Understanding Missouri’s
English Language Arts
Learning Standards
Missouri Department of Elementary
and Secondary Education
2014
Let’s talk HB1490
• The Missouri State Board of Education adopted the
Standards during their June 15, 2010 meeting.
• Now referred to in Missouri as the Missouri Learning
Standards (MLS) along with our math, science, and
social studies standards.
HB1490
 Whenever standards are developed, evaluated, modified or
revised…must convene groups
 ELA, math, science, history/governments (or for each
subject for which the state develops standards)
 2 work groups: K-5 (16 members) and 6-12 (17 members)
 Members: resident 3 years, taught or subject experience 10
years, except parents (4)
 Standards finished by October 1, 2015; then reviewed by
board
 First year of an assessment doesn’t count for accreditation
or evaluation
Missouri Assessment Program
Assessment Tools:
Formative, Interim and Summative
Assessment Plan (January 2014)
 Smarter Balanced Assessments (ELA, MA)
 Grades 3-8
 Grade Level Science Assessments
 Grades 5 & 8
 End-Of-Course Assessments
 Grades 9-12
http://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/asmt-guide-to-missouriassessment-program1415.pdf.
A Balanced Assessment System
Common
Core State
Standards
specify
K-12
expectations
for college
and career
readiness
Summative
assessments
Benchmarked to
college and career
readiness
Teachers and
schools have
information and
tools they need
to improve
teaching and
learning
Formative
Assessment
Practices
to improve instruction
Interim assessments
Flexible, open, used
for actionable
feedback
All students
leave
high school
college
and career
ready
Summative Assessments
 Full Smarter Balanced Assessments
 Grades 5 & 8
 Shorter Smarter Balanced Assessments
 Grades 3,4,6 & 7
 Machine-scorable/some hand-scorable
 Assessment Resources
 http://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/asmt-guide-tomissouri-assessment-program1415.pdf.
A Balanced Assessment System
Common
Core State
Standards
specify
K-12
expectations
for college
and career
readiness
Summative
assessments
Benchmarked to
college and career
readiness
Teachers and
schools have
information and
tools they need
to improve
teaching and
learning
Formative
Assessment
Practices
to improve instruction
Interim assessments
Flexible, open, used
for actionable
feedback
All students
leave
high school
college
and career
ready
Interim Assessments
 Smarter Balanced Item Bank
 Online
 Testlets
 Pre-Test (grades 3-8)
 Machine-Scorable (scored – online)
 Performance Events (scored – locally)
A Balanced Assessment System
Common
Core State
Standards
specify
K-12
expectations
for college
and career
readiness
Summative
assessments
Benchmarked to
college and career
readiness
Teachers and
schools have
information and
tools they need
to improve
teaching and
learning
Formative
Assessment
Practices
to improve instruction
Interim assessments
Flexible, open, used
for actionable
feedback
All students
leave
high school
college
and career
ready
What the Digital Library is
NOT
 Lesson plans
 Quizzes
 An assessment item bank
 Benchmark tests
Formative Assessment Process
Defined
Formative assessment is a deliberate
process used by teachers and students
during instruction that provides
actionable feedback that is used to
adjust ongoing teaching and learning
strategies to improve students’ self-
assessment, reflection and attainment
of curricular learning targets/goals.
