Materials FCAT Achievement Levels Test Content and Format, pg. 12 (FCAT Skills Assessed) Examples of Reading Activities Across Cognitive Complexity Levels, pg. 16 Description of FCAT Scale Scores/Developmental Scale Scores (DSS) FCAT Content Focus Report Sample FCAT Cognitive Complexity Classification System Memo Pad/Sticky Notes, Highlighter Dessalines Floyd, District Literacy Specialist

The Four Rs

RELATIONSHIP

Relationship Affects Performance

Attitude shapes action. Action shapes attitude. Each can potentially affect FCAT performance.

RELEVANCE

FCAT reading passage topics come in a wide variety of forms.  Social Studies  Science  The Arts  Foreign Languages  Literature

Provide Effective Learning Communities

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RIGOR

Overview The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test ® (FCAT) measures student performance on selected benchmarks in reading, mathematics, writing, and science that are defined by the Sunshine State Standards (SSS). The SSS articulate challenging content that Florida students are expected to know and be able to do. Achievement Levels describe the success a student has achieved on the Florida Sunshine State Standards tested on the FCAT Reading, Mathematics, Science, and Writing assessments.

How are the achievement levels similar? How are they different? (see FCAT Achievement Levels)

So what makes challenging items challenging?

FCAT Cognitive Complexity Classification System Norman L. Webb's Depth of Knowledge (see Cognitive Complexity Classification) Overview of Terminology Low Moderate High

“The categories—low complexity, moderate complexity, and high complexity—form an ordered description of the cognitive demands an item makes on a student. Items at the low level of complexity require a simple skill, such as locating details in a text or solving a one-step problem. At the moderate level, an item can ask the student to summarize a passage or retrieve information from a graph and use it to solve a problem. At the high level, an item may require a student to analyze cause-and-effect relationships or justify a solution to a problem.” (FCAT Handbook—A Resource for Educators, pg. 16)

DOK depends on task Difficulty depends on students Synthesizes Info High DOK Moderate DOK Low DOK Easy Challenging Average Based on percentage of students likely to respond correctly Tasks can be anywhere in this graph Any one task will be in one row only, but can be in any column

Take the Challenge  Select a partner.  One individual solves while the other assists.  Switch!

Can you identify the complexity of each of the following tasks?

Person A

Person B

Remember… Item Complexity and difficulty are not one-in-the-same. Item complexity is not determined by the % of students who answer the question correctly. Teaching students to master questions of higher complexity will improve their FCAT score.

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RESULTS

FCAT Reporting Categories Cluster = Strand = Category

BenchmarkNew Benchmark Alignment Content FocusNumber of Points Possible Cluster 1: Words and Phrases in Context A142LA Conclusions/inferences4 A142LA Analyze words/text1 A142LA Context1 Reporting Cluster Point Total6 Cluster 2: Main Idea, Plot, and Purpose A241LA Details/facts*6 A241LA Main idea/essential message1 A242LA Author's purpose2 E241LA Plot development/major events1 E241LA Descriptive language3 E241LA Character development1 E241LA Figurative language3 Reporting Cluster Point Total17 (see FCAT Reading 2009, Content Focus Report)

How should use of content focus reports be limited? “Content Focus Reports should not be used to make decisions about instruction at the individual student level. A number of the reporting categories have too few items to report reliable, or meaningful, scores at the student level. For example, the Grade 3 FCAT Reading reporting category of Reference and Research may have as few as two test items. Therefore, while well-intended, providing remedial instruction in this category may not be justified and may be an inefficient use of instructional time. In all cases, content focus data should not be used as sole indicators to determine remedial needs of students.”

How should use of content focus reports be limited? “The number of items within the reporting category will vary by grade level. Consequently, users should not compare cluster performance data across grade levels. ”

How should use of content focus reports be limited? “The difficulty of the items measuring each SSS benchmark will vary from one year to the next. Consequently, users should not compare cluster performance data across years.. ”

How should use of content focus reports be limited? “The analysis is based on state-level data that is not intended to provide specific classroom, school, or district interpretations.. ”

Five ways to help your students get better results on the FCAT

# 1 Use questions that require students to explain their answers.

# 2 Have students apply their Reading and Mathematics skills using challenging content from all subject areas. (roughly 20-30% of the content is literary while approximately 70% of it is informational text on the reading assessment)

# 3 Use open-ended question formats that are similar to FCAT items.

# 4 Rate and grade students’ work using the FCAT and Florida Writes rubrics. In this way, students can become familiar with what is expected of them on the FCAT.

# 5 Use and develop questions for class discussions and tests that are of the same cognitive rigor as those on the FCAT.

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Red Blue Green Comment on something that you do not understand. Share something that you learned a great deal about. Request more information on a topic.

Resources FCAT Achievement Levels Content Focus Reports Cognitive Complexity Classification of FCAT Items FCAT Test Design Summary & Released Tests Dessalines Floyd, District Literacy Specialist,