The Partnership for Assessment of
Readiness for College and Careers:
Released Items for English Language Arts
January 23, 2014
Mary Beth Banios, Assistant Superintendent
Shrewsbury, MA Public Schools
Robin Getzen, High School ELA Teacher
Lenox, MA Public Schools
Susan Wheltle, Director of Literacy and Humanities,
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education
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Agenda
• Basics on the Common Core State Standards and
PARCC
• Previewing the PARCC ELA assessments
• A close look at ELA items for grades 10, 3, and 6
• PARCC Transition Plan for Massachusetts
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PARCC 101: The Basics
PARCC is based on the Common Core State Standards,
which are included in the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum
Frameworks for ELA/Literacy and Mathematics. The
ultimate purpose of the standards and assessments is to
prepare students for success after high school.
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46 States + DC Have Adopted the
Common Core State Standards
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*Minnesota
adopted the CCSS in ELA/literacy only
Partnership for Assessment of Readiness
for College and Careers (PARCC)
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Key ELA Shifts in the Common Core
English Language Arts
Building knowledge through content-rich non-fiction
Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from text,
both literary and informational
Regular practice with complex text and academic language
ANCHORED IN COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS
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Common Core to PARCC
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Assessment Design
English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics, Grades 3-11
2 Optional Assessments/Flexible Administration
Diagnostic 2-8 / K-1
Formative Assessments
•Early indicator of
student knowledge and
skills to inform
instruction, supports,
and PD
•Non-summative
Mid-Year
Assessment
•Performance-based
•Emphasis on hardto-measure standards
•Potentially
summative
•Locally scored
Performance-Based
Assessment (PBA)
• Extended tasks
• Applications of
concepts and skills
• Required
Speaking And Listening Assessment
• Locally scored
• Non-summative, required, not included in summative score
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End-of-Year
Assessment (EOY)
•Innovative,
computer-based
items
•Required
Administration Time
PARCC estimates that students will spend the approximate
times below to complete the PARCC performance-based
and end-of-year assessments in ELA/literacy and math:
•
•
•
•
8 hours annually in 3rd grade
Just over 9 hours in grades 4–5
A little less than 9 ½ hours in middle school
A little more than 9 ½ hours in high school
Schools and districts will have a maximum of one fourweek window to complete the administration of the
performance-based and another maximum four-week
window to complete the end-of-year tests.
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PARCC Accessibility Features and
Accommodations Manual
November 2013
Second Edition Release
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PARCC Comprehensive Accessibility
Policies
Features for All
Students
Accessibility
Features*
Identified in advance
Accommodations
**
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* Available to all participating
students
**For students with disabilities,
English learners, and English
learners with disabilities
Accessibility Features for All Students
Accessibility Features for All Students
Audio Amplification
Blank Paper (provided by test administrator)
Eliminate Answer Choices
Flag Items for Review
General Administration Directions Clarified (by test administrator)
General Administration Directions Read Aloud and Repeated (by test administrator)
Highlight Tool
Headphones
Magnification/Enlargement Device
NotePad
Pop-Up Glossary
Redirect Student to Test (by test administrator)
Spell Checker
Writing Tools
Line Reader Tool
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Accessibility Features Identified in
Advance
Accessibility Features Identified in Advance
Answer Masking
Background/Font Color (Color Contrast)
General Masking
Text-to-Speech for the Mathematics Assessments
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PARCC ELA Sample Item Review
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Headlines
Question Types
 Evidence Based Selected Response (EBSR)
 Technology Enhanced Constructed Response (TECR)
 Prose Constructed Response (PCR)
Performance-Based Assessment Tasks
 Literary analysis
 Narrative writing
 Research simulation
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Headlines
Structure of Performance Based Assessment Tasks:
 Read several related texts, one of which may be a video
 Answer questions after each text/video
 Complete writing task to demonstrate understanding
and synthesis across all texts/videos
 Note how EBSR and TECR questions for each text build
toward synthesis across all texts/videos
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Headlines
• The ELA assessment will include questions based on both
literary and informational texts
– Literary texts may include prose, poetry, and drama
– Informational texts may include essays, memoirs, letters,
biographies, texts or videos in history/social science,
science, technical subjects, and the arts
– There may be questions on maps, graphs, charts, or
illustrations embedded in informational texts
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Understanding the Literary Analysis Task
• Students carefully consider two literary texts worthy of close
study.
