Five Things to Get Excited
About!
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1. Literacy is a shared responsibility.
SAGE:
ELA and Literacy
Summative and Interim
• Reports for literacy in all disciplines
o History/Social Studies
o Sciences
o Technical Subjects
Literacy is a shared responsibility!
Add It Up
1. Literacy is a shared responsibility.
2. Teachers, students, and parents get useful
information.
What is SAGE?
Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence
Utah’s summative, interim, and formative assessment system
aligned to Utah’s Core State Standards for students in grades K-12
• Includes the required end-of-year summative adaptive
assessments for English language arts, math, and science
(SAGE Summative Grades 3-11)
• Includes optional interim adaptive assessments
(SAGE Interim Grades 3-11) (coming 2014-15 school-year)
• Includes a formative assessment system
(SAGE Formative Grades K-12)
SAGE Summative
• Required end-of-year summative adaptive
assessments
o ELA and Literacy: Grades 3-11
o Mathematics: Grades 3-8, Secondary I, Secondary II,
Secondary III
o Science: Grades 4-8, Earth Science, Biology,
Chemistry, Physics
SAGE Interim
• Available Fall 2014
o Full blueprint of SAGE summative
o Fully adaptive
o Predictive of SAGE summative performance
o Each content test may be given up to twice a
year
SAGE Formative
• Accessible by teachers, students, and parents
• Learning activities, tests, items, quizzes, aligned
to the Utah Core
• Not adaptive
• Online and in person training available
• Information available from your LEA
Assessment Director
SAGE Implementation
SAGE Summative
(Operational Field
Test)
SAGE Summative
Fully Operational, Immediate
Online Reporting
SAGE
Formative
Fall
2013
Spring
2014
Fall
Spring
2015
SAGE Interim
Immediate Online
Reporting
Fall
Spring
2016
…
Add It Up
1. Literacy is a shared responsibility.
2. Teachers, students, and parents get useful
information.
3. Students’ time is not wasted.
What is an adaptive test?
Background: The general
idea behind adaptive testing
All students will answer approximately
50% of the items correctly.
What about kids above or
below grade level?
Standards-Based Adaptive
Testing: Our Algorithm
• Every student is tested on the full range and depth of
content, but at different levels of difficulty
o Difficulty is determined by actual student performance
• Every student has the chance to demonstrate the same
range of cognitive skills
o Utilizes grade level content
o Science Example:
• 4th weather, 5th chemical reactions, 6th solar system
• A 5th grade student will not receive questions about the solar
system– but full ability range on chemical reactions
• Item difficulty, not cognitive complexity, adjusts to
student performance
Add It Up
1. Literacy is a shared responsibility.
2. Teachers, students, and parents get useful
information.
3. Students’ time is not wasted.
4. Students get to think.
Cognitive Complexity
Cognitive complexity refers to the cognitive demand
associated with an item.
• Low Complexity: items require students to recall,
observe, question, or represent basic facts.
• Moderate Complexity: items require two steps:
identification and subsequent processing of that
information.
• High Complexity: items make heavy demands on
student thinking.
Depth of Knowledge (DOK)/
Cognitive Complexity
DOK 1. Recall/Reproduction – Recall a fact, information, or
procedure; process information on a low level
DOK 2. Skill/Concept – Use information or conceptual
knowledge, two or more steps
DOK 3. Strategic Thinking – Requires reasoning, developing a
plan or a sequence of steps, more than one reasonable approach
DOK 4. Extended Thinking – Requires connections and
extensions, high cognitive demands and complex reasoning
Difficulty vs.
Cognitive Complexity/DOK
Difficulty is a statistical concept.
• Test adaptation is based on difficulty.
Cognitive Complexity/DOK is based on the type of
thinking the student must do to answer the question.
• DOK is blueprinted.
SAGE adapts based on difficulty, not DOK
Depth of Knowledge
vs. Difficulty
What animal is this?
A. Bee
B. Deer
C. Horse
D. Wolf
DOK: 1
Difficulty: Easy
What species is this?
A. Apis mellifera
B. Canis lupus
C. Equus ferus caballus
D. Odocoileus virginianus
DOK: 1
Difficulty: Hard
DOK is NOT difficulty!
