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Instructional Shifts in the CCSS and Designing
Quality Assessment Items
Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Susan Gendron
Senior Fellow
October 15-19, 2012
What are the instructional shifts?
• Write the numbers 1-6 on a sheet of paper
• List the Instructional shifts for Literacy
Where do these shifts come
from? What specific standard or
groups of standards do they
advance?
STANDARDS FOR
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
&
LITERACY IN HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES,
SCIENCE, AND TECHNICAL SUBJECTS
JUNE 2010
Shared Responsibility for
Students’ Literacy Development
• “The Standards insist that instruction in reading, speaking,
listening, and language be a shared responsibility within the
school” (p. 4).
• “This division reflects the unique time-honored place of ELA
teachers in developing students’ literacy skills while at the
same time recognizing that teachers in other areas must have
a role in this development as well” (p. 4).
English Language Arts and Literacy Standards “Roadmap”
SPEAKING &
READING WRITING LANGUAGE
LISTENING
10 Anchor Standards 10 Anchor Standards 6 Anchor 6 Anchor
for College and Career
for College and Career Readiness
Readiness Standards for CCR Standards for CCR
ELA Literacy
Found- Standards Standards ELA Literacy ELA ELA
ational K-12 6-12 Standards Standards Standards Standards
Skills K-12 6-12 K-12 K-12
Sci. /
Literary Inform Hist. /
Tech
Text Text S.S.
Subj.
K →→→→→→→→→→→ K →→→→→→ K K
K K
1 →→→→→→→→→→→ 1 →→→→→→ 1 1
1 1
2 →→→→→→→→→→→ 2 →→→→→→ 2 2
2 2
3 →→→→→→→→→→→ 3 →→→→→→ 3 3
3 3
4 →→→→→→→→→→→ 4 →→→→→→ 4 4
4 4
5 →→→→→→→→→→→ 5 →→→→→→ 5 5
5 5
6 6 6 6
6
7 6-8 6-8 7 6-8 7 7
7
8 8 8 8
8
9-10 9-10 9-10 9-10 9-10 9-10 9-10
9-10
11-12 11-12 11-12 11-12 11-12 11-12 11-12
11-12
Increasing Sophistication
Reading Anchor Standard #9 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build
knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
Kindergarten Grades 11-CCR
Integration of Knowledge and Integration of Knowledge and
Ideas Ideas
9. Compare and contrast the 9. Integrate information from
diverse sources, both primary and
most important points and key secondary, into a coherent
details presented in two texts on understanding of an idea or event,
the same topic. noting discrepancies among
sources.
Design and Organization
Three appendices:
A: Research and evidence; glossary of key
terms
B: Reading text exemplars; sample
performance tasks
C: Annotated student writing samples
http://www.corestandards.org
8
Six Shifts in ELA/Literacy
• Balancing Informational and Literary Text
• Building Knowledge in the Disciplines
• Staircase of Complexity
• Text-Based Answers
• Writing From Sources
• Academic Vocabulary
9
Shift 1
Balancing Literature
and Informational
Text
Literary/Informational Text
Literature Literature Literature Informational Text
Stories Drama Poetry Literary
Nonfiction and
Historical,
Scientific, and
Technical Texts
Includes children’s Includes staged Includes nursery Includes biographies
adventure stories, dialogue and brief rhymes and the and autobiographies;
folktales, legends, familiar scenes subgenres of the books about history,
fables, fantasy, realistic narrative poem, social studies, science,
fiction, and myth limerick, and free verse and the arts; technical
poem texts, including
directions, forms, and
information displayed
in graphs, charts, or
maps; and digital
sources on a range of
topics
11
Reading Framework for NAEP 2009
Grade Literary Informational
4 50% 50%
8 45% 55%
12 30% 70%
College and Career Readiness Anchor
Standards for Reading
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media
and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well
as in words.
*8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims
in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as
the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or
topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the
approaches the authors take.
13
Shift #2
Building
Knowledge in the
Disciplines
Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social
Studies 6–12
Common Core Reading
Standard for Grades 9-10 Grades 11-12
Informational Text
Anchor Standard
Key Ideas & Details Key Ideas & Details Key Ideas & Details
1. Read closely to 1. Cite specific textual 1. Cite specific textual
determine what the text evidence to support evidence to support
says explicitly and to analysis of primary and analysis of primary and
make logical inferences secondary sources, secondary sources,
from it; cite specific attending to such connecting insights
textual evidence when features as the date and gained from specific
writing or speaking to origin of the information details to an
support conclusions understanding of the
drawn from the text. text as a whole.
Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects
Common Core Reading Reading Standards for Reading Standards for
Standard for Literacy in Science and Literacy in Science and
Informational Text Technical Subjects Technical Subjects
Anchor Standard Grades 9-10 Grades 11-12
Key Ideas & Details Key Ideas & Details Key Ideas & Details
1. Read closely to 1 .Cite specific textual 1. Cite specific textual
determine what the text evidence to support evidence to support
says explicitly and to analysis of science and analysis of science and
make logical inferences technical texts, attending technical texts, attending
from it; cite specific to the precise details of to important distinctions
textual evidence when explanations or the author makes and to
writing or speaking to descriptions any gaps or
support conclusions inconsistencies in the
drawn from the text. account.
Why Literacy in History/Social Studies,
Science and Technical?
Students are consistently unable to meet the
demands of reading text within a particular
discipline.
Reading within a discipline is different than
reading literature.
The ability to read within the discipline is
important to citizenship.
Being literate across a broad range of
disciplines is required to be considered College
and Career Ready.
How is reading history/social studies different
from other types of reading?
• History is interpretive.
• History is an argument in favor of a
particular narrative.
• Who the author is matters. (sourcing)
• The author’s purpose matters. (bias and
perspective)
• A single text is problematic.
(corroboration)
How is reading science and technical reading
different from other types of reading?
• Focus is on claims and counter claims
• Precise details, complex details and
processes
• Analyze results by comparing
• Determining what question is being raised
• Navigate text, graphs, tables, charts
• Evaluate basis for claims
Close Reading
Students will:
1.engage with a text of sufficient complexity
• examine its meaning thoroughly and
methodically
• read and reread deliberately.
• understand the central ideas and key
supporting details.
•
Close Reading
• reflect on the meanings of individual
words and sentences;
• understand the order in which sentences
unfold; and the
• development of ideas over the course of
the text,
• gather observations about a text
• more sensitive to inconsistencies,
ambiguities, and poor reasoning in texts.
