What Every Parent Needs to Know About LEAP The Who, What, When and Why of High-Stakes Testing

1. What Every Parent Needs to Know About LEAP The Who, What, When and Why of High-Stakes Testing

2. Marrero Academy L—Louisiana E—Education A—Assessment P—Program Testing Dates: March 19, 2014 • Phase I (LEAP Only: Writing & Math Constructed Response) April 7-11, 2014 • Phase II (LEAP: Remaining Test Items and iLEAP: All Test Items)

3. Who Is Tested? • All Public School Students in Louisiana • LEAP • 4th and 8th grade

4. What is Tested? • The LEAP is made to assess what is taught in each subject within the grade level. • Although the test is an assessment of the new Common Core Standards, it is a transitional test, meant to bring us closer to the implementation of the PARCC Assessment.

5. Goal Our goal is to have every student at Marrero Academy do their best on the LEAP and iLEAP and achieve Mastery or Advanced in all four components of the test. Our students should be a leap above the rest!!!

6. What Do The Scores Mean? • Advanced • Mastery • Basic • Approaching Basic • Unsatisfactory • Superior Performance • Competency over Challenging Subjects • Fundamentals Learned • Not Quite Up-to-Par • Not Ready for the Next Level of Schooling

7. LEAP Scaled Score Ranges

8. 4th Grade ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS LEAP TEST PREP

9. We will look at…… • Structure of the test • Test design • Common Core ELA/Literacy standards to be assessed

10. TEST STRUCTURE

11. Test design • WRITING • Students will be asked to read one or two passages and write a composition that includes evidence from the texts to support the writer’s ideas. • The writing prompt may direct students to write a story, develop an explanation or description, or convince someone of their position. • Responses will be scored on three dimensions: Content, Style and Conventions • Students will follow a content rubric or a style rubric or a conventions rubric when writing.

12. Common Core vs. Leap • Writing will be grounded in textual evidence. • This kind of prompt demands more than writing skills alone. Now students must read texts carefully to determine what evidence is most relevant and then create an organized, well-written composition that incorporates that evidence.

13. Sample 4th Grade Writing Prompt Directions: Read the passage about Moroccan markets. As you read the passage, think about an adventure someone could have finding an unusual treasure in a Moroccan market. Then use the passage to help you to write a well-organized story of at least three paragraphs. Moroccan Market Morocco is a country in northern Africa bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. One of the most interesting things about this country is its markets. What makes these markets so special? Let’s find out! The markets can be any size, but most are very large, open-air markets. That means they are not in a mall or shopping center. They are outdoors where shoppers can feel the wind blowing and the sun shining. Sometimes birds fly into the market or animals walk in and “shop” among the people. Some big markets are made up of so many narrow streets that it feels like walking through a maze. A Moroccan market has many surprises for shoppers. It is filled with interesting and unusual sights and sounds. Storytellers wander through the market entertaining people with delightful tales. Musicians play drums and sing African music. Acrobats delight the crowds with their tumbling and extraordinary balancing acts. Snake charmers play flutes to make their snakes dance, and trained monkeys perform for the shoppers! There are many treasures to be found in a Moroccan market. Some people shop for old, mysterious lamps, beautiful locked boxes, or statues made of metal. Others look for unusual rugs, jewelry, or clothes. Some buy food and spices that can only be found in Morocco. At a Moroccan market there are no price tags. Shoppers choose how much they want to pay for something through a process called bartering. If both the shop owner and shopper agree on a price, they will make the trade. This way both the shop owner and shopper are happy. A Moroccan market is truly a special place. Shoppers never know what to expect at each turn in the maze of a Moroccan market. But one thing is certain: shoppers cannot but help to have an adventure they will remember.

14. Sample Outline of Moroccan Story Students will be expected to write a well-organized story of at least 3 paragraphs. The story should include at least 4 facts from the article with details indicating that they have read the passage. __________________________________________________ Sample Outline Paragraph 1: Who, what, when, where, why in Morocco. Paragraph 2: Three things you do there 1. At market what happened (use details from pp 2 in article) 2. Surprises (use details from ph 3 in article) 3. Bartering (use details from ph 5 in article) Paragraph 3: Lesson you learned from the visit.

