Make the Case:
How to Build ELA Knowledge in
Reading and Writing, Grades 6-10
Presenter Information
Kathleen (Kathy) Judy
English Language Arts Assessment Coordinator
Louisiana Department of Education
Email: Kathleen.judy@la.gov
Work Number: 225-219-4514
Email assessment@la.gov with general assessment questions
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Objectives and Agenda
Objectives:
1. By analyzing actual ELA tasks, their scoring rubrics,
and student samples, teachers will better understand
the knowledge students need to be independent
readers and writers.
2. By examining the approach used in the ELA
Guidebooks, teachers will think about their own
instruction and how they are building the knowledge
and skills necessary for their students to be more
successful readers and writers.
Agenda:
1. Purpose and Approach
2. Summative Task and
Student Responses
3. Building Knowledge
4. Next Steps
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Approach and Purpose of Statewide Assessments
Louisiana’s Approach
Louisiana believes access to the highest quality education
allows all students, no matter their zip code, the
opportunity for success.
The assessments school systems and teachers use must
be connected to standards-aligned curriculum and
professional development.
In this session, we will focus on the knowledge students
need to master the ELA tasks and how teachers are
building that knowledge each and every day in the
classroom.
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Purpose
•
•
Classroom instruction: to help students learn to be
independent readers and writers by helping them
understand what they read and express their
understanding of complex, grade-level texts
Summative LEAP 2025 Tests: to measure students’
ability to understand what they read and express
that understanding in writing
Discuss:
1. What are the major
differences between these
purposes and between
classroom instruction and
summative assessments?
2. How do the differences
affect what you do every
day?
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Reflect
Imagine being a student in a classroom where all instructional materials, especially
assessments, look just like the summative assessments.
1. What does this mean for all students?
2. For students who need extra support?
3. If there were no high-stakes test, what would be different about your instruction?
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ELA Summative Task and Student Work
Why are the Summative Tasks Important
Measures of Student Progress?
The ELA tasks (LAT, RST, and NWT) allow students to
show their progress toward the ELA goal:
to ensure all students can
 read,
 understand, and
 express their understanding
Explore:
As we examine each task, be
prepared to discuss the
knowledge students need to
answer the questions that make
up each task.
of complex, grade-level texts.
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Narrative Writing Task (NWT)
•
•
•
Purpose-Setting Statement
•
A prose constructed response that requires students to demonstrate their ability to
create a narrative (express understanding)
One literary text (read)
Selected-response questions that ask students to show their understanding of the text
(understand)
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Grade 6 NWT (from 2017 LEAP 2025 test)
1. What is being assessed by the selected-response questions?
2. What do students have to know and be able to do to write a
response to the PCR?
The prologue to Spy Cat describes how Peg and Pete write books
together. Think about Peg’s and Pete’s approach and style to writing
and their individual personalities. Write an original story that shows the
first time Peg and Pete write together. Be sure to use details in your
story that demonstrate Peg’s and Pete’s distinctive qualities.
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Grades 6-10 NWT Scoring Rubric
NOTES:
• The reading dimension is not scored for elicited narrative stories.
• Per the Louisiana Student Standards, in grades 3-5, narrative elements may include establishing a situation; organizing a logical event sequence; describing
scenes, objects, or people; developing characters’ personalities; and using dialogue as appropriate. In grades 6-8, narrative elements may include, in addition
to the grades 3-5 elements, establishing a context, situating events in a time and place, developing a point of view, and developing characters’ motives. The
elements to be assessed are expressed in the grade-level standard W.3..
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Key Components of Written Expression
Dimension for NWT
•
•
•
•
Narrative Elements (dialogue, description,
point of view, characterization, etc.)
Development of narrative (consistency and
appropriateness to task)
Organization of narrative
Effectiveness of Style
Analyze: As we go
through each score
point on the NWT rubric
and actual student
responses, complete the
handout.
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Analyzing Expectations
As we analyze each score point on the rubric and actual student responses, jot down your
answers to these questions on the handout:
1. What knowledge is the student displaying at each score point?
2. What knowledge is lacking?
3.
