STATE OF TEXAS ASSESSMENTS OF ACADEMIC READINESS (STAAR ® ) Grades 3  8 Reading Grades 4 and 7 Writing English I and II Victoria Young Director of Reading, Writing, and Social Studies Assessments Texas Education Agency

STAAR Test Design English I and II Reading and writing combined into one test with one score (no separate reading and writing scores) Tests administered in a single day—5-hour time limit Reading and writing contribute equally to total score 30% — reading multiple choice 20% — short answer questions 24% — writing multiple choice 26% — essay Multiple choice 54% of total test score Performance 46% of total test score 2

STAAR Reading Performance Spring 2013 Statewide Results Phase-in and Recommended Standards 3 Grade/CoursePhase-in 1Phase-in 2Recommended Grade 379%58%40% Grade 472%57%38% Grade 577%61%39% Grade 671%57%40% Grade 777%59%38% Grade 884%67%47% English I65%53%44% English II78%70%63%

2013 STAAR Short Answer Reading English I and II Statewide Distributions 4 English I Scores Single Selection English II Scores Single Selection 0 (Insufficient) 14% 0 (Insufficient) 7% 1 (Partially Sufficient) 34% 1 (Partially Sufficient) 28% 2 (Sufficient) 47% 2 (Sufficient) 52% 3 (Exemplary) 5% 3 (Exemplary) 12%

2013 STAAR Short Answer Reading English I and II Statewide Distributions 5 English I Scores Connecting Selections English II Scores Connecting Selections 0 (Insufficient) 31% 0 (Insufficient) 14% 1 (Partially Sufficient) 36% 1 (Partially Sufficient) 35% 2 (Sufficient) 29% 2 (Sufficient) 40% 3 (Exemplary) 5% 3 (Exemplary) 11%

Students must be able to identify the “tools” an author uses to craft a piece and to pinpoint/articulate how they affect meaning. Students must be able to make connections—at differing levels of depth and complexity—both within and across texts (including connections between a text and its accompanying photograph or procedural piece) 6 Reading—What the Data Tell us

Students must have a command of and be able to apply the specific academic vocabulary associated with literary and informational reading. Student must know how to find and use text evidence to confirm the validity of an idea both within and across texts. 7 Reading—What the Data Tell us

Making Connections Within a Selection Grade 3 expository (“Jessica the Hippo”)—question 5 The photograph best supports which idea from the selection? A. Jessica was on a special diet when she was a baby. 14% B. Jessica sometimes seeks the company of other hippos. 7% C. Jessica’s story made her famous around the world. 36% *D. Jessica’s size makes keeping her as a pet difficult. 43% 8

Making Connections Across Selections Grade 8 pair—question 48 How does the author’s purpose for writing in “Dear Fellow Writer” differ from the poet’s purpose in “What the Page Says”? *A. Mora persuades people to start writing, while the poet describes a writer’s effort. 63% B. Mora provides information about writing strategies, while the poet encourages a writer to use a specific strategy. 18% C. Mora describes the writing process for readers, while the poet does not. 12% D. Mora entertains readers with a story about writing, while the poet does not. 7% 9

Author’s Craft Grade 6 expository (“Robot on the Ice”)—question 42 The author structures paragraphs 9 and 10 so that they— A. show that Nomad has been searching for meteorites for a long time 17% *B. explain the changes that were made to Nomad before it could be used at the South Pole 58% C. report early successes Nomad had while meteorite hunting in South America 12% D. emphasize the difficulties Nomad might encounter while being used in Antarctica 13% 10

Author’s Craft English I fiction (“I Wish I Was a Poet”)—question 33 The author uses ellipses primarily to— *A. give the story a conversational tone 57% B. make the reader think that the story will have an unexpected ending 23% C. indicate that the narrator is judgmental 8% D. imply that the reader should act as a participant in the events of the story 12% 11

