PARCC Assessment Administration Guidance

1. PARCC Assessment Administration Guidance

2. PARCC Assessment Design Summative Assessments Performance-Based Assessment + End-of-Year Assessment • After 75 percent of the school year • Extended tasks, applications of concepts and skills • ELA/Literacy: Writing effectively when analyzing text, research simulation • Math: Solving multi-step problems requiring abstract reasoning, precision, perseverance and strategic use of tools • ELA/Literacy Grades 3-11 • Math Grades 3-8, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II • After 90 percent of the school year • Innovative, short-answer items • ELA/Literacy: Reading comprehension • Math: Short items that address both concepts and skills • ELA/Literacy Grades 3-11 • MathGrades 3-8, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II

3. Two Testing Windows Summative Assessments PBA + EOY • Maximum Window Length is • 20 Consecutive Days • + • After 75% of School Year • + • Exact Dates Not Yet Finalized • Maximum Window Length is • 20 Consecutive Days • + • After 90% of School Year • + • Exact Dates Not Yet Finalized

4. Two Testing Windows • Schools will have a maximum of 20 consecutive days in each testing window to administer each assessment component: • Performance Based Assessment (PBA) component • End of Year Assessment (EOY) component • Schools could complete administration of the tests in fewer days if they have sufficient capacity to administer assessments to large numbers of students simultaneously

5. WHO will Test on PARCC • Students enrolled in Grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 will participate in both the PBA and EOY testing windows for ELA/Literacy • This is a NEW testing requirement for grades 9 and 10 • Students enrolled in Grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 will participate in both the PBA and EOY windows for Math • Students enrolled in qualifying Algebra I, Geometry, and/or Algebra II Courses will participate in both the PBA and EOY windows of the EOC Algebra I, EOC Geometry, or the EOC Algebra II Assessment(s) • This is a NEW testing requirement for Algebra II

6. Number of Testing Sessions Summative Assessments Performance-Based Assessment + End-of-Year Assessment Nine (9) Sessions Total • Three (3) Sessions ELA /Literacy • + • Two (2) Mathematics Sessions • Two (2) Sessions ELA /Literacy • + • Two (2) Mathematics Sessions 6

7. Update on PARCC Field Test Administered in Spring 2014

8. Field Test Purposes • There are three primary purposes of the PARCC Field Test: • To obtain item-level data to assemble operational forms • To evaluate methods for scoring and scaling the PBA and EOY • To yield data to support planned research

9. Field Test Experience • PARCC states will field test the performance-based and end-of-year assessment components in Spring 2014. • The majority of students involved in the Field Test will take one component (PBA orEOY) in one content area (ELA or mathematics). • A small percentage of students involved in the Field Test will take the full summative assessment (PBA and EOY) in one content area only (ELA or mathematics).

10. Field Test Windows

11. Field Test Preparation • What is the recommended time for scheduling testing sessions? • Two or Two ½ hour blocks for each session of the Field Test • The block will allow for plenty of time to complete administration activitiesas well as for students to complete the test session with the additional time allotted, if needed. • FAQs • http://www.parcconline.org/sites/parcc/files/FrequentlyAskedQuestionsabouttheFieldTest9-17-13.pdf

12. Spring 2014 Practice Tests • There will be a computer-based practice test available to all schools – both schools included and not included in the field tests. There is no charge to participate in the practice test. • The practice test will enable students and teachers to become familiar with the PARCC assessments and to practice with the different types of technology functionalities. • The practice test will be available during the Field Test in Spring 2014. • Materials, including rubrics, will be available so that teachers can score the practice tests.

13. Field Test Sample • The Field Test sample size for each state will be proportional to each state’s student enrollment (with a minimum sample size). The sample will represent enrollment across and within PARCC states. • A sample of schools was selected from each participating state. ETS, a subcontractor for the Assessment Administration contract, has pulled the initial sample. Arkansas is represented with an enrollment sample of over 42,500 students. • All schools have been notified if they were selected for the field test. • Schools selected for the field test that cannot participate will be replaced with schools in the same state that fits the sample criteria. • A maximum of two (2) classrooms will participate from each of the selected schools at any given grade and content.

14. Contact Information Melody Morgan Director of Student Assessment (501) 682-4558 melody.morgan@arkansas.gov

15. Advances in the PARCC ELA/Literacy Summative Assessment August 2013

16. PARCC’s Core Commitments to ELA/Literacy Assessment Quality • Questions Worth Answering: Sequences of questions that draw students into deeper encounters with texts are the norm (as in an excellent classroom), rather than sets of random questions of varying quality. • Texts Worth Reading: The assessments use authentic texts worthy of study instead of artificially produced or commissioned passages.  • Better Standards Demand Better Questions: Instead of reusing existing items, PARCC is developing custom items to the Standards. • Fidelity to the Standards: PARCC evidence statements are rooted in the language of the Standards so that expectations remain the same in both instructional and assessment settings.

17. What Are the Shifts at the Heart of PARCC’s Design (and the Standards)? • Complexity: Regular practice with complex text and its academic language. • Evidence: Reading and writing grounded in evidencefrom text, literary and informational. • Knowledge: Building knowledge through content rich nonfiction.

18. Grade 5, Item # 2 Choose the two correct main ideas and drag them into the empty box labeled “Main Ideas.” Then choose one detail that best supports each main idea. Drag each detail into the empty box labeled “Supporting Details.” Main Ideas Supporting Details

19. 2012 Grade 5 Released Benchmark Item:Main Idea What statement in the passage best supports the idea that people in Frederika’s village live close to nature? *A She was in the back of the house, helping her mother with a moose skin. B Sometimes if it was really cold, we’d have pants under our skirts. C Bertha dropped the stick and we ran. D The dust was just flying.

20. Grade 6 Evidence-Based Selected-Response Item #1 Part A What does the word “regal” mean as it is used in the passage? • generous • threatening • kingly* • uninterested Part B Which of the phrases from the passage best helps the reader understand the meaning of “regal?” • “wagging their tails as they awoke” • “the wolves, who were shy” • “their sounds and movements expressed goodwill” • “with his head high and his chest out”*

21. 2013 Grade 6 Benchmark Released Item: Vocabulary Which word can best replace the word salvaged as it is used in paragraph 26 of the passage? *A rescued B plucked C bundled D discarded

22. Grade 3, Item #3 You have read two texts about famous people in American history who solved a problem by working to make a change.   Write an article for your school newspaper describing how she and  faced challenges to change something in America.  • In your article, be sure to describe in detail why some solutions they tried worked and others did not work.   • Tell how the challenges each one faced were the same and how they were different.

23. 2013 Grade 3 Benchmark Released Items:Reading Open Response & Writing Prompt Reading Open Response: Which tree is most important to koalas? Give three details from the passage to show how it is important. Writing Prompt: Your teacher has asked you to write about a time you had fun with a friend. Think about a time that you had fun with a friend. Who were you with and what did you do? Now write about that time. Give enough detail so that your teacher will understand your ideas.

24. Key Websites • PARCC Resources parcconline.org • EQuIP achieve.org • Teacher/Administrator Resources achievethecore.org

25. Contact Information Dana Breitweiser ELA/Literacy Assessment Specialist Office of Student Assessment (501) 683-0914 dana.breitweiser@arkansas.gov