Close Reading
• Students can:
• Make comparisons and synthesize ideas
• Use meaning developed through the
analysis of words, phrases, sentences and
paragraph to make connections among
ideas across multiple text
Shift #3
Staircase of Txt
Complexity
Overview of Text Complexity
Reading Standards include over exemplar texts (stories
and literature, poetry, and informational texts) that illustrate
appropriate level of complexity by grade
Text complexity is defined by:
1. Qualitative measures – levels of meaning,
structure, language conventionality and
clarity, and knowledge demands
2. Quantitative measures – readability and
other scores of text complexity
3. Reader and Task – background knowledge
of reader, motivation, interests, and
complexity generated by tasks assigned Reader and Task
24
Step 1: Qualitative Measures
Measures such as:
• Levels of meaning
• Levels of purpose
• Structure
• Organization
• Language conventionality
• Language clarity
• Prior knowledge demands
25
Step 2: Quantitative Measures
Measures such as:
• Word length
• Word frequency
• Word difficulty
• Sentence length
• Text length
• Text cohesion
26
Text Complexity Grade Bands and
Associated Lexile Ranges
Text Complexity Grade Old Lexile Ranges Lexile Ranges Aligned to
Band in the Standards CCR expectations
K-1 N/A N/A
2-3 450-725 450-790
4-5 645-845 770-980
6-8 860-1010 955-1155
9-10 960-1115 1080-1305
11-CCR 1070-1220 1215-1355
Lexile Analyzer
http://www.lexile.com/analyzer/
Step 3: Reader and Task
Considerations such as:
• Motivation
• Knowledge and experience
• Purpose for reading
• Complexity of task assigned
regarding text
• Complexity of questions asked
regarding text
30
Staircasing Texts Toward
CCR
Text at High End of Grade End of Year
Band
Text Between Middle and
High End of
Grade Band
Text Near Middle of Grade
Band
Text Between Low End and
Middle of
Grade Band
Text at Low End of Grade
Band Beginning of Year
Selecting texts
• Short text of sufficient complexity
– Poems, short stories, magazine articles
• Extended texts
– Book-length information text, magazine with
a series of related articles or stories or a
website with multiple related pages of grade-
level text
Cite evidence and analyze content
• Students learn to draw sufficient evidence
from a range of different types of complex
text
Shift #4
Text Based Answers
High-quality, Text-dependent Questions & Tasks
• “Among the highest priorities of the Common Core
Standards is that students can read closely and gain
knowledge from texts.”
• “More questions that can be answered only
with reference to the text.”
• “Sequences of questions should elicit a
sustained discussion.”
• Tasks must “require the use of more textual
evidence.”
Text Dependent Questions
• Step One: Identify the Core Understandings
and Key Ideas of the Text
– Design Backwards
– What are the major points
– Essential to designing good questions and a
culminating assignment
–
Text Dependent Questions
• Step Two: Start Small to Build Confidence
– Opening questions should be ones that help
orientate students to the text
– Be sufficiently specific enough for them to
answer
– Confidence to tackle more difficult questions
later on.
–
Text Dependent Questions
• Step Three: Target Vocabulary and Text
Structure
– Key text structures
– Academic words in the text that are connected
to the key ideas and understandings, and
– Craft questions that illuminate these
connections
–
Text Dependent Questions
• Step Four: Tackle Tough Sections Head-on
– Find the sections of the text that will present
the greatest difficulty and craft questions that
support students in mastering these sections
(these could be sections with difficult syntax,
particularly dense information, and tricky
transitions or places that offer a variety of
possible inferences).
–
Text Dependent Questions
• Step Five: Create Coherent Sequences of Text
Dependent Questions
– Questions should not be random but should
build toward more coherent understanding
and analysis to ensure that students learn to
stay focused on the text to bring them to a
gradual understanding of its meaning.
Text Dependent Questions
• Step Six: Identify the Standards That Are
Being Addressed
• Step Seven: Create the Culminating
Assessment
– (a) mastery of one or more of the standards
– (b) involves writing, and
– (c) is structured to be completed by students
independently.
•
Asking Text-Dependent Questions
• What does the author mean by _____?
How can you tell?
• Did anything in ____ surprise you? What
was it?
• According to the author, what must
happen (before/when) _____?
• How is _____ like ____? How are they
different?
Asking Text-Dependent Questions
• Had you ever heard of _____ before?
Where and when?
• Which (paragraph/section) tells about
____?
• What clues does the author give to imply
that ____?
• How would you summarize ____ in your
own words?
Asking Text-Dependent Questions
• How doe the author support (his/her)
claim that _____?
• What evidence does the author provide to
support the idea that?
A Close Reading of Lincoln’s Gettysburg
Address
• In the first sentence, what does Lincoln tell us
about this new nation?
• “Four score and seven years ago our
fathers brought forth on this
continent, a new nation, conceived
in Liberty, and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created
equal.”
•
Writing Text-dependent Questions
• Develop several text-dependent questions
A Close Reading of Lincoln’s
Gettysburg Address
• Guiding Questions:
–What does Lincoln mean by “four
score and seven years ago”? Who
are “our fathers”?
–What does conceived mean?
–What does proposition mean?
A Close Reading of Lincoln’s
Gettysburg Address
• Guiding Questions:
– What is he saying is significant about
America? Is he saying that no one has
been free or equal before? So what is
new?
– Sum up and gather what students have
learned so far: have students
summarize the three ways in which the
nation is new.
“Reading to learn”
• Explicit comprehension instruction should not be
delayed until students are able to read grade-level
text independently.
• Read-alouds and the use of text-based discussions
are opportunities to help students learn from
complex informational text, especially when
students are just learning to read or if students
struggle to read informational text independently
(Beck & McKeown, 2001; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998).
•49
Students who struggle
• Students who struggle with reading can
successfully handle informational text when
instruction includes
– explicit teaching of text structure,
– procedural facilitators such as think sheets,
prompt cards, and mnemonics, and
– the use of teacher modeling and guided feedback
(Gersten & Baker, 2000, 2001; Williams, 2008)
•50
Young children’s preference
• When discussion followed the read-aloud, students
seemed to prefer informational text.
• When no discussion followed the read-aloud, the
students preferred narrative text.
• Research also suggests that students are more likely
to select informational text for independent reading
if their teacher used the informational text in a read-
aloud
Dreher & Dromsky, 2000; Duke, Bennett-Armistead, &
Roberts, 2003).
•51
– From K-12 Teachers: Building Comprehension in the Common Core
Shift #5
Writing from
Sources
NAEP 2011 Writing Framework
Grade To Persuade To Explain To Convey
Experience
4 30% 35% 35%
8 35% 35% 30%
12 40% 40% 20%
College and Career Readiness
Anchor Writing Standards
Research to Build and Present Knowledge
7. Conduct short, as well as more sustained research
projects based on questions, demonstrating
understanding of the subject under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and
digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of
each source, and integrate the information while
avoiding plagiarism.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to
support analysis, reflection, and research.
54
Writing and Research the Analyzes and Deploys Evidence
• Draw evidence from texts to support and develop:
• Analysis
• Reflection
• Research
• Increase opportunities to write in response to sources
• Extensive practice with short, focused research projects
• “typically taking a week and occurring—at a
minimum—quarterly”
• Increase focus on argumentation and informative writing,
less narrative writing
Shift #6
Academic
Vocabulary
Language Progressive Skills
Tier I - words of everyday speech
Tier II - general academic words,
typically found in text, ways to
communicate simple ideas
Tier III - domain-specific words
(informational text)
57
Understand and apply vocabulary
• Academic vocabulary is taught in context
• Helping students make connections
• Identify patterns in language
• Acquire word meaning through reading
• Build fluency, improve comprehension
Understand and apply grammar
• Students will gain a strong command of
grammar and usage through extensive
reading
Classroom snapshot: You would see
• Time spent with informational texts
• Books on a wide variety of topics that interest
elementary grade children
• Informational texts and stories grouped in a thematic
unit
• Graphic organizers
• Explicit comprehension strategy instruction
• Teachers and students using a core set of questions
• .