15. Scoring 4th and 5th Grade (i)Leap • Grade 4 and 5 Writing Tests are untimed, but students should be given a minimum of 75 minutes to read the passage(s), plan and write their compositions, and check their work. Scoring Information The LEAP compositions are scored for Content and Style, but they also are scored for the conventions of writing: Sentence Formation, Usage, Mechanics, and Spelling. The Content dimension measures *the focus of the student’s central idea; *the development of that idea, including the appropriate and accurate use of information from the passage(s); and *the organization of the student’s ideas. The Style dimension evaluates the ways in which the student shapes and controls the language and the flow of the composition. Features of Style include: *word choice; *sentence fluency, which includes sentence structure and sentence variety; and * voice, the individual personality of the writing. For each of these two dimensions, a student can earn from 1 to 4 score points. • In addition, the grade 4 compositions are rated as showing either “acceptable control” or “unacceptable control” in the conventions: Sentence Formation, Usage, Mechanics, and Spelling. An acceptable rating earns 1 score point, while an unacceptable rating earns none.

16. Summary of 4th and 5th Grade Scoring

17. Writing Resources • Below are links to resources that offer additional information about the transitional tests, the CCSS, and the PARCC assessments: • www.doe.state.la.us/topics/assessment_guides.html (Assessment Guides for all subjects and grades tested) • www.louisianapass.org (transitional writing prompts on the Practice Assessment/Strengths Skillssystem) • www.doe.state.la.us/topics/common_core_samples.html (CCSS-aligned items) • www.parcconline.org/samples/item-task-prototypes (samples of PARCC assessment items)

18. READING AND RESPONDING • The students will be asked to draw inferences, determine key ideas of a text and identify supporting evidence, determine cause/effect relationships, identify comparisons and contrasts, and explain or describe aspects of a text. • Reading section will include: • Several reading passages, literary and informational texts • Multiple-choice items that measure reading comprehension • Complex constructed-response items that ask students to analyze one or two passage and use evidence from the texts in their written response.

19. RESEARCH TO BUILD KNOWLEDGE (formerly titled Informational Resources) • Students will demonstrate knowledge in accessing and interpreting information. • Test items will measure research skills that include categorizing information and providing a list of sources.

20. Language (formerly Proofreading Skills) • Measures proofreading skills • Students will read a text that includes mistakes in skill areas determined by the Grade 4 language skills. • Students will answer multiple-choice questions that require choosing the best way to write each underlined part.

21. Standards not assessed as they were in the past • The following are not directly measured: • Speaking • Listening • Reading standards: Foundational skills • HOWEVER……they provide essential building blocks and practice for the standards that are measured

22. Changes you will see in the assessment over TIME • Louisiana may be transitioning to the PARCC for 2014-15. • All answers in the Multiple Choice questions no longer have answers that are obviously wrong, therefore, allowing the student to easily eliminate those choices. Student will be required to use reasoning skills before choosing a correct answer. • The LEAP will be more rigorous in 2013-14. Students will be required to not only answer questions on a constructed response, but, they will also be required to give supporting evidence for their answer.

23. A FEW EXAMPLES:Last YEAR…… • Sample questions showing changes: (based on story reading a passage from “Sarah, Plain and Tall”) • 2012-13 • Question: “List two things that Sarah will no longer see around her when she comes to live on a prairie farm.” • Response: the sea and small house

24. This year! • 2013-14 • Sample question(based upon the same passage) • Question: “What gift did Sarah send Anna and why was it special?” • Response: Sarah sent Anna a book about sea birds. It is something that is special to Sarah because she loves the sea and wants to share what is important to her with Anna.

25. Last Year Passage About louisarmstrong The life story of Louis Armstrong is an example of someone who A. became famous because he was so wealthy. B. never escaped from his life of poverty. C. could not get a good education because he was poor. D. overcame a difficult childhood and became a famous musician.