Which responses reflect my students’ performance?
4.
What actions am I currently taking to help my students be independent readers and
writers?
5.
What is one action I could take to help my students move closer to proficiency?
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Focus: Score Point of 4
The student response
• is effectively developed with narrative elements and is consistently
appropriate to the task;
• is effectively organized with clear and coherent writing;
• establishes and maintains an effective style.
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Score Point of 4
It was a normal day at first, one like most others for me. I went to school, as usual, came
home, and worked on my novel I’ve been writing, as I always do. But tonight was a night like
no other I’ve seen before. While sound asleep, I was worken my a clack, clack, clack noise
in the other room. My computer room, to be exact. I first thought it was my bratty little
brother on the computer, but then I remembered that he was at a friend’s house. It couldn’t
have been my mom either; why would she be awake this late at night? Thinking about this, I
slowly walked into the computer room that I use to write my novels. When I opened the
door, something very shocking. My cat, Pete, added three pages to one of my novels!
“You can write!” I gasped. “But how?”
Pete, not being able to talk, simply meowed. It didn’t sound very humble. He wrote some
more, and I looked at what he had type on the screen. It read:
A human finds her cat typing a novel. She seems impressed, although she still doesn’t
know what I’m saying. Dumb humans. And they think they’re the superior species? Please.
It’s definitely cats.
“Well that’s just mean,” I said, still a bit concerned about my English-knowing cat that is
sitting at my computer at 3 A.M.
Score Point of 4 (cont’d)
After a few weeks, I learned how well Pete actually types. By the second week of this, we
tried to write a book together. He eventually learned to speak by typing on the computer.
“Okay, so what should it be about?” I asked as he typed a response.
After some keyboard noises, he responds, “What if a human named Peg is about to get eaten
by a giant mouse, but then a brave, handsome, glorious, muscular cat named Pete saves the
day by destroying the evil mouse with his claws, and laser beam eyes, and he ends up
knocking a building over because the fight’s so epic, but he wins without a single scratch, and
the human is all like, ‘Oh Pete, you’re so brave. And kind. And smart. And handsome’ And-“
“Woah, woah, hold on,” I interrupted while he was typing. “Think realistic. This is a novel, not
a dumb comic book. And you wouldn’t be able to save me. You need a diet, anyway!”
“I’m not fat!’ Pete typed, an indignant look on his face. “I’m full of lean muscle, bones and fur!
I’m the strongest cat there is in this neighborhood!”
“Pete, you are the only cat in this neighborhood. And seventeen pounds of fur sounds unlikely.
Now, can we get to the book? I’m thinking a horror story, of a haunted house. A group of kids
and their cat can venture inside of it. I could type the human parts, and you could type the cat
parts!”
Score Point of 4 (cont’d)
“Can the cat save the kids at least?” he asked, still a bit hurt by my retort (okay, I admit, it
was a bit harsh for him. He does need to lay off the kibble, though).
“Maybe,” I said, having an idea about how to do that. “Maybe a kid can be caught by an
evil. . . zombie! And the cat can attack it, but get bitten in the end. But then, the cat doesn’t
turn bad, so they have a zombie cat as a companion.”
“You seem really excited about this,” Pete said. “And I like your idea about the zombie.
What else should we do?”
“We can discuss that later, I’m going to start this tomorrow. You know what,” I said,
getting really excited over this book, “I think I’ll start it right now instead!”
After a few weeks of back and forth writing, idea sharing, editing, and criticizing each other’s
works and ideas (no, we did not go with Pete’s idea of the cat eating an evil fudge sundae to
save the world from it’s delicious peril), we finished book one of a future trilogy, titled 127
Main Street: the Terror Begins. We even got it published by an author. He was a bit put off
by a cat named Pete writing some of it, but he didn’t mind to much. All was well until we put
our names on it.
Score Point of 4 (cont’d)
“Mine should be bigger,” Pete boasted. “I did write more of it, after all.”
“We did this together, we have the same size names,” I explained. He never learns to be
a bit humble every once in a while, does he” “What if I gave you some cat treats? The good
ones, that the vet didn’t prescribe for you?”