•60
Classroom snapshot: You would hear
• Teacher and student-initiated questions about the
text
• Teacher-facilitated read-aloud and text-based
discussions
• Use of before-during-after reading components to
discuss the text and apply comprehension strategies
• Students retelling what they learned from an
informational text with a partner
• Teachers and students using content language and
text-related academic language
•61
Do the shifts make sense
as first priorities? What
makes them the most
important?
What are the instructional shifts?
• Write the numbers 1-3 on a sheet of paper
• List the Instructional shifts for Literacy
STANDARDS FOR
MATHEMATICS
JUNE 2010
64
What’s different about CCSS?
These Standards are not intended to be new names for
old ways of doing business. They are a call to take the
next step. It is time for states to work together to build
on lessons learned from two decades of standards based
reforms. It is time to recognize that standards are not
just promises to our children, but promises we intend to
keep.
— CCSS (2010, p.5)
65
•
66
The CCSS Requires Three Shifts in Mathematics
1. Focus: Focus strongly
where the standards
focus.
2. Coherence: Think across
grades, and link to major
topics
3. Rigor: In major topics,
pursue conceptual
understanding,
procedural skill and
fluency, and application
67
Shift #1: Focus Strongly where the
Standards Focus
Significantly narrow the scope of content and deepen
how time and energy is spent in the math classroom.
• Focus deeply on what is emphasized in the
standards, so that students gain strong foundations.
68
The shape of math in A+ countries
Mathematics Mathematics
topics topics
intended at intended at
each grade by each grade by
at least two- at least two-
thirds of A+ thirds of 21
countries U.S. states
1 Schmidt, Houang, & Cogan, “A Coherent Curriculum: The Case of Mathematics.” (2002).
69
Traditional U.S. Approach
K 12
Number and
Operations
Measurement
and Geometry
Algebra and
Functions
Statistics and
Probability
70
Focusing Attention Within
Number and Operations
Expressions
Operations and Algebraic
→ and →
Thinking
Equations
Number and Operations— Algebra
→
Base Ten
The Number →
Number and System
Operations— →
Fractions
K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 High School
71
Coherence – Shift #2
• Articulated progressions of topics and
performances that are developmental and
connected to other progressions
• Conceptual understanding and procedural
skills emphasized equally
• NCTM states coherence also means that
instruction, assessment, and curriculum are
aligned
72
Domains for K-8
73
Shift #3 Rigor -Require fluency,
application, and deep understanding
• Conceptual understanding – solving short
conceptual problems, applying math in new
situations, and speaking about their
understanding
• Procedural skill and fluency - speed and
accuracy in calculation.
• Application - “real world” situations
Reasoning
• Invite Exploration of important
mathematical concepts
• Allow students to solidify and make
connections
• Make connections and develop coherent
framework for mathematical ideas
• Problem formulation, problem solving
and mathematical reasoning
Reasoning
• More than one solution
• Development of all students’ disposition
to do math
Mathematically proficient students
• Make conjectures
• Build logical progressions to explore the
truth of their conjectures
• Justify and communicate their conclusions
• Respond to arguments
Which number does not belong?
Why?
4 16 36 48 64 81
Instead of asking which numbers are odd?
From: Math for All: Differentiating Instruction, Grades 3-5, Dacey and Lynch
Procedural Fluency
• Knowledgeable about procedures
• Know when and how to use them
• Skill in performing procedures flexibly,
accurately, efficiently and with
understanding
Grade Fluency
K Add/subtract within 5
1 Add/subtract within 10
2 Add/subtract within 20
Add/subtract within 100 (pencil and paper)
3 Multiply/divide within 100
Add/subtract within 1000
4 Add/subtract within 1,000,000
5 Multi‐digit multiplication
6 Multi‐digit division
Multi‐digit decimal operations
7 Multi‐digit division
Multi‐digit decimal operations
80
8 Solve simple 2 2 systems by inspection
Grade 8
Mathematics/Standards for
Mathematical Practice
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving
them
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the
reasoning of others
4. Model with mathematics
5. Use appropriate tools strategically
6. Attend to precision
7. Look for and make use of structure
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated 83
reasoning
As Felicia gets on the freeway to drive to her cousin's
house, she notice that she is a little low on gas. There is
a gas station at the exit she normally takes, and she
wonders if she will have to get gas before then. She
normally sets her cruise control at the speed limit of
70mph and the freeway portion of the drive takes about
an hour and 15 minutes. Her car gets about 30 miles per
gallon on the freeway, and gas costs $3.50 per gallon.
Describe an estimate that Felicia might do in her head
while driving to decide how many gallons of gas she
needs to make it to the gas station at the other end.
Assuming she makes it, how much does Felicia spend
per mile on the freeway? Alignment 1: N-Q.1, N-Q.3
Modeling
• Identify the problem
• Formulate a model
• Analyze and perform operations
• Interpret results
• Validate the conclusion
• Report on the conclusion
Where do these shifts come
from? What specific standard or
groups of standards do they
advance?
Designing Assessments
Considerations for Grades K-8
• Vocabulary
• Representation of numbers
• Contexts
• Item Difficulty
• Assessment Targets
Vocabulary
• Items must be written so students can easily
understand the item or task.
• Use vocabulary at or below grade-level.
Overview of Mathematics Style Conventions
Words vs. Numerals
John had 9 red balloons
and 14 white balloons. 19 + ____ = 35
How many balloons
does he have in all?
10, 16, 22, 28, ?
Words vs. Numerals
• Use words for a number that is the first word in a sentence
• Use words for numbers zero through nine
• Use numerals for:
– Numbers 10 and above
– Numbers that precede abbreviated units of measure (e.g., 10 cm, 8 sq. ft.)
– Numbers that precede or follow symbols such as the percent sign or
dollar sign (e.g., 5%, $9.32)
– Dates and years (e.g., July 4)
– Time of day that appears before A.M. and P.M. (e.g., 11 A.M., 12:30 P.M.)
– Ordered pairs and coordinates (e.g., (3,4))
Words vs. Numerals
Example 1: Example 2:
Patty has 10 pennies and 3 nickels. The table below shows the number
How much money does Patty have? of cans two students collected.
A. 13¢
Student Number of Cans
B. 25¢
Sara 87
C. 40¢
D. 53¢ Lorenzo 59
How many more cans did Sara
collect than Lorenzo? Show your
work or explain how you know.
Commas in Numbers
• Use commas in numbers:
– With five or more digits (e.g., 90,000)
– With four digits if the number appears with numbers
of five or more digits (e.g., 1,000 + 5,000 + 10,000)
– Written as words
(e.g., seventy-three thousand, one hundred)
• Do not use commas in:
– Numbers with four digits if all numbers with which it appears
contain four or less digits (e.g., 50 + 200 + 1000)
– Compound measures (e.g., 5 feet 9 inches tall)
Representing Missing Values
6 + ☐ = 11
3, 5, 7, 9, ?
5×7=?
Look at this equation:
3+6=?