Academic Vocabulary Grade 6 fiction (“Pavel’s Journey”)—question 26 The point of view from which the story is told gives the reader insight into — A. Uncle John’s optimistic attitude 8% *B. the reasons for the travelers’ journey 59% C. Pavel’s feelings about his experience 19% D. how beautiful the passengers’ destination is 14% 12

Academic Vocabulary Grade 5 expository (“The Toy for All Ages”)—question 14 By organizing paragraph 3 sequentially, the author is able to — A. compare how different types of LEGO pieces are made 8% *B. explain the method for making LEGO bricks 66% C. show how LEGO is able to make toys so quickly 13% D. list the reasons why making LEGO bricks is simple 12% 13

Short Answer English II Single Selection—Spring 2013 How would you describe Paul in the excerpt from The Custom of the Country? Support your answer with evidence from the selection. English II Connecting Selections—Spring 2013 Do you think Jaime Teevan in “2009 Young Innovators Under 35: Jaime Teevan, 32” and Barry Bingham, Jr. in “Digital Dad Versus the Dinosaurs” have anything in common? Explain your answer and support it with evidence from both selections. 14

Why We Have to Include Text Complexity in the Conversation To be successful on STAAR (and in class), students must be able to read on- grade-level texts of varying complexities. That requires learning to independently “tackle”—or negotiate—increasingly complex literary and informational texts. 15

Why We Have to Include Text Complexity in the Conversation Remember that text complexity is driven by a variety of factors: The degree to which the vocabulary or language used is nonliteral/figurative, abstract, academic, or technical The degree to which the sentence structures used are varied, dense, and sophisticated 16

Why We Have to Include Text Complexity in the Conversation The degree to which the author’s use of literary elements/devices, rhetorical strategies, organizational patterns, and text features is nuanced or sophisticated The degree to which the topic or content is unfamiliar or cognitively demanding The degree to which relationships among ideas require interpretation, reasoning, and inferential thinking to understand the subtlety, nuances, and depth of ideas 17

STAAR Writing Performance Spring 2013 Statewide Results Phase-in and Recommended Standards 18 Grade/CoursePhase-in 1Phase-in 2Recommended Grade 471%51%35% Grade 770%50%29% English I48%37%30% English II52%38%30%

2013 STAAR Writing Grade 4 Statewide Distributions 19 Personal Narrative Summed Scores Expository Summed Scores 1/1 = 221%1/1 = 221% 1/2 = 316%1/2 = 317% 2/2 = 427%2/2 = 436% 2/3 = 516%2/3 = 515% 3/3 = 612%3/3 = 68% 3/4 = 75%3/4 = 72% 4/4 = 82%4/4 = 81%

2013 STAAR Writing Grade 7 Statewide Distributions 20 Personal Narrative Summed Scores Expository Summed Scores 1/1 = 26%1/1 = 210% 1/2 = 39%1/2 = 313% 2/2 = 427%2/2 = 435% 2/3 = 523%2/3 = 521% 3/3 = 622%3/3 = 614% 3/4 = 78%3/4 = 75% 4/4 = 84%4/4 = 82%

2013 STAAR Writing English I and II Statewide Distributions 21 English I Expository Summed Scores English II Persuasive Summed Scores 1/1 = 218%1/1 = 24% 1/2 = 318%1/2 = 36% 2/2 = 435%2/2 = 434% 2/3 = 514%2/3 = 523% 3/3 = 69%3/3 = 624% 3/4 = 73%3/4 = 76% 4/4 = 81%4/4 = 82%

Writing—What Drives Scoring RESPONSIVENESS to both the purpose and the topic. Responsiveness is weakened when the student uses an inappropriate or marginally appropriate organizing structure includes ideas that are extraneous or only marginally related to the topic 22

Writing—What Drives Scoring FOCUS Personal narrative must be focused on a single real experience. Focus is weakened when the student includes details or events that do not further the reader’s understanding of the experience (e.g., unnecessary adjectives and adverbs, events that are not actually part of the narrative, and “bed to bed” narratives) separates the story line from the extension/reflection 23