“Those treats?” he asked, looking excited. He tried to hide his joy as he types one. “Fine,”
he wrote, “as long as I get my kitty num-nums.”
In the end, our book was a big hit a local libraries, and was eventually sold all around the
state! Everyone was waiting for book two to come out. I can even see it now. I think it’ll be
called 127 Main Street: More Scares to Come. Yeah, and it can be about the kids going
back, and their trusty zombie cat has to find them again, and . . . . I think I’m getting ahead
of myself. I should talk to Pete again about this. I just hope he doesn’t say it’s stupid. I hope
the people would like it. This is going to be the best book series ever! Okay, maybe not like
The Hunger Games good, but maybe it can be close!
Focus: Score Point of 3
The student response
•
is mostly effectively developed with narrative elements and is mostly appropriate to
the task;
•
•
is organized with mostly clear and coherent writing;
establishes and maintains a mostly effective style.
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Score Point of 3
I just started writing a book about my cat. He is very energetic at times, but he can be lazy
at times also. It’s like I learn something new about him every day. Just last night he climbed
onto our tv. I guess he wanted every body to pay attention to him and not the tv.
That is not true. I climbed up there because I saw a mouse on the floor, and I wanted
to get a better look at him to see if he was the same mouse from yesterday.
Who is this writing on my computer?
That is your cat Pete, the one you were talking about earlier. Also, the reason you
didn’t see it because it was under you. I have a question, since this story is about me
can I be apart of this story, and write from my perspective?
First of all, how can you write a story when you are a cat. Only humans can do things like
that, not cats. Also, I guess it would be fine if you could write some things in my story, but I
still want to know how you are writing almost half of my story.
Well, humans don’t know how smart and very intelligent. We can do pretty much
everything humans can do, including writing.
Score Point of 3 (cont’d)
I see now, so y’all have like super powers that us, humans, don’t know about? When are
you even writing in my story?
No, we don’t have super powers that y’all don’t know about, and I am writing this at
night when you are sleeping.
Well, that is not weird at all. So, what do you do when we are not at home, and you are by
yourself?
What I do is I first wake up and go for a morning walk through the garden. Then, I go
back inside for breakfast, and eat what y’all set out of me. After that, I take a nap for a
few minutes, and after that I go on a adventure to try to find that mouse I have been
talking about. Finally, but the time I am done with that, you are already home from
school.
So, it looks like you have a long day when we leave. I am still so shocked you can write
and do things humans do.
Yeah, I guess it is a little cool. I think we need to write another book together.
That sounds like a good idea. Lets get started!
Focus: Score Point of 2
The student response
•
•
•
is developed with some narrative elements and is generally appropriate to the task;
demonstrates some organization with somewhat coherent writing;
has a style that is somewhat effective.
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Score Point of 2
Pet was getting up from bed. She had been hearing a constant noise coming from her
computer. It was one o’clock in the morning, but she couldn’t sleep. She had been
hearing this since she got her brand new computer. And, strangely, every time she
heard this, Pete was gone. Oh yes, Pete was her pet cat. he can be sneaky at times.
Oh? She is coming. I mean seriously, can a cat get a break? im just trying to help.
Well, time to go.
But Pete was too late this time. Peg came in, grinning.” silly cat, You cold have just
let me know what you were doing”.
So together, they began to finish writing Pete’s story, adding the cats lines, and
Pegs lines. This was the beginning of something great.
Focus: Score Point of 1
The student response
•
is minimally developed with few narrative elements and is limited in its
appropriateness to the task;
•
•
demonstrates limited organization and coherence;
has a style that has limited effectiveness.
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Score Point of 1
Peg and Pet the cat like to write books together.
Hi I’m Pet the cat and this is my first book with Peg, my human.
And hi I’m Peg and this is my first novel with Pet, my cat.
Whats a novel.
A book.
Oh.
Well, the first time I found out my could write, I was shocked.
They all are.
Well, that’s it.
Focus: Score Point of 0
The student response
•
•
•
is undeveloped and/or inappropriate to the task;
lacks organization and coherence;
has an inappropriate style.