Depth of Knowledge
vs. Difficulty
Write a paragraph
comparing and
contrasting the
physical
appearance of a
wolf and a fox.
DOK: 2
Difficulty: Easy
Write a paragraph
comparing and
contrasting the
endocrine system of a
wolf and a fox.
DOK: 2
Difficulty: Hard
DOK is NOT difficulty!
Depth of Knowledge
vs. Difficulty
Choose a
behavioral trait of
the wolf that you
feel is its most
important
adaptation to its
environment. In a
paragraph, explain
and justify your
choice.
DOK: 3
Difficulty: Easy
Choose the sequence in
the wolf genome that
you believe best
exemplifies its
phenotypical adaptation
to its environment. In a
paragraph, explain and
justify your decision.
DOK: 3
Difficulty: Hard
DOK is NOT difficulty!
Blueprint Example
Blueprints can be viewed
at:
http://ut.portal.airast.org
/resources/?section=1
ELA and Literacy
Reading
• Single and Paired Passages
• Literary/Informational ratio follows Core
Listening
• Short (1 min) passages: dialogue, discussion, etc.
• Headphones
Language
• Edit draft passage of student writing
Multiple Choice
Single Select
Multiple Choice: Items include a question followed by
multiple options from which a student is directed to choose
only one.
Key points
• There is one and only one correct or best answer.
• The other choices are plausible but incorrect.
• The wording of each option is clearly understandable.
• The options are parallel in length and in grammar.
Multiple Choice
Multiple Select
Selected Response: Items include a question followed by
multiple options from which a student is directed to choose
all that are correct.
Key points
• There are multiple correct or best answers.
• The other choices are plausible but incorrect.
• The wording of each option is clearly understandable.
• The options are parallel in length and in grammar.
Constructed Response
Constructed Response: Items that focus on a particular skill
or concept. Students will produce their own work either in
the form of a short or longer response.
Key points:
• The rubric clearly indicates the number of points per
type of student response.
• The rubric clearly indicates the expected student
response(s) for each score point.
• The intended correct response answers the question
posed in the stem.
Technology
Enhanced/Grid Items
Items that are technology enhanced and require the student
to interact with the item to solve
• Constructed Response (Natural Language)
• Equation Response
• Graphic Response
• Hot Spot Response
• Drag and Drop Response
Key point:
• The item should use the capabilities of the grid tool effectively
and purposefully. The item should have a good reason to be
created as a grid item rather than another item type.
Add It Up
1. Literacy is a shared responsibility.
2. Teachers, students, and parents get useful
information.
3. Students’ time is not wasted.
4. Students get to think.
5. Students get to write!
ELA and Literacy
Writing
Student writing will draw on information and evidence
from passages
Two Compositions:
• Informative/Explanatory W.2 (~shorter)
• Opinion/Argument W.1 (~longer)
Machine scoring with human read-behind
Sample Writing Task:
Grade 10—Informative/Explanatory Essay
Prompt:
Write an essay that explains why the light from a lighthouse can
travel such long distances. Use information from the articles
you have read in your essay.
Text Set:
• Article and diagram comparing the distance light travels from
various manmade sources, including lighthouses, flashlights,
car headlights, etc.
• Article (with illustrations) describing how lighthouses
generate and focus light signals
• Textbook excerpt describing how lenses and prisms focus and
bend light
Sample Writing Task:
Grade 6—Argument Essay
Prompt:
This is a claim made by a solar panel company:
“Using solar panels for heating can save homeowners money.”
Based on the readings, write an essay that supports this claim OR
an opposing claim. Be sure to include evidence from the articles to
support your claim.
Text Set:
• Article with information about the cost of installing solar panels
• Information and illustrations about the amount of energy
generated by solar panels on houses with full sun to shaded
exposures
• Report on the amount of energy homeowners have to buy to
supplement solar energy provided by panels
• Personal anecdote from a consumer who has purchased and uses
solar panels for heating
How do I prepare my
students?
•
•
•
•
•
Teach the Standards
Academic Vocabulary
Read like a Writer—Write like a Reader
4/1 Grading
Evidentiary Reasoning
Teach the Core, not the test!
Thank you!
Daron Kennett
ELA Assessment Specialist
Utah State Office of Education
daron.kennett@schools.utah.gov
801-538-7819