RICA Review Seminar December 12, 2014

RICA - Premises Effective reading instruction is based on ongoing assessment. …reflects knowledge of state and local reading standards. …represents balanced, comprehensive reading curriculum. …is sensitive to the needs of all students.

Five Domains of RICA Domain 1: Planning, Organizing, and Managing Reading Instruction Based on Ongoing Assessment Domain 2: Word Analysis Domain 3: Fluency Domain 4: Vocabulary, Academic Language, and Background Knowledge Domain 5: Comprehension

RICA Overview RICA has 3 sections: –Multiple Choice Questions There are 70 MC Questions. Suggested time: 90 minutes –Focused Educational Problems and Instructional Tasks There are 4 of these: words and words. Suggested time: minutes each –A Case Study Your response to this will be approximately words. Suggested time: 60 minutes

Multiple Choice Overview

RICA Scoring and Passing Guidelines Multiple Choice –Total of 70 questions –Only 60 will be scored (10 are experimental). –You need to get at least 40 of the 60 multiple choice questions correct.

Strategies: Multiple Choice All M.C. questions have two parts: –A stem, which is a phrase, sentence, or paragraph that leads to the –Options –The stems of the questions are very long Two types of M.C. questions: –content questions –classroom/student scenario applications In answering: –Eliminate any answers that are clearly wrong. –Analyze remaining options and select best possible answer. –No penalty for guessing.

Focused Educational Problems/Instructional Tasks Overview

Focused Educational Problems/Instructional Tasks There is one problem or task for each of the following domains. –Short Essays ( words) - 15 min. Fluency Vocab, Aca Lang, Prior Knowledge –Long Essays ( words) - 25min Word Analysis Comprehension

RICA Scoring and Passing Guidelines Responses to the Written Exam are evaluated on the following criteria: –Purpose: The candidate demonstrates an understanding of the relevant content and pedagogical knowledge by fulfilling the purpose of the assignment. –Application of Content: The candidate accurately and effectively applies the relevant content and pedagogical knowledge. –Support: The candidate supports the response with appropriate examples, evidence, and rationales based on the relevant content and pedagogical knowledge.

Strategies for Essay Writing Answer directly and to the point. Be sure to answer each part of the question.

SHORT ESSAY PRACTICE Fluency Vocabulary, Academic Language, Prior Knowledge words 15 minutes

Essay Response: Step One Address the prompt! You will most likely be asked to identify the area of need. You may also be asked to identify the area of strength

Essay Response: Step Two Describe an instructional strategy or activity to help address this need. –Explain precisely what the teacher and student will do. –Don’t assume the reader knows the instructional strategy. –Write 3-4 sentences describing the activity. –Be explicit.

Essay Response: Step Three Explain why the strategy or activity you describe would be effective. –Rationale: How does this strategy help the student? –Mention strengths of the strategy and how the strategy addresses the student’s strengths and needs. –If you can, cite theoretical or research foundation.

5 th Grade – Domain IV Step 1 – Identify strength/stretch in order to… Step 2 –Describe instructional strategy. Step 3 –Explain why instructional strategy would be effective.

Possible Responses Go around and share your responses. What did you identify as the instructional strategy? How did you explain the efficacy of that instructional strategy and its appropriateness for the identified challenges presented by the prompt?

LONG ESSAY PRACTICE Word Analysis words 25 minutes

1 st Grade – Domain V Step 1 –Identify one reading comprehension need demonstrated by this student. Step 2 –Describe instructional strategy. Step 3 –Explain why instructional strategy would be effective.

Possible Responses Go around and share your responses. What did you stength/stretch? What did you identify as the instructional strategy? How did you explain the efficacy of that instructional strategy and its appropriateness for the identified stength/stretch?

LONG ESSAY PRACTICE Word Analysis words 25 minutes

2 nd grade – Domain II Step 1 –Area of strength w/ evidence –Area of need w/ evidence Step 2 –Describe instructional strategy. Step 3 –Explain why instructional strategy would be effective for this class.

Possible Responses Go around and share your responses. What did you stength/stretch? What did you identify as the instructional strategy? How did you explain the efficacy of that instructional strategy and its appropriateness for the identified stength/stretch?

CASE STUDY PRACTICE Isabel words 60 minutes

Strategies for the Case Study Budget your time. Understand the tasks. Use the RICA content areas as criteria for analyzing the data. Organize your essay with clear subtitles.