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Score Point of 0
In the story Prologue from spy cat, peg and Pete the cat wrote a story together.
Peg was amazed when she found out that her cat could talk and wright! The
reason that Pete the cat wanted to wright was because he heard the every
computer had a mouse. They worked good together, Peg would leave the
computer on a night so pete could work on there story.
Reflection
Using your notes on the handout, think about
• What surprised you
• One thing you are doing and one thing you will
do to help your students be more independent
readers and writers
Discuss:
Turn to a partner and
discuss your notes on
the handout.
Be prepared to share a
reaction, observation,
or idea.
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Other Tasks
Literary Analysis Task (LAT)
•
•
•
•
Purpose-Setting Statement
Two literary texts (read)
Selected-response questions that ask students to show their
understanding of the texts (understand)
A prose constructed response that requires students to express their
understanding of the texts in writing (express understanding)
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Grade 8 LAT (on 2017 LEAP 2025 test)
What do students have to know and be able to do to write a response
to the PCR?
In “Trial by Combat” and Summer Ball, the characters have
conversations where a lot goes unsaid. Analyze how these unspoken
viewpoints influence the tension within the conversations that are held
throughout the passages.
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Research Simulation Task (RST)
•
•
•
•
Purpose-Setting Statement
Three literary texts (read)
Selected-response questions that ask students to show their understanding of the
texts (understand)
A prose constructed response that requires students to express their understanding of
the texts in writing (express understanding)
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Grade 10 RST (from LEAP 2025 Practice Test)
What do students have to know and be able to do to write a response to the PCR?
You have read three sources discussing the Supreme Court case of Tinker v. Des Moines:
• the United States Supreme Court majority opinion by Chief Justice Abe Fortas
• the United States Supreme Court dissenting opinion by Justice Hugo Black
• a transcript of a radio interview with law professor Catherine Ross
Consider the points made by each source about the issues surrounding the Tinker v. Des Moines case.
Write an essay analyzing the arguments of those who believe certain kinds of speech should be
prohibited within an educational setting and those who believe the opposite. Base the analysis on the
specifics of the Tinker v. Des Moines case and the arguments and principles set forth in the three
sources. The essay should consider at least two of the sources presented.
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LAT and RST: Sample Student Responses
PARCC Grade 8 LAT Student Work
Includes an anchor set with two examples for
each score point
• Includes a Practice Set to apply scoring
expectations
Student Samples from Grade 10 RST on Practice
Test (See file with presentation)
•
LATER Exploration:
• Use what you
learned from the RST
samples to analyze
the expectations of
the Grade 3 LAT and
Grade 5 NWT.
• Try Scoring by
working through
Practice Set.
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How to Build Knowledge: From the Couch to 5K
How to Prepare for a 5K
Couch to 5K
In order to get to the
finish line, students
need to develop their
reading and writing
“muscles.”
Teachers must
remember that there
are no shortcuts, that
they must build
knowledge slowly and
deliberately.
Think about how the
metaphor extends to
ELA instruction.
•
•
•
Have a physical before starting
Set realistic goals based on physical condition
Create a structured training program
•
•
•
•
•
Include warm-ups and stretching and time to cool
down (every day)
Walk/Run (3 days a week)
Incorporate cross-training (1 or 2 days a week)
Add in strength-training (as necessary)
Evaluate progress and adjust if necessary
•
•
Listen to your body and don’t be a slave to the
schedule.
Don’t risk injuries by moving too fast.
