PARCC Grade- and Subject-Specific Performance Level Descriptors Presented to the PARCC Governing Board and Advisory Com

1. PARCC Grade- and Subject-Specific Performance Level Descriptors Presented to the PARCC Governing Board and Advisory Committee on College Readiness June 26, 2013

2. Today’s Objective • The purpose of this session is for the Governing Board and Advisory Committee on College Readiness to vote on the adoption of PARCC’s grade- and subject-specific performance level descriptors (PLDs) • A joint GB and ACCR vote is required because the PLDs are one of the “key matters.” Key matters include: • Contents of high school assessments • College- and Career-Ready Determination Policy • Methodology and process used for standard setting • Adoption of the performance level cut scores that determine CCR

3. Timeline for Developing and Adopting PARCC PLDs • October 2012 GB and ACCR adopted five performance levels, Policy-Level PLDs, & College- and Career-Ready Determination Policy • April 10, 2013 Grade- and Subject-Specific PLDs released for public comment • April 10 – May 8 Stakeholders submitted feedback via online survey • May 9 – June 14 Grade- and Subject-Specific PLDs revised in response to feedback • June 19, 2013 Final Grade- and Subject-Specific PLDs sent to Governing Board and ACCR • June 26, 2013 Governing Board and ACCR meet to vote on adoption of the Grade- and Subject-Specific PLDs

4. What is a Performance Level Descriptor? • Performance levels are the broad, categorical levels used to report student performance on an assessment. • PARCC has 5 performance levels. • Performance level descriptors (PLDs) indicate the knowledge, skills and practices that students should be able to demonstrate at each performance level, in each content area (ELA/literacy and mathematics), at each grade.

5. Purposes the PLDs will Serve • In October 2012, the PARCC Governing Board/ACCR established that five performance levels will be used to report student results on PARCC assessments • Level 5: Distinguished command of the content … • Level 4: Strong • Level 3: Moderate • Level 2: Partial • Level 1: Minimal • Policy-level PLDs were also adopted in October. The policy-level PLDs are not grade level-specific • The PLDs presented today are content area - AND grade level-specific and designed to serve multiple purposes, most importantly to inform: • Item and task development for PARCC assessments; • The setting of performance level cut scores for PARCC assessments (summer, 2015); and • The development of curricular and instructional materials at the local level

6. Who Drafted the PLDs? • SEA and LEA content experts, classroom teachers and higher education faculty serving on elementary, middle, or high school panels met several times during the fall and winter 2012-2013 • PARCC ELA/Literacy and Mathematics OWG members from 16 states provided guidance in initial drafting and implemented revisions in response to public feedback • Maridyth McBee, State Lead from Oklahoma, provided State oversight • Iterations of the drafts were reviewed by: • PARCC ELA/Literacy and Mathematics Operational Working Groups • PARCC K-12 State Leads • Higher Education Leadership Team (HELT) • PARCC TAC • The Center for Assessment • ETS and the College Board

7. Public Feedback Themes • PARCC received over 400 public responses to its survey, in addition to state-level feedback from several governing states. • The major recurring themes were:

8. PARCC Response to Public Feedback • PARCC implemented many of the suggested changes in order to improve the clarity, readability, and usability of the PLDs • Major changes in response to feedback:

9. ELA/Literacy PLDsStructure & Factors that Differentiate the Levels • The ELA/Literacy PLDs are organized in two areas: reading and writing • For reading, the levels are differentiated by three factors: • text complexity (standard 10) (accessible, moderately complex, very complex) • accuracy in student responses • evidence cited (explicit, implied) from sources read (standard 1) At each performance level, the degree to which students are able to demonstrate command of standards 2-9 (e.g. main idea, point of view, setting, plot, character, structure) is described in terms of the three factors. • For writing, the levels are differentiated by: • idea development, including when drawing evidence from sources • organization • use of conventions (grammar, capitalization, etc.) • language usage

10. Three factors determine the performance levels • Text complexity • Range of accuracy • Quality of evidence Grade 11

11. Excerpt: ELA/Literacy Reading Sub-Claims, Grade 11

12. Excerpt: ELA/Literacy Reading Sub-Claims, Level 4, Grade 11 • Level 4 is the target for attaining a College- and Career-Ready Determination on the PARCC assessments • Aligns with expectations for student performance laid out in the Common Core State Standards • PLDs are the criteria used to make judgments in the standard-setting process

13. Mathematics PLDsStructure & Factors that Differentiate the Levels • The Math PLDs are organized into five areas (claims) • Major content • Additional and supporting content • Mathematical reasoning • Mathematical modeling • Fluency (grades 3-6 only) • Factors that differentiate the levels • Relative complexity of standards (evidence statements) for mathematical content and practice • Extent to which student can make effective use of stimulus materials such as graphs, tables, tools • Extent to which student can construct solutions to problems, solve scaffolded and unscaffolded problems

14. Excerpt: Algebra II

15. Excerpt: Algebra II, Level 4 • Level 4 is the target for attaining a College- and Career-Ready Determination on the PARCC assessments • Aligns with expectations for student performance laid out in the Common Core State Standards • PLDs are the criteria used to make judgments in the standard-setting process

16. Timeline for Standard Setting • October 2013: Governing Board and ACCR approve general standard setting approach • November 2013: Release RFP for standard setting • Summer 2014: Governing Board and ACCR approve standard setting methodology • Fall 2014: Governing Board and ACCR approve standard setting panel memberships • Summer 2015: K-12 and Higher Education content and technical experts set standards for PARCC performance levels

17. Next Steps for Public Release • PARCC will produce materials to accompany the public release of the PLDs on July 17, including: • List of FAQs • Narrated PowerPoint presentations for each content area • The PARCC Educator Leader Cadres will receive information and training on the PLDs, assessment blueprints and evidence tables during online virtual sessions beginning on July 1 and continuing through the end of September. • Content will be released publicly after ELC training concludes • Additional sessions on educator use of PLDs at the classroom level will be held during October in-person meetings

18. Draft Motion for Vote The PARCC Governing Board and Advisory Committee on College Readiness approve the proposed PARCC grade- and subject-specific performance level descriptors for ELA/Literacy and Mathematics for grades 3-11, including the PLDs for six high school end-of-course mathematics assessments.