Contexts 3-5
• Appropriate contexts: • Inappropriate contexts:
– Sports familiar played – Skiing
during physical – Backyard
education (basketball, swimming pools
soccer) – Earning money at a
– School activities (class part-time job or saving
trips, library, music, to buy a car
children’s games)
Overview of Mathematics Style Conventions
Specific to Middle School Grades
• Use variables to indicate missing 2x + 4 = 16
values in equations
• Use the product dot rather 2 12
than the multiplication symbol
a 2a
except in scientific notation
1.2 × 104 = 12,000
• In grade 8, use the terms Translate
translate, reflect, and rotate
Reflect
• Use graphics or tables to present Rotate
information in order to reduce
the amount of reading
Words vs. Numerals
• Use numerals for • Use numerals for
numbers that are used numbers that appear
to solve a problem in equations
Sarah sold 9 adult tickets
for a total of $45. 19 + x = 35
What was the price of
each adult ticket?
Contexts
• Appropriate contexts • Inappropriate contexts
– Popular sports – Expensive or
– Bicycle riding regional sports
– Making nominal – Purchases that are
purchases unusual for students
– Making and reading
maps and floor plans
– School related activities
Item Difficulty
• Items should include a range of difficulty
• Anticipated difficulty for sample items
Claim 1
Concepts and Procedures:
Students can explain and apply mathematical concepts
and interpret and carry out mathematical procedures
with precision and fluency.
• Selected Response
• Constructed Response
• Technology-Enhanced
• Extended Response and Performance Tasks
Assessment Targets Measured in Grades 3–5
• Operations and Algebraic Thinking
• Number and Operations – Base 10
• Number and Operations – Fractions
• Measurement and Data
• Geometry
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
• Grade 3: Understanding meaning of
multiplication and division
• Grade 4: Applying understanding
• Grade 5: Writing and interpreting
numerical expressions
Number and Operations – Base 10
• Grade 3: Using place value and
properties of operations to add and
subtract whole numbers
• Grade 4: Multiplying and dividing
whole numbers
• Grade 5: Solving problems with
decimals using the four operations
Number and Operations – Fractions
• Grade 3: Understanding of fractions as
numbers
• Grade 4: Understand fraction equivalence
and operations with fractions
• Grade 5: Solving problems involving the
four operations
Measurement and Data
• Grade 3: Measuring time, liquid volumes,
and masses of objects and solving simple
one-step word problems
• Grade 4: Solving problems involving
measurement, representing and interpreting
data, and understanding angles
• Grade 5: Understanding volume and
solving problems that involve estimating
and measuring volume
Geometry
• Grade 3: Understanding that shapes in
different categories may share attributes
and recognizing quadrilaterals
• Grade 4: Classifying shapes based on properties
• Grade 5: Graphing points on the coordinate
plane and understanding that attributes
belonging to a category of two-dimensional
shapes also belong to all subcategories of
that category
Assessment Targets Measured in Grades 6–8
• Ratios and Proportional Relationships
• The Number System
• Expressions and Equations
• Geometry
• Statistics and Probability
• Functions
Ratios and Proportional Relationships
• Grade 6: Ratios introduced
• Grade 7: Extended to proportional
relationships
The Number System
• Grades 6 & 7: Rational numbers
• Grade 8: Irrational numbers
Expressions and Equations
• Grade 6: Introduce algebraic expressions
• Grade 7: Create expressions and equations
and use to solve problems
• Grade 8: Analyze and solve more complex
problems
Geometry
• Grade 6: Area, surface area, and volume
• Grade 7: Drawing and constructing figures
• Grade 8: Congruence, similarity, and the
Pythagorean Theorem
Statistics and Probability
• Grade 6: Statistic and probability introduced
• Grade 7: Sampling, inferences, and
probability
• Grade 8: Associations in bivariate data
Functions
• Grade 8: Defining, evaluating, comparing,
and modeling functions
Claim 2 – Problem Solving
• Selected Response, Constructed Response,
Extended Response, and Technology-Enhanced
items that focus on problem solving
• Items and tasks require students to construct
their own pathway to the solution
• Relevant verbs include:
– understand, solve, apply, describe, illustrate, interpret,
and analyze
Claim 3 – Communicating Reasoning
• Constructed Response, Extended Response,
and Technology-Enhanced items and tasks
that focus on mathematical reasoning
• Relevant verbs include:
– understand, explain, justify, prove, derive, assess,
illustrate, and analyze
Claim 4 – Modeling and Data Analysis
• Performance Tasks and collections of
Extended Response items
• Real world problems
• Draw upon knowledge and skills articulated
in the progression of standards up to the grade
being assessed
• Relevant verbs include:
– model, construct, compare, investigate, build, interpret,
estimate, analyze, summarize, represent, solve, evaluate,
extend, and apply
Claims 2, 3, and 4
• Assessment Targets for Claims
2, 3, and 4 are not divided into a
grade-by-grade description
• A general set of assessment targets
applicable across grade levels
Cognitive Rigor and Depth of Knowledge
• The level of complexity of the cognitive demand.
– Level 1: Recall and Reproduction
• Requires eliciting information such as a fact, definition, term,
or a simple procedure, as well as performing a simple algorithm
or applying a formula.
– Level 2: Basic Skills and Concepts
• Requires the engagement of some mental processing beyond
a recall of information.
– Level 3: Strategic Thinking and Reasoning
• Requires reasoning, planning, using evidence, and explanations
of thinking.
– Level 4: Extended Thinking
• Requires complex reasoning, planning, developing, and
thinking most likely over an extended period of time.
Mathematics Selected Response
and Constructed Response
Benefits and Limitations
of Selected Response Items
• Benefits • Limitations
– Answered quickly – Limited ability to reveal
– Assess a broad range of a student’s reasoning
content in one test process
– Inexpensive and – Difficult to assess higher-
objectively scored order thinking skills
– Results collected quickly
Formats and Components of
Selected Response Items
• Traditional Selected • Key and Distractor
Response Item Analysis
Which number is both a factor A. Did not consider criteria
of 100 and a multiple of 5? of “multiple of 5”
B. Did not consider criteria RATIONALE
A. 4
STEM of “factor of 100”
B. 40 Statement of
C. Correct KEY
C. 50 the question
D. Multiplied 100 and 5
D. 500 DISTRACTOR
OPTIONS: Possible answers the
students must select from
Non-Traditional Selected Response Item
STIMULUS
A multiplication problem is shown below. STEM
17 × 12
Which model(s) below could represent the solution to this problem?
Select all that apply.
A. B. C.
(1×1)+(1×7)+(1×2)+(2×7)
D. E. F.
(17×2)+(17×1)
Non-Traditional Selected Response Item
Key and Distractor Analysis:
A. Does not understand how to model
multiplication of two two-digit
numbers using area models.
B. Correct
C. Did not account for the values
of the digits in the tens places.
D. Correct
E. Did not understand that the 1 represents 10 in the multiplication problem
F. Showed multiplication of 17 and (1 + 2) instead of 17 and 12
Responses to this item will receive 0–2 points, based on the following:
2 points: B, D
1 point: Either B or D
0 points: Any other combination of selections.
Non-Traditional Selected Response Item
For numbers 1a – 1d, state whether or not each figure STEM
has ⅖ of its whole shaded.
1a.
1b.
MULTIPLE
PARTS OPTIONS
1c.
1d.
Non-Traditional Selected Response Item
Scoring Rubric:
Responses to this item will receive 0–2 points,
based upon the following:
• 2 points: YNYN The student has a solid
understanding of ⅖ as well as the equivalent
form of ⅖.
