ELA UPDATE
1
LISA MULLINS
COORDINATOR, ELA/SOCIAL STUDIES
(903) 988-6801
LMULLINS@ESC7.NET
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
SSIG Consolidated Report
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 Report is now available in eGrants.
 Report is due September 30, 2010
 Even if a district didn’t receive SSIG Funds, the
Consolidated Report must be submitted to report
early assessment information.
 The 2010-2011 SSIG Application is due October 15,
2010
 Note changes in reporting for 2010-2011 (refer to
August 6th letter)
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved. This material may not
be reproduced, displayed, modified or distributed
without the express prior written permission of the
copyright holder. For permission, contact
copyright@esc7.net.
Student Success Initiative
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 A district should provide accelerated instruction for
students in grades 3-8
 The accelerated instruction should identify the needs
of the student and be specific and prescriptive
 July 1st TEA letter – “accelerated instruction must
occur after each administration of the test,
including the third administration.”
 Deadline for submitting an expedited waiver to
adjust the timeline for accelerated instruction for
2010-2011 school year is September 30, 2010
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
STAAR
(State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness)
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 Grades 3-8 Reading
 Grades 4 and 7 Writing
 English I, II and III
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
STAAR Timeline
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 Spring 2011
 Grades 3-8 reading field test embedded in TAKS
 Grades 4 and 7 writing stand-alone field tests in early April
 English I - first operational assessment
 English II and III – stand alone field tests
 Spring 2012
 First STAAR assessments – all courses/grades
 English I counts toward graduation for first time 9th graders
 TAKS ELA tests continue for grade 10 and exit level
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
New Assessment Design
STAAR 3-8 and High School
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 Linked to college and career readiness
 TEKS eligible for assessment split into two categories
 Readiness standards, defined as those TEKS considered
necessary for success in the current grade/course and
important for preparedness in the grade/course that follows 60-65% of assessments items
 Supporting standards, defined as those TEKS which are
important to teach but which will receive less emphasis by
being assessed across years/administrations – 35-40% of
assessments skills
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
English I, II and III
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 Advanced high school course readiness measure for
English I and II
 College and career readiness measure for English III
 Scores reported separately for reading and writing
 Students retest only in the section they fail
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
Reading Test Design
Grades 3-8 and High School
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 Literary strand: fiction, literary nonfiction, poetry
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and drama (drama begins at grade 4)
Informational strand: expository and persuasive
(persuasive begins at grade 5)
Fiction and expository reading are considered
readiness genres from grade 3 through HS
Literary nonfiction, poetry, drama and persuasive
reading are considered supporting genres
Procedural elements embedded in informational
pieces and media literacy embedded in either literary
or informational pieces
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
Reading Test Design
Grades 3-8 and High School
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 Word count attached to overall test rather than to
individual pieces, as in TAKS
 Maximum word count increases from grade to grade
but is consistant at high school
 Number of pieces included on a test can vary from
year to year, dependent on length (e.g., at grade 5, 34 individual pieces and one pair)
 Different numbers of questions attached to differentlength pieces
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
Reading Test Design
Grades 3-8 and High School
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Pairs can mix strands and genres
 Literary – Literary (e.g. fiction-poetry, literary
nonfiction-drama, fiction-literary nonfiction)
 Informational – Informational (e.g. expositoryexpository, expository-persuasive)
 Literary - Informational (e.g. fiction-expository,
poetry-expository, literary nonfiction-persuasive)
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
Writing Test Design
Grades 4 and 7 and High School
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 Assessments at grades 4 and 7 administered over two
days; writing component of English I, II and III
administered on Day 1 of test (with reading
component on day 2)
 Field test embedded for grade 7 and English I, II and
III
 Abbreviated stand-alone field test for grade 4 every
three years
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
Revision and Editing
Grades 4 and 7 and High School
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 Revision and editing assessed separately, with
increased focus on revision as students become more
experienced and skilled writers
 For Grade 4, 32% of multiple-choice score from
revision and 68% of score from editing
 For Grade 7, 40% of multiple-choice score from
revision, and 60% of score from editing
 For English I, II and III, 50% of multiple-choice
score from revision and 50% of score from editing
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
Revision and Editing
Grades 4 and 7 and High School
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 Revision focused on effectiveness: introduction
(controlling ideas) and conclusion, organization,
progression, development, language/word choice,
and sentences.
 Editing focused on correctness (conventions)
Example of high school revision question:
Steven wants to more effectively establish the
controlling idea in his paper. Which revision of
sentence 5 can help him accomplish his goal?
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Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
Revision and Editing
Grades 4 and 7 and High School
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 Dictionaries allowed on entire test including revising
and editing in HS ELA
 Glossary idea in grades 3-5 reading
 Grades 6, 7 and 8 - dictionaries
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7th grade writing
6th and 8th grade reading
 4th Grade – no dictionaries on writing assessment
 Will be able to use hand held, hard copy, Spanish
and English versions of dictionaries
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
Composition
Grades 4 and 7 and High School
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 Students will write two one-page compositions
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addressing different types of writing
Grade 4 – personal narrative and expository
Grade 7 – personal narrative (with extension and
expository)
English I – literary and expository
English II – expository and persuasive
English III – persuasive and analytic
Compositions will be weighted equally
No “gatekeeper” (automatic fail for a 1)
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.
September Postings on STAAR
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 STAAR overview
 Test blueprints
 Assessed curriculum documents called reporting
categories (no longer called objectives) as well as
readiness and supporting standards
 Schematics
Copyright 2010 by Region 7 Education Service
Center. All rights reserved.