26. When Louis Armstrong was a young teenager, he had to go to reform school because A. he wanted to get a good education. B. he wanted to learn how to play the trumpet. C. he had gotten into trouble. D. it was a good place to join a band.

27. THIS YEAR…..Students read passage about archaeologists • The following question has two parts. Answer part A and then answer part B. • Part A: According to Article 1, what do archaeologists study in addition to people who lived long ago? • A. The reasons an area became full of debris long ago • B. The general conditions in an area long ago • C. The governments of the people long ago • D. The ways people worked together long ago

28. Part B: Which detail from Article 1 best supports the answer to Part A? A. “It's not that the ground has really sunk; it's more that more layers have been added on top.” B. “And the more they find, the more they understand.” C. “For instance, by discovering seeds, archaeologists can also discover what kinds of crops the people who lived there grew or, if people didn't live there at all, what kind of wild plants or fruits or vegetables grew there.” D. “Also, a dig might turn up fragments of clothing or shoes, giving archaeologists clues to what kind of clothing the people who lived there wore.”

29. 4th Grade Mathematics LEAP Test Prep

30. LEAP Mathematics • The Math test consists of two multiple choice sections (one with calculator usage and one without) and three constructed response items. • The constructed response portion of the test will be given during Phase 1 in March. The multiple choice sections will be completed during Phase 2 in April. • A student earns 1 point for each correct answer to the multiple choice questions and 0-4 points for the work shown on each constructed-response item. • Please stress to your children to show all their work and to check over each problem in the Math section. Careless mistakes can really hurt you in these sections.

31. LEAP Mathematics Structure of the Test:

32. LEAP Mathematics Reporting Categories:

33. What is New this Year in Math? • Most questions will require students to complete multiple steps in order to solve the problem. • The traditional “key words” are no longer being used as a way for students to know what to do to solve the problem. Questions focus more on requiring students to use common sense and comprehension strategies to figure out what to do. • For multiple choice items, there are no longer any obviously wrong answers. Gone are the days of using “Process of Elimination”. Answer choices are viable and require students to use more reasoning skills before choosing a correct answer.

34. Let’s look at some example problems….

35. Viable answers Mia’s favorite sports team has won 0.42 of its games this season. How can Mia express this decimal as a fraction? • 4/20 • 42/100 • 4/2 • 42/10

36. Multiple steps and viable answers Mary Beth has a bag of 3 different types of candies. The fractions of two types of candies in the bag are listed below. • Candies that have nuts:59/100 • Candies that have caramel: 2/10 The rest of the candies in the bag have chocolate. What fraction of the candies in Mary Beth’s bag have either nuts or caramel? • 61/110 • 61/100 • 79/110 • 79/100

37. No key words Lily is going to give away all the pieces of candy in a bag. She can give an equal number of pieces of candy to 5, 3, or, 2 people. Which number of pieces of candy could be in Lily’s bag? • 12 • 20 • 30 • 45

38. 4th Grade SCIENCE LEAP TEST PREP

39. This year compared to last year • 2013-2014 grade 4 LEAP continues to assess Louisiana’s science benchmarks. • The design of the multiple-choice and short answer sessions of the test remains the same as it was in 2012-2013. • This year, the LEAP contains a task aligned to the Common Core Standards for English language arts and science benchmarks.

40. 5 Science Strands of Content • Science as Inquiry • Physical Science • Life Science • Earth and Space Science • Science and the Environment

41. Test Structure

42. Test Specifics

43. Test Specifics

44. Test Specifics

45. Test Examples An ocean, a forest, and a grassy meadow are each examples of a complete ecosystem. Complete ecosystems contain only A. animals. B. rocks and water. * C. living and nonliving things. D. populations of plants and animals.

46. Physical Science

47. Science as Inquiry

48. Earth and Space Science

49. 4th grade Social Studies LEAP Test Prep

50. Social studies • The Social Studies portion is untimed. • The Social studies portion of the LEAP consists of four sessions: Two multiple choice sessions, one constructed response session, and one session involving a task. • The last session involves a task, where students will be asked to use resources to answer questions and complete a writing assignment.