• 1 point: YNNN, YYNN, YYYN The student has
only a basic understanding of ⅖. Either the student doesn‘t recognize an
equivalent fraction for ⅖ or doesn‘t understand that all 5 parts must be
equal-sized in figure 1b.
• 0 points: YYYY, YNNY, NNNN, NNYY, NYYN, NYNN, NYYY, NYNN, NNNN, NYNY,
NNYN, NNNY. The student demonstrates inconsistent understanding of ⅖ or
answers “Y” to figure 1d, clearly showing a misunderstanding of what ⅖
means. Figure 1d is considered a “disqualifier “and an answer of “Y” to this
part of the item would cancel out any other correct responses as “guesses” on
the part of the student.
Non-Traditional Selected Response Item
Match each shape below to its name. Scoring Rule:
Students who properly match
the four shapes to their name
will receive two points.
Students who make two or
three correct matches will
receive partial credit of one
point
All other connections will
receive a score of 0.
Non-Traditional Selected Response Item
Purpose of Constructed Response Items
• Constructed Response items
– Address assessment targets and claims that
are of greater complexity
– Require more analytical thinking and reasoning
Components of a
Constructed Response Item
A teacher asked her students to use estimation to decide if the
sum of the problem below is closer to 4,000 or 5,000.
496 + 1,404 + 2,605 + 489 = STIMULI
One student replied that she thinks the sum is closer to 4,000. She used
the estimation shown below to support her reasoning.
Is the student’s reasoning correct? In the space below, use numbers STEM
and words to explain why or why not. If the student’s reasoning is
not correct, explain how she should have estimated.
Components of a
Constructed Response Item
Sample Top-Score Response:
The student’s reasoning is incorrect. She was rounding to the
thousands place. She had 2 numbers that were less than 500, and she
decided to round these numbers to 0. This is like saying these numbers
were not in the problem at all. She needs to account for these two
numbers. Together, they have a sum that is very close to 1,000. I think
adding 1,000 + 1,000 + 3,000 is a better strategy. This means the sum is
closer to 5,000 than to 4,000.
Scoring Rubric:
Responses to this item will receive 0–2 points, based on the following:
2 points: Student has thorough understanding of how to estimate and how improper estimation can
lead to flawed reasoning. Student states that the student in the scenario used reasoning that is
incorrect and provides reasoning that shows a better estimation strategy.
1 point: Student has partial understanding of how to estimate and how improper estimation can lead
to flawed reasoning. Student states that the student in the scenario used reasoning that is incorrect,
but alternate estimation strategy is also flawed.
0 points: Student has little or no understanding of how to estimate and how improper estimation can
lead to flawed reasoning. Student states that the student in the scenario used reasoning that is
correct.
TOP-SCORE SCORING RUBRIC
Qualities of a Rubric
• Focus on the essence of the primary claim
and sometimes secondary claim
• Address the requirements of the specific
assessment targets
• Distinguish between different levels of
understanding and/or performance
• Contain relevant information, details, and
numbers that support different levels of
competency related to the item or task
Essential Requirements of Selected Response
and Constructed Response Items
• Aligned to claims and assessment targets
• Mathematical accuracy
• Clarity, readability, and accessibility
• Free from bias issues
• More complex constructed response items
may include scaffolding
• Selected response items must have
appropriate distractors
General Guidelines for Developing Selected
Response and Constructed Response Items
• Each item should be written to assess a
primary claim
• Secondary content claims are also possible
General Guidelines for Developing Selected
Response and Constructed Response Items
• May include mathematical concepts detailed in the
Common Core State Standards for lower grades
• Central focus
• Clearly stated to ensure that students understand the task
• Clearly elicit the desired evidence
• Appropriate grade-level difficulty, cognitive complexity, and
reading level
• Depth of Knowledge considered
• Grades 3–5: items do not require a calculator
Examples of Poorly Written Items
The table below shows the weights of The table below shows the number of
three vehicles. apples three students picked.
Vehicle Weight (in pounds) Student Number of Apples
Car 4,050 Bobby 107
Motorcycle 497 Carlos 95
Truck 12,159 Jenna 121
Which list shows the vehicles in order Which list shows the number of apples
from lightest to heaviest? picked in order from greatest to the least?
☐ car, motorcycle, truck ☐ 95, 107, 121
☐ motorcycle, car, truck ☐ 95, 121, 107
☐ truck, car, motorcycle ☐ 121, 107, 95
☐ truck, motorcycle, car ☐ 121, 95, 107
Examples of Poorly Written Items
Mercedes received 32 pieces of candy on Halloween. She ate ¼ of the candy.
How many pieces of candy did Mercedes have left? Show or explain how you
found your answer.
Examples of Poorly Written Items
Look at the rectangle below.
3 feet
6 feet
What is the area, in square feet, of the rectangle?
☐3
☐ 15
☐ 18
☐ 63
Literacy Assessments
Claim 1
• Students can read closely and analytically to
comprehend a range of increasingly complex
literary and informational texts.
1. Targets 1–7 correspond with literary texts
2. Targets 8–14 correspond with informational texts
3. The assessment targets incorporate the content
clusters from the Common Core State Standards
Claim 2
• Students can produce effective and well
grounded writing for a range of purpose and
audiences.
– Targets 1, 3, & 6: Revise/Write Brief Texts
– Targets 2, 4, & 7: Compose Full Texts including essays and narratives
– Target 5: Use of text features, e.g., headings, subheadings, etc.
– Target 8: Language & Vocabulary Use
– Target 9: Edit/Clarify
Claim 3
• Students can employ effective speaking
and listening skills for a range of purposes
and audiences.
1. Language & Vocabulary Use
2. Clarify Message
3. Plan/Speak/Present
4. Listen/Interpret
Claim 4
• Students can engage in research / inquiry to
investigate topics, and to analyze, integrate,
and present information.
1. Plan/Research
2. Interpret & Integrate Information
3. Analyze Information/Sources
4. Use Evidence
Evidence Statements
• Define the information or products elicited
from students
• Task models designed to elicit evidence
• Sample items provide concrete examples of
the characteristics specified in a task model
English Language Arts
Selected Response, Constructed Response,
Technology-Enhanced Item Design
Formats and Components
of Selected Response Items
Lizards are fascinating creatures. There are over 3,000 known species, including monitors, skinks,
geckos, chameleons, and iguanas, and they vary greatly in appearance. The largest lizard, the STIMULUS
Komodo dragon, can grow over ten feet long, and the smallest, the Jaragua lizard, can fit on a dime.
Skinks usually have smooth scales like snakes, iguanas have mohawk-like crests running down their
backs, and the moloch is covered with spikes from head to tail. Lizards vary in color from shades of
gray and brown to bright red or green, spotted or striped. Most have four legs but some are legless
and easily confused with snakes (Hint: if it has external eardrums and eyelids it’s a lizard). Geckos
can walk up walls. Chameleons not only change color but also have prehensile tails, similar to those
of monkeys, that wrap around branches and their eyes can move in different directions.
What is the best way to revise the highlighted sentence to match the language and style of the STEM
paragraph?
A. Geckos are able to adhere to flush surfaces because setae on their footpads facilitate van der
Waals forces between the setae structures and the surface.
B. Geckos are awesome because they have sticky toes that allow them to climb windows like
Spiderman.