Writing—What Drives Scoring FOCUS Expository and persuasive writing must be focused on the central “charge” of the prompt (the “Write about”) An explicit, specific thesis (central/controlling idea) or position statement is critical to a focused essay—the earlier in the paper, the better. Focus is weakened when the thesis or position statement is general or vague evolving 24

Writing—What Drives Scoring PROGRESSION/CONNECTIONS What isn’t required: a specific number of ideas or paragraphs What is required: moving logically from sentence to sentence and connecting ideas with meaningful transitions so that the reader can really (easily) follow the student’s train of thought Progression/connections are weakened when the student moves randomly from sentence to sentence does not use transitions or relies on perfunctory transitions (e.g., The first thing that happened, The next thing that happened; First, Second, Third; My first reason, My final reason) 25

Writing—What Drives Scoring PROGRESSION/CONNECTIONS The biggest problem we see when an essay is lacking in this area: clusters of ideas that are each linked to the prompt but not connected to each other—important in all cases but especially if ideas are different “grain sizes” a roadblock to substance/depth/ thoughtfulness because the student does not “build” from one idea to the next Remember Unconnected ideas = superficial development Superficial development = a score of 2 26

Writing—What Drives Scoring DEVELOPMENT—Given the space constraints of 26 lines, what makes the most sense: Narrow and deep development—fewer ideas with more depth better than more ideas with less depth Building meaning from one idea to the next— each idea enriched/enhanced by what came before it 27

Writing—What Drives Scoring DEVELOPMENT What causes the worst development problems: formulaic approaches (e.g., 5-paragraph essays)—almost always result in a lack of thoughtfulness, individuality, depth ideas that are too complicated, abstract, philosophical, or overly erudite for a student’s writing skills Remember The best development is real, based on a student’s own experiences and thinking about the world. 28

The Space Issue The primary causes of space problems Introductions that repeat the prompt, incorporate an unnecessary framing device, or include preview statements (average 5−9 lines) Conclusions that simply repeat introduction Weak organization: repetition, meandering, and randomness Use of “filler” (description, details, examples, reasons) that doesn’t contribute to the quality of the development Remember Using space effectively requires both planning and revision! 29

Using Space Ineffectively A 23-line Persuasive 2 I’ve lived in little ol’ _____, Texas my whole life. It’s one of the smallest towns around here. And I love it. First, there’s the train tracks, then there’s the old general store, across from the post office. Near that is a odd shaped builing that was supposed to be a car museum, but never really made it. Down the road is the dump, where I rescued my cat a few years ago. The best part of living in a small town is my school. It’s small, maybe 200 people. So you know everyones name. And down the road from the school is Pete’s. It’s amazing. It is a gas station and they have personal pan pizza. Living in a small town gives me a sense of comuity, Standing and cheering at a football game. That’s where it’s at. It’s amazing to know that small towns still exist at this day in age. 30

Making Space Work A 19-line Persuasive 4 I’ve had the benefit of experiencing both a large city and a small town. If given a choice between the two, hands down I’d choose the city any day. Big cities provide invaluable opportunities that small towns can’t match to any degree. In cities there is always something to do. When boredom attacks, a person is never very far from some sort of park/movie theatre/diner/something to waste time. The mass of things around you in a city is great. You can always rely on a city to give you what you want. In a small town you can barely rely on a grocery store to supply decent out-of-season fruit. 31

Making Space Work An English II 19-line Persuasive 4 The people are the seller, though. In a city you meet more people in a lifetime than you could ever count. Each one different, too. Mean, nice, old, young, interesting, dull − they each teach you a little something about the world and they each teach you a little more about yourself. I didn’t know how much I valued books until a man on a bus challenged their worth. That interaction taught me about a new side of life. Small towns have this supposed “charm,” but I think cities have a charm − a better charm − all of their own. They’re a place to enjoy yourself and bask in the glory of life and all it entails. 32

CONTACT INFORMATION Victoria Young Director of Reading, Writing, and Social Studies Assessments Texas Education Agency