STATE OF TEXAS ASSESSMENTS OF ACADEMIC READINESS (STAARTM) Grades 4 and 7 Writing English I, II, and III

1
STATE OF TEXAS ASSESSMENTS OF ACADEMIC READINESS
(STAARTM)Grades 4