High School Department Chair Meeting

High School Department

Chair Meeting

9/28/10

The Things You Carry

Icebreaker

Excerpt from The Things

They Carried by Tim O’Brien

The Things You Carry

Select one item from your person (including wallet or purse) that reveals something about yourself or something/someone of whom you are proud

Think time

Please share your item and its meaning with the group

ASSESSMENT UPDATE

The Latest and Greatest from Victoria Young

STATE OF TEXAS ASSESSMENTS OF ACADEMIC READINESS (STAAR)

Grades 3−8 ReadingGrades 4 and 7 Writing

English I, II, and III

Victoria Young PresentationCREST Conference Excerpts

September 13, 20106

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STAAR Timeline

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 testsSpring 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

8New Assessment DesignSTAAR 3–8 & High School

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

supporting standards, defined as those TEKS which are important to teach but which will receive less emphasis by being assessed across years/administrations

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English I, II, & III

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

10Reading Test DesignGrades 3−8 & High School

Genre-based

Literary strand: fiction, literary nonfiction, poetry, and drama (drama beginning at grade 4)

Informational strand: expository and persuasive (persuasive beginning at grade 5)

Fiction and expository reading are considered readiness genres from grade 3 though high school

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


Test Length

Word count attached to overall test rather than to individual pieces, as in TAKS

Maximum word count increases from grade to grade but is consistent at high school

Number of pieces included on a test can vary from year to year, dependent on length (e.g., at grade 5, 3−4 individual pieces and one pair)

Different numbers of questions attached to different-length pieces


Pairs can mix strands and genres

Literary−Literary (e.g., fiction−poetry, literary nonfiction−drama, fiction−literary nonfiction

Informational−Informational (e.g., expository −expository, expository−persuasive)

Literary −Informational (e.g., fiction−expository, poetry−expository, literary nonfiction−persuasive)

13Writing Test DesignGrades 4, 7, and High School

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 tests embedded for grade 7 and English I, II, and III

Abbreviated stand-alone field test for grade 4 every three years

14Revision and Editing Grades 4, 7, & High School

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

15Composition Grades 4, 7, & High School

Students will write two one-page compositions addressing different types of writingGrade 4−personal narrative and expositoryGrade 7−personal narrative (with extension) and

expositoryEnglish I−literary and expositoryEnglish II−expository and persuasiveEnglish III−persuasive and analytic

Compositions will be weighted equally

No “gatekeeper” (automatic fail for a 1)

16Writing Prompts and RubricsGrades 4, 7, & High School

Prompts contain a stimulus and are scaffolded−Read, Think, Write

A rubric is being developed for each writing type, but three sections are identical Organization/Progression

Development of Ideas

Use of Language/Conventions

17Writing RubricsGrades 4, 7, & High School

Organization/Progressionthe degree to which form or structure is

appropriate to the purpose and demands of the prompt

the degree to which the writer establishes and sustains focus (affecting unity and coherence of piece)

the degree to which the writer controls progression with transitions and sentence-to-sentence connections and establishes the relationships among ideas


Development of Ideasthe degree to which

details/examples are specific and well chosen

the degree to which (1) the piece is thoughtful and engaging and (2) the writer demonstrates an understanding of the task


Use of Language/Conventionsthe degree to which word choice is

thoughtful and appropriate to form, purpose, and tone

the degree to which sentences are purposeful, varied, and controlled

the degree to which the writer demonstrates a command of conventions so that the writing is fluent and clear

CONTACT INFORMATION

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Victoria Young

Director of Reading, Writing, and Social Studies Assessments

Texas Education Agency

512-463-9536

[email protected]

Documents

High School Department Chair Meeting