Couch to 5K: Model Approach
Guidebooks 2.0
• A curriculum for whole-class instruction
• Made by teachers for teachers
• Designed to help all students read, understand, and express their understanding of
complex grade-level texts
• A coherent set of plans that have students engage with the texts and ideas
repeatedly throughout a unit to build knowledge and tackle big ideas
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Couch to 5K: Model Approach
Unit Design
• Organized around high-quality texts with a shared idea:
•
Students read dystopian literature and related informational texts to understand how individual
perspectives are shaped by knowledge and memory and to determine whether perfection is
worth the sacrifice. Students express their understanding by analyzing how a theme is developed
through characters and their contrasting points of view and also comparing and contrasting the
themes of similar texts (Grade 7 Unit, The Giver)
• Uses a backwards design model so lessons and sections build on each other to build
students’ knowledge and skill (structured training program)
• Leads to three unit assessments aligned to end-of-year expectations (evaluate
progress)
• Culminating writing task
• Cold-read task
• Extension task
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Couch to 5K: Model Approach
Lesson Design
Each lesson allows students to build
their knowledge and skills through
a combination of
• learning tasks (reading,
vocabulary and language,
speaking and listening, or
writing) and
• a variety of instructional
strategies (Notice and Note
signposts, annotating texts,
word displays, etc.)
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Couch to 5K: Model Approach
Lesson Design
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reviews previous lesson: “Yesterday you learned….”
Prepares for lesson: “Today we will….” and outlines Materials, such as
charts, graphic organizers, reading log, etc.
Guided Activity: “Read first page of text. As you read, notice… and mark
notes on your handout….”
Discussion: whole group, checking for understanding
Practice: pairs, small group, but with guiding questions or other activity
(short jogs: one question for each pair, with talking, writing)
More discussion: sharing, clarifying, making connections, followed by
expressing understanding activity (answering questions, taking notes, etc.)
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Approach Guides
• Found under “Get Started” link on all units (same across all grade levels)
• Describe the "why" and "how" of the guidebook units and lessons
• Provide guidance on every aspect of ELA knowledge, including supports
Overview Guide
Conversations Guide
Grammar Guide
Reading Guide
Reading Fluency Guide
Supports Flow Chart
Vocabulary Guide
Writing Guide
Let’s Set the Context Videos
Diverse Learners Guide
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Learning Tools
• Found under “Get Started” link on all units (same across all grade levels)
• student- and teacher-facing tools to support students in reading,
understanding, and expressing understanding of complex, grade-level texts
Discussion reflection
Student discussion tracker
Teacher Talk Moves
Transitions, grades 6-8
Transitions, grades 9-12
Evidence starters, grade 6
Evidence sentence starters, grades 7-12
Conversation stems, grades 6-8
Conversation stems, grades 9-12
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Instructional Strategies
•
Found under “Get Started” link on all units (same
across all grade levels)
•
Used throughout the units to support all students in
reading, understanding, and expressing
understanding of complex, grade-level texts
•
Also serve as additional support, as needed, to
implement each strategy
•
Includes 20 different strategies, including
Annotating Text, Mini-Lessons for Small-Group
Writing, Modeling (Mentor Texts), Notice and Note
Signposts, Shared and Interactive Writing
Share: What are a few
of your favorite
strategies not
mentioned here?
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Assessment Resources
LEAP 2025 ELA Practice Test Guidance
•
Focus on Recommended Uses section, which provides ideas on how to incorporate
item types and testing strategies into everyday classroom instruction (not on test
prep)
•
Use Scoring Activity at back of guidance to better understand writing expectations and
to work collaboratively with other teachers
PARCC’s Released Student Work
•
focus on knowledge in student responses and qualities of good writing (not on
formulas, such as number of paragraphs and parenthetical citations)
LDOE Assessment Guidance
•
Explore webinars, especially one about serving on future assessment committees
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Next Steps
Next Steps
•
Examine your lessons to see if they are building knowledge in a slow but deliberate way
•
Consider adding in more opportunities for students to reflect on what they are reading:
o Through discussions in different configurations (pairs, small and large groups)
o By writing frequently (to exercise that muscle and become more comfortable with
writing)
•
Consider ways to build the supports that students need
o Use ideas in Diverse Learners Guide
o Try to incorporate a variety of instructional strategies
•
Explore some teacher resources over the summer and share ideas with other teachers
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What’s on your Summer Reading List?
“Skills are important. But if we aren’t reading and writing so that we
can grow, so that we can discover, so that we can change—change our
thinking, change ourselves, perhaps change the world—then those
skills will be for naught.”
-from Disrupting Thinking: Why HOW We Read Matters
by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst
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