Four Attributes
The formative assessment process attributes are:
Clarify
Intended
Learning
Elicit
Evidence
Act on
Evidence
Interpret
Evidence
Digital Library Resources
Assessment
Literacy Modules
Exemplar
Instructional
Modules
Education
Resources
• Commissioned Professional Learning Modules
• Resources for educators, students and families
• Frame Formative Assessment within a Balanced Assessment System
• Articulate the Formative Assessment Process
• Highlight Formative Assessment Practices and Tools
• Commissioned Professional Learning Modules
• Instructional coaching for educators
• Instructional materials for students
• Demonstrate/support effective implementation of the formative
assessment process
• Focus on key content and practice from the Common Core State
Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts
• High-quality vetted instructional resources and tools for educators
• High-quality vetted resources and tools for students and families
• Reflect and support the formative assessment process
• Reflect and support the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
and English Language Arts
• Create Professional Learning Communities
Digital Library Functionality
Allows educators to view,
download, and rate
resources
Uses state-of-the-art
tagging and search to
quickly find resources by
CCSS and other topics
Enables educators from
across the Consortium to
collaborate and share their
knowledge
Facilitates access to
resources that are stored in
participating libraries
Navigate to the Digital Library
https://www.smarterbalancedlibrary.org
Welcome Tutorial
Account
Digital Library: Collaboration
Digital Library: Collaboration
Proposed List of Commissioned
Modules
30 Assessment
Literacy
Modules
31 ELA
Instructional
Modules
31 Math
Instructional
Modules
10 Score Report
Modules
Digital Library Webinars
 Introduction to the Digital Library
 http://dese.mo.gov/communications/webinar/how-usedigital-library
 Uploading Personnel
 http://dese.mo.gov/communications/webinar/digitallibrary-user-provisioning
 Questions
 Shaun Bates shaun.bates@dese.mo.gov
 missouridigitallibrary@dese.mo.gov
Shifting Gears – High School
END
OF
COURSE
End-Of-Course Assessments
 Algebra 1
 Geometry
 Algebra 2
 English 2
 English 1
 Biology
 Government
 American History
End-Of-Course Assessments
 Aligned to the Missouri Learning Standards (MLS)
 Missouri Item Bank
 Blueprints
 Practice Test
 Pre-Test
 Selected Response
 Performance Event
The Shifts in ELA Literacy
Building knowledge through content-rich
nonfiction
Reading, writing and speaking grounded in
evidence from text both literary and
informational
Regular practice with complex text and its
academic language
Increased Exposure to Informational Text
“Elementary and secondary students are not required to
read enough informational text independently even
though expository text makes up the vast majority of the
required reading in college and the workplace.”
Qualitative Measures
 Meaning/Purpose
 Level of Abstraction, Subtlety of Theme, Ambiguity of Message
 Text Structure
 Literary Texts: Plot Sequencing, Point of View, Characterization, Genre
 Informational Texts: Organization Linearity, Specialized Conventions
 Visual Elements: Text Features, Graphics/Illustrations
 Language Features
 Conventionality, Level of Literalness, Vocabulary, Sentence Structuring
 Knowledge Demands
 Life Experiences, Intertexuality, Cultural and Subject Matter Knowledge
Quantitative Measures—Lexile
 Text Lexile Database: http://www.lexile.com/findabook/
 Like any formula, however, flawed exceptions exist:
Grade
Band
Lexile
Range
K-1
N/A
2-3
420-820
4-5
740-1010
6-8
925-1185
9-10
1050-1335
11-CCR
1185-1385
680L
830L
 Quantitative measures are less reliable with fiction (and not used at all
with drama/poetry); so we also must use qualitative measures!
Reader & Task Considerations
 Is the reader cognitively ready for this text?
 Is the reader proficient with the literacy strategies needed to comprehend
this text?
 Does the reader have enough background knowledge to understand this
text?
 Will the reader be inherently motivated by the content of this text to sustain
active reading?
 Does this text contain mature/concerning content that might be considered
inappropriate or offensive to the reader?
 Does this text have explicit ties to “real-world” tasks that I will ask students to
engage in while reading?
 What standards will I focus on when teaching this text?
 Does this text have interdisciplinary ties to subject matter being taught in
other content areas being studied by the student?
Tools and Resources
http://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/curriculum/english-language-arts
Additional Resources
http://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/curriculum/english-language-arts/resources
Melia Franklin
Melia.franklin@dese.mo.gov
Twitter: @MeliaFranklin
573-751-4898
Director of English Language Arts
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education