• They are asked to answer a few EBSR and TECR questions
about each text to demonstrate their ability to do close
analytic reading and to compare and synthesize ideas.
• Students write a literary analysis about the two texts.
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Literary Analysis (EBSR) Grade 10
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Literary Analysis (TECR) Grade 10
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Literary Analysis (PCR) Grade 10
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Understanding the Research Simulation
Task
• Students begin by reading an anchor text that introduces
the topic.
• EBSR and TECR items ask students to gather key details
about the passage to support their understanding.
• Students read two additional sources and answer a few
questions about each text to learn more about the topic,
so they are ready to write the final essay and to show their
reading comprehension.
• Finally, students mirror the research process by
synthesizing their understandings into a writing that uses
textual evidence from the sources.
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Research Simulation (EBSR) Grade 3
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Research Simulation (EBSR) Grade 3
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Research Simulation (Video Example)
Grade 7
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Understanding a Narrative Writing Task
Based on a Literary Text
• Students read one brief text and answer a few questions to
help clarify their understanding of the text(s).
• Students then write a narrative story.
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Texts Worth Reading
Grade 6
• Julie of the Wolves was a winner of the Newbery Medal in
1973.
• This text, about a young Eskimo girl surviving on her own
in the tundra by communicating with wolves, offers a story
rich with characterization and imagery that will appeal to a
diverse student population.
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Narrative Writing (EBSR) Grade 6
Julie of the Wolves
Which statement best describes the central idea of the text?
a) Miyax is far from home and in need of help. *
b) Miyax misses her father and has forgotten the lessons he
taught her.
c) Miyax is cold and lacks appropriate clothing.
d) Miyax is surrounded by a pack of unfriendly wolves.
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Narrative Writing (EBSR) Grade 6
Julie of the Wolves
Which sentence best helps develop the central idea?
a) “Miyax pushed back the hood of her sealskin parka and
looked at the Arctic sun.”
b) “Somewhere in this cosmos was Miyax; and the very life in
her body, its spark and warmth, depended upon these
wolves for survival.”*
c) “The next night the wolf called him from far away and her
father went to him and found a freshly killed caribou.”
d) He had ignored her since she first came upon them, two
sleeps ago.”
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Narrative Writing (EBSR) Grade 6
Julie of the Wolves
What does the word regal mean as it is used in the passage?
a)
b)
c)
d)
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generous
threatening
kingly*
uninterested
Narrative Writing (PCR) Grade 6
Julie of the Wolves
In the passage, the author developed a strong character named
Miyax. Think about Miyax and the details the author used to
create that character. The passage ends with Miyax waiting for
the black wolf to look at her.
Write an original story to continue where the passage ended. In
your story, be sure to use what you have learned about the
character Miyax as you tell what happens to her next.
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PARCC Online Test Samples
Test drive the ELA and math assessment items!
The Technology Platform: http://practice.parcc.testnav.com/
Notes about the online test sample:
• Safari, Chrome (PC), Firefox 14 or higher
• Some functionality on iPad 2
Additional ELA and math items: http://www.parcconline.org
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Massachusetts Transition Plan
• The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
has voted to “test drive” PARCC
– Spring-Fall 2014: Field Test and Analysis of Field
Test Data
– Winter-Spring 2014-2015: MA Schools Administer
first PARCC operational tests
– Summer-Fall 2015: Standard setting for PARCC
tests; Board votes on whether or not to adopt
PARCC
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Resources
Any publicly released assessment policies, evidence tables, item
prototypes, PARCC Model Content Frameworks, and other valuable
resources can be found at www.parcconline.org
Information on PARCC Transition Plan and Field Tests in
Massachusetts:
•http://www.doe.mass.edu/parcc (MA Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education)
•http://www.mass.edu/currentinit /parcc.asp (MA Department of
Higher Education)
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Thank
You
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