Case Study Organize your essay with clearly stated subtitles: Strengths and/or Needs Instructional Strategies/Activities Explanation –of how each Strategy/Activity builds on strengths and addresses needs

Case Study Response: Part 1 Identify three of the student’s important reading strengths and/or needs. –You may identify three strengths, or three needs, or two strengths and one need, or two needs and one strength. –You must cite evidence from the documents provided to support each strength or need. This part should have three paragraphs. Each paragraph will: –Identify the strength or need –Cite the specific document that you used as evidence.

Isabel: Part 1 Read the case of Isabel and identify 3 strengths/stretches. Cite evidence!

Isabel: Part 1 Word Identification (strength) –IRA Making Inferences (stretch) –Post reading conference Multiple Word Meanings (stretch) –Multiple Meanings worksheet Motivation (stretch) –Teacher’s Observation Notes –Parent Conference

Case Study Response: Part 2 Describe two instructional strategies or activities that either address a need or build on a strength. This section should be two long paragraphs and should be longer than the first part. –Describe both what the teacher and the student will do in each activity. –Write about what happens during each activity. –Be very descriptive and explicit –Don’t explain why you chose the activity or strategy.

Isabel: Part 2 Describe 2 specific instructional strategies and/or activities designed to foster Isabel’s literacy development, adressing her assessed needs and/or building on the strengths you identified.

Isabel: Part 2 Multiple Meanings Sorts Inference Charts

Isabel: Part 2 Multiple Meanings Sorts Inference Charts

Isabel: Part 2 Multiple Word Meanings –Explicitly teach multiple word meanings I made my bed. I made money. My friend made me do it. I made a present for you. This was made in China. The pepper made my nose run.

Isabel: Part 2 Multiple Meanings Sort Out –Read the sentences and identify the 2 sentences in which the word has the same meaning. I received a grade of B on my essay. The car drove up the steep grade. I want to get a good grade on the test. Will you run in the race on Saturday? We had to run to catch the plane. Does pepper make your nose run?

Isabel: Part 2 Multiple Meanings Sorts Inference Charts

Isabel: Part 2 Inference Charts Background Knowledge Questions Clues from the Story Inferences

Case Study Response: Part 3 Explain how each strategy or activity helps the student. Should be two paragraphs: one for each instructional strategy/activity. Provide two types of explanations –First, write about the connection between the student’s area of need and the activity. –Second, explain the underlying rationale for the activity

Isabel: Part 3 Multiple Meanings Sorts Inference Charts

Isabel: Part 3 - Connection On the worksheet on multiple meaning words, Isabel was only able to write sentences that demonstrate her understanding of multiple meanings for 2 of the 6 words (park and left). This suggests that she needs more experience and practice with words that have multiple meanings. Multiple Meanings Sort Out will help Isabel because she can begin to learn how to use context to determine (1) appropriate usage of the word and (2) how to use context to determine the meaning of the word

Isabel: Part 3 - Underlying Rationale Through analyzing sentences that use the same word to mean something different, Isabel can begin to learn how, where and in what way a word is used. She can also learn how to look for context clues (semantic and syntactic) that determine how a word is used as in the examples: –We use a ruler to measure things in math. –In social studies we learn that Caesar was a powerful ruler in Ancient Rome.

Isabel: Part 3 Multiple Meanings Sorts Inference Charts

Isabel: Part 3 - Connection Isabel was able to correctly answer literal questions after reading, but not the one inferential question. It therefore would be important to teach her how to make inferences that are based on what she knows about the world (experiential background) and what she knows about the language (authors’ clues).

Isabel: Part 3 - Connection As inferences are based on background knowledge and information embedded in the text, Isabel would read a text, then fill in an inference chart with the following information: –Background knowledge –Author’s clues –Questions that tie the two together

Isabel: Part 3 - Underlying Rationale Inference charts provide a visible organizational structure for making inferences. Isabel can literally see how inferences can be made as she learns how to recognize clues from the text and makes connections to what she knows about the world.

Final thoughts My responses to Isabel’s case study are different from those in the Ready for RICA text, which are different from those on the RICA website. There is no one right answer. What is important is that you organize your response so that it is clear and addresses the prompts.

More RICA Resources RICA Home Page – RICA Sample Written Exam Form (PDF) – Rossi, J. & Schipper, B. (2011). Case studies in preparation for the California reading competency test. Allyn & Bacon: Needham Heights, MA. Zarillo, J. (2013) Revised Ready for RICA, 4th edition