OPTIONS
C. Geckos have the remarkable ability to walk up walls thanks to tiny hair-like structures on their
toes that cling to smooth surfaces.
D. Geckos scurry up walls like tiny dancers gliding effortlessly across a stage, their movements as
natural as a well-rehearsed ballet.
Distractor Analysis
A. This option uses too much scientific language to fit with the rest of the paragraph.
B. This option is more informal than the rest of the paragraph.
C. KEY. This option uses formal, non-technical language that fits well with the rest of the paragraph.
D. This option uses too much figurative language to fit with the rest of the paragraph.
Formats and Components
of Selected Response Items
Read the passage and then answer the question.
Users may experience missions in real-time, and "Eyes on the Solar System" also
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) leads research in allows them to travel through time. The tool is populated with NASA data dating
space exploration and aeronautics. back to 1950 and projected to 2050.
NASA Gives Public New Internet Tool To Explore The Solar System The playback rate can be sped up or slowed down. When NASA's Juno spacecraft
launched on Aug. 5, 2011, users could look ahead to see the mission's five-year
PASADENA, Calif. – NASA is giving the public the power to journey through journey to Jupiter in a matter of seconds.
the solar system using a new interactive Web-based tool.
Point of view can be switched from faraway to close-up to right "on board"
The "Eyes on the Solar System" interface combines video game technology spacecraft. Dozens of controls on a series of pop-up menus allow users to fully
and NASA data to create an environment for users to ride along with agency customize what they see, and video and audio tutorials explain how to use the
spacecraft and explore the cosmos. Screen graphics and information such as tool's many options. Users may choose from 2-D or 3-D modes, with the latter
planet locations and spacecraft maneuvers use actual space mission data. simply requiring a pair of red-cyan glasses to see.
"This is the first time the public has been able to see the entire solar system "By basing our visualization primarily on mission data, this tool will help both
and our missions moving together in real-time," said Jim Green, director NASA and the public better understand complex space science missions," said
of NASA's Planetary Science Division at the agency's Headquarters in Kevin Hussey, manager of Visualization Technology Applications and
Washington. "It demonstrates NASA's continued commitment to share Development at JPL, whose team developed "Eyes on the Solar System."
our science with everyone."
"Eyes on the Solar System" is in beta release. It has been demonstrated at science
The virtual environment uses the Unity game engine to display models of conferences, in classrooms and at the 2011 South by Southwest Interactive
planets, moons, asteroids, comets and spacecraft as they move through Conference in Austin, Texas.
our solar system. With keyboard and mouse controls, users cruise through
space to explore anything that catches their interest. A free browser plug-in, Designers are updating "Eyes on the Solar System" to include NASA science
available at the site, is required to run the Web application. missions launching during the coming months, including GRAIL to the moon and
the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover.
"You are now free to move about the solar system," said Blaine Baggett,
executive manager in the Office of Communication and Education at NASA's Select the two highlighted sentences that show that NASA makes predictions
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "See what NASA's spacecraft about the data space missions will generate before the missions occur.
see – and where they are right now – all without leaving your computer."
KEY: “The tool is populated with NASA data dating back to 1950 and projected to 2050.” AND “When NASA's Juno
spacecraft launched on Aug. 5, 2011, users could look ahead to see the mission's five-year journey to Jupiter in a
matter of seconds.” In order for NASA to include projected data to 2050 and the five-year mission of a spacecraft that
just launched the agency must predict data from missions before the missions occur.
Distractors: The other options provide important information about the new internet tool but none of them support
the inference that NASA makes predictions about the data space missions will generate before the missions occur.
Purpose of Constructed Response Items
• Constructed Response Items
– Address assessment targets and claims that
are of greater complexity
– Require more analytical thinking and reasoning
Components of a Constructed Response Item
The Shepherd’s Boy and the Wolf
STIMULUS
A Shepherd's Boy was tending his flock near a village, and thought it would be
great fun to trick the villagers by pretending that a Wolf was attacking the
sheep: so he shouted out, "Wolf! Wolf!" and when the people came running
up he laughed at them because they believed him. He did this more than
once, and every time the villagers found they had been tricked, for there was
no Wolf at all. At last a Wolf really did come, and the Boy cried, "Wolf! Wolf!"
as loud as he could: but the people were so used to hearing him call that they
took no notice of his cries for help. And so no one came to help the boy, and
the Wolf attacked the sheep.
In a few sentences, explain what lesson the reader can learn from the STEM
shepherd’s boy. Use details from the story to support your response.
Components of a Constructed Response Item
2-point Scoring Rubric
2 The response:
• gives evidence of the ability to explain inferences about theme
• includes specific inferences that make reference to the text
• supports the inferences with relevant details from the text
1 The response:
• gives limited evidence of the ability to explain inferences about theme
• includes inferences but they are not explicit or make only vague references to the text
• supports the inference with at least one detail but the relevance of that detail to the text must be inferred
0 A response gets no credit if it provides no evidence of the ability to explain inferences about theme and includes
no relevant information from the text.
Scoring Notes
Response may include but is not limited to:
The shepherd’s boy learned that he shouldn’t call wolf unless there is really a wolf.
The shepherd’s boy learned that he should only ask for help if he needs it or else he wouldn’t get help when he really needs it.
“The people were so used to hearing him call that they took no notice of his cries.”
The shepherd’s boy learned not to have fun by tricking people because the people learn not to trust you.
Score Point 2 Sample:
The lesson learned from this story is do not cry for help when nothing is wrong. The shepherd’s boy pretends that a big wolf is attacking
his sheep and yells, “Wolf! Wolf!” The people in the village run out to help him because they believe he needs help. After he tricks the
villagers more than once, they realize he is just pretending.
Score Point 1 Sample:
The lesson learned from this story is do not cry for help when nothing is wrong. The shepherd’s boy cries
wolf when there is no wolf and the people come to help him.
Score Point 0 Sample:
Readers learn a good lesson about how to cry wolf.
Essential Requirements of Selected Response
and Constructed Response Items
• Alignment to claims and assessment targets
• Appropriate content and contexts
• Proper presentation: clarity, readability, and accessibility
• Stimulus text is at or below the assessed grade level
for assessed claim
• Free of bias issues
• Claim 1 and 4 constructed responses require support
• Plausible distractors
• Distractors represent common mistakes
General Guidelines for Writing Selected
Response and Constructed Response Items
• Aligned to the English Language Arts Standards
• Aligned to claims and targets in the Smarter
Balanced Content Specifications
General Guidelines for Writing Selected
Response and Constructed Response Items
• Concepts detailed in the standards for lower grades
• Clearly stated so students understand the task
• Written to clearly elicit the desired evidence of a
student’s knowledge, skills, and abilities
• Appropriate reading level as required by the claim
• Follow Universal Design principles
• Depth of Knowledge considered
Flawed Elementary Selected Response Example Item
Grade: 3
Claim 1: Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts
Target 3. Word Meanings: Determine intended meanings of words, including words with multiple meanings (academic/tier 2 words),
based on context, word relationships, word structure (e.g., common roots, affixes), or use of resources (e.g., beginning dictionary)
TARGET
DOK: 2
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart Learns to Fly
Amelia Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas, on July 24, 1897. In those days, airplanes were not nearly as common as
they are today. Earhart was 12 years old before she ever saw an airplane, and she did not take her first flight until 1920.
Amelia Earhart was so thrilled by her first airplane ride that she quickly began to take flying lessons. She wrote, "As soon
as I left the ground, I knew I myself had to fly."
Earhart excelled as a pilot. Her first instructor was Neta Snook, one of the first women to graduate from the Curtiss
School of Aviation. Earhart borrowed money from her mother to buy a two-seat plane. She got her U.S. flying license in
December 1921, and by October 1922, she set an altitude record for women of 14,000 feet. In 1923, Earhart received TOO COMPLEX
her international pilot's license - only the 16th woman to do so. At the same time, she was becoming famous for her
aviation achievements.
Amelia Earhart Flies Across the Atlantic
In 1928, Amelia Earhart received a phone call that would change her life. She was invited to become the first woman
passenger to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a plane. "The idea of just going as 'extra weight' did not appeal to me at all,"
she said, but she accepted the offer nonetheless. On June 17, after several delays due to bad weather, Amelia Earhart
flew in a plane named Friendship with co-pilots Wilmer "Bill" Stultz and Louis "Slim" Gordon. The plane landed at Burry
Port, South Wales, with just a small amount of fuel left.
In 1928, Amelia Earhart was offered the opportunity to become the first woman passenger to fly across the Atlantic
Ocean. Although this was an extraordinary honor, Amelia said, "The idea of just going as 'extra weight' did not appeal to DOES NOT
me at all.” MATCH TARGET
Why did Amelia choose the phrase “extra weight” to describe herself? POOR WORDING
A. She wanted to take other people with her. NOT PLAUSIBLE
B. She was only going to be a passenger on the plane. KEY
C. She knew she was fat and weighed too much to fly on an airplane.
D. She was saying that women are silly and unimportant. BIAS
Well Written Elementary Selected Response Example Item
Grade: 4 DIFFERENT
Claim 1: Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts GRADE
Target 14. LANGUAGE USE: Determine or interpret figurative language/literary devices or connotative meanings of words and phrases
used in context and the impact of those word choices on meaning and tone. DIFFERENT
DOK: 2
TARGET
Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart Learns to Fly
Amelia Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas, on July 24, 1897. In those days, airplanes were not nearly as common as
they are today. Earhart was 12 years old before she ever saw an airplane, and she did not take her first flight until 1920.
Amelia Earhart was so thrilled by her first airplane ride that she quickly began to take flying lessons. She wrote, "As soon
as I left the ground, I knew I myself had to fly."
Earhart excelled as a pilot. Her first instructor was Neta Snook, one of the first women to graduate from the Curtiss
School of Aviation. Earhart borrowed money from her mother to buy a two-seat plane. She got her U.S. flying license in
December 1921, and by October 1922, she set an altitude record for women of 14,000 feet. In 1923, Earhart received
her international pilot's license - only the 16th woman to do so. At the same time, she was becoming famous for her
aviation achievements.
Amelia Earhart Flies Across the Atlantic
In 1928, Amelia Earhart received a phone call that would change her life. She was invited to become the first woman
passenger to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a plane. "The idea of just going as 'extra weight' did not appeal to me at all,"
she said, but she accepted the offer nonetheless. On June 17, after several delays due to bad weather, Amelia Earhart
flew in a plane named Friendship with co-pilots Wilmer "Bill" Stultz and Louis "Slim" Gordon. The plane landed at Burry
Port, South Wales, with just a small amount of fuel left.
Amelia said, "The idea of just going as 'extra weight' did not appeal to me at all.” What does the phrase ‘extra weight’ BETTER
refer to? WORDING
A. Her fame as an international pilot
B. Her role as a passenger on the plane
C. Her understanding of how heavy she was PLAUSIBLE
D. Her awareness of how she was making history AND BIAS FREE
Flawed Middle School Selected Response Example Item
Grade: 6
Claim 2: Students can produce effective writing for a range of purposes and audiences. BELOW TESTED
Target 9. EDIT/CLARIFY: Apply or edit grade-appropriate grammar usage and mechanics to clarify a message and edit narrative, GRADE
informational, and argumentative texts
DOK: 3 TOO HIGH
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam has long been an iconic image symbolic of the United States of America. His lean
frame, flowing ivory beard, top hat, and patriotic ensemble are known throughout the world.
Some people adhere to the belief that a gentleman by the name of Samuel Wilson is
responsible for Uncle Sam. Wilson lived in Troy New York, in the early 1800s and he ran an HIGH READING
extremely successful business that delivered meat to the United States Army. The meat was LEVEL
delivered in barrels stamped with “U.S.” to indicate that they belonged to the United States
government. Sam Wilson’s employees quipped to the soldiers that the emblem stood for
“Uncle Sam.” The farce spread and soon, throughout the country, “Uncle Sam” became a
synonym for “United States.”
This paragraph has a sentence that contains errors. Which sentence needs to be edited? TOO CONFUSING
A. the last sentence
B. the fourth sentence KEY
C. the second sentence ILLOGICAL ORDER
D. the sixth sentence
Well Written Middle School Selected Response Example Item
Grade: 6
Claim 2: Students can produce effective writing for a range of purpose and audiences.
Target 9. EDIT/CLARIFY: Apply or edit grade-appropriate grammar usage and mechanics to clarify a message and edit narrative,
informational, and argumentative texts
DOK: 2 NEW DOK
Uncle Sam
Have you seen pictures of Uncle Sam? He is a skinny man with a long white beard and a top
hat. He usually wears the colors of the American flag: red, white, and blue. He has been a
symbol of the United States for about two hundred years. Some people think that there was
actually a real Uncle Sam, named Samuel Wilson. He lived in Troy, New York, in the early
1800s, he ran a business that delivered meat to the United States Army. The meat was CORRECT
delivered in barrels stamped “U.S.” The “U.S.” stamp was to show that it belonged to the READABILITY
United States government. The people delivering the meat knew that it came from Sam
Wilson. They joked to the soldiers that the “U.S.” on the meat barrels stood for “Uncle Sam.”
The joke spread. Soon, all over the country, “Uncle Sam” became another way of saying
“United States.”
Select the correct way to revise the highlighted sentence. CLEAR WORDING
A. He lived in Troy, New York, in the early 1800s. There he had ran a
business that delivered meat to the United States Army.
B. He lived in Troy, New York, in the early 1800s he ran a business
that delivers meat to the United States Army.
C. He lived in Troy, New York in the early 1800s, and he ran a business
that delivered meat to the United States Army.
D. In the early 1800s, Sam Wilson lived in Troy, New York, and ran a
business that delivered meat to the United States Army.
Flawed Middle School Constructed Response Example Item
Grade: 7
Claim 1: Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and
informational texts.
Target 7. LANGUAGE USE: Interpret impact or intent of figurative language use (e.g., alliteration, onomatopoeia, DOES NOT ALIGN
imagery), literary devices (e.g., flashback, foreshadowing), or connotative meanings of words and phrases used in
context and their impact on reader interpretation
DOK: 2
NOT COMPLEX
The Fox and the Goat
A Fox fell into a well, and though it was not very deep, he found that he could not get out
again. After he had been in the well a long time, a thirsty Goat came by. The Goat thought
the Fox had gone down to drink, so he asked if the water was good.
"The finest in the whole country," said the crafty Fox, "jump in and try it. There is more than
enough for both of us." TOO EASY
The thirsty Goat immediately jumped in and began to drink. The Fox just as quickly jumped
on the Goat's back. Then he leaped from the tip of the Goat's horns out of the well.
The foolish Goat now saw what he had gotten into. He begged the Fox to help him out.
What does the word crafty suggest about the Fox? POOR CR
WORDING
Well Written Middle School Constructed Response Example Item
Grade: 7
Claim 1: Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and
informational texts.
Target 11. REASONING & EVIDENCE: Use supporting evidence to justify interpretations of information presented or PROPER
how it is integrated (author’s reasoning; interactions among events, concepts, people, or development of ideas)
DOK: 3
ALIGNMENT
What is Mold? APPROPRIATE
COMPLEXITY
Mold is the common name for many kinds of tiny organisms called fungi. There are
thousands of types of molds that can be found indoors and outdoors. Different molds grow
in colonies. They live on dead organisms such as decaying plants and animals. They can also
live on wood, brick, stone, food, fabric and books. Some molds even thrive on living
organisms as parasites!
Spores from mold growth can pose health risks. Some people are very sensitive to mold.
Molds may cause a runny nose or itchy, watery eyes. Or mold may cause major concerns
such as difficulty breathing, asthma attacks, infections, fever and major skin irritations. The
best way to reduce and prevent mold growth is to control moisture. It is important to keep
humidity levels low. It is important to reduce excess moisture that molds need to grow.
People should repair leaks, completely remove any existing mold growth, and ventilate
rooms that are prone to damp conditions. Outside, molds may grow in damp, shaded areas.
People who are sensitive to molds should avoid such places.
Explain why people who live in moist climates work harder to prevent mold than people PROPER CR
who live in dry climates. Include details from the passage about how they prevent mold. WORDING
Flawed High School Constructed Response Example Item
Grade: 9
Claim 1: Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and
informational texts.
Target 6. TEXT STRUCTURES/FEATURES: Analyze text structures, genre-specific features, or formats
(visual/graphic/auditory effects) of texts and the impact of those choices on meaning or presentation
DOK: 3
Mending Wall
by Robert Frost
There where it is we do not need the wall:
SOMETHING there is that doesn't love a wall, He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, My apple trees will never get across
And spills the upper boulders in the sun; And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast. He only says, "Good fences make good neighbours."
The work of hunters is another thing: Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
I have come after them and made repair If I could put a notion in his head:
Where they have left not one stone on a stone, "Why do they make good neighbours? Isn't it
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding, Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean, Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
No one has seen them made or heard them made, What I was walling in or walling out,
But at spring mending-time we find them there. And to whom I was like to give offence.
I let my neighbour know beyond the hill; Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
And on a day we meet to walk the line That wants it down." I could say "Elves" to him,
And set the wall between us once again. But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
We keep the wall between us as we go. He said it for himself. I see him there
To each the boulders that have fallen to each. Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
We have to use a spell to make them balance: He moves in darkness as it seems to me,
"Stay where you are until our backs are turned!" Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
We wear our fingers rough with handling them. He will not go behind his father's saying,
Oh, just another kind of out-door game, And he likes having thought of it so well
One on a side. It comes to little more: He says again, "Good fences make good neighbours." NOT UD
COMPLIANT
Frost wrote this poem using blank verse (unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter).
Using this poem as an example, describe the general effect of this poetic form TOO COMPLEX
and explain how it contributes to the meaning of this particular poem.
Well Written High School Constructed Response Example Item
Grade: 11 APPROPRIATE
Claim 1: Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and FOR GRADE
informational texts.
Target 12. ANALYSIS WITHIN OR ACROSS TEXTS: Analyze texts to determine how connections are made in
development of complex ideas or events; or in development of topics, themes, rhetorical features
DOK: 4
Passage 1 APPROPRIATELY
The following excerpt comes from a speech written in 1872 by women’s rights pioneer Susan B. Anthony. Anthony was arrested COMPLEX TEXTS
after attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election. After her conviction Anthony wrote this speech to make a constitutional
argument for giving women the right to vote.
Our democratic-republican government is based on the idea of the natural right of every individual member thereof to a voice and
a vote in making and executing the laws. We assert the province of government to be to secure the people in the enjoyment of
their inalienable right. We throw to the winds the old dogma that government can give rights. No one denies that before
governments were organized each individual possessed the right to protect his own life, liberty and property. When 100 to
1,000,000 people enter into a free government, they do not barter away their natural rights; they simply pledge themselves to
protect each other in the enjoyment of them through prescribed judicial and legislative tribunals. They agree to abandon the
methods of brute force in the adjustment of their differences and adopt those of civilization . . .The Declaration of Independence,
the United States Constitution, the constitutions of the several States and the organic laws of the Territories, all alike propose to
protect the people in the exercise of their God-given rights. Not one of them pretends to bestow rights.
All men are created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. Among these are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. To secure these, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed.
Passage 2
The following excerpt comes from the Second Treatise of Government by John Locke, published in 1690.
Sect. 22. The natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative
authority of man, but to have only the law of nature for his rule. The liberty of man, in society, is to be under no other legislative
power, but that established, by consent, in the commonwealth; nor under the dominion of any will, or restraint of any law, but
what that legislative shall enact, according to the trust put in it. Freedom then is not what Sir Robert Filmer tells us, Observations,
A. 55. a liberty for every one to do what he lists, to live as he pleases, and not to be tied by any laws: but freedom of men under CLEAR PROMPT
government is, to have a standing rule to live by, common to every one of that society, and made by the legislative power erected
in it; a liberty to follow my own will in all things, where the rule prescribes not; and not to be subject to the inconstant, uncertain,
unknown, arbitrary will of another man: as freedom of nature is, to be under no other restraint but the law of nature.
Identify the main idea of each passage and explain how Locke’s treatise supports Anthony’s argument.
Thinking Critically
Question Types Key Words Sample Questions
Application Apply, calculate, How could we
Questions that demonstrate, give, demonstrate ______?
deepen examples, solve
understanding about
a topic by promoting
knowledge transfer
Analysis Analyze, compare, What are the main
Questions that show contrast, group, show (parts/steps) of _____?
a process or the causes, shoe effects
components of
something
Thinking Critically
Question Types Key Words Sample Questions
Synthesis Combine, compose, What can we
Questions that use create, design, generalize about___?
ideas from different generalize, invent
situations to create
new theories
Evaluation Assess, critique, How effective is
Questions that judge decide, judge, ____?
strengths and persuade,
weaknesses based on recommend, support
logical arguments
inference
read analyze analyze summarize
Performance Tasks
• The main purpose of performance tasks (PT) is to address
complex targets from multiple claims that require
analytical thinking, evaluations, and support of students’
own responses to texts. The PTs provide a means for
students to demonstrate the ability to think and to reason
and to use higher- order thinking skills to provide the
required evidence for multiple claims and targets.
Students will produce either a full write text or present a
speech which will be scored according to a rubric. These
kinds of tasks demonstrate the Smarter Balanced intent to
show evidence that students are ready for college orc
career.
166
SMARTER
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Practical strategies to support school and district leaders:
• Supporting teachers in changing instruction to meet the requirements of the
Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Assessments
• Approaching evaluation from the broader perspective of selection, support, and
evaluation of all educators
• Providing meaningful Teacher Evaluations even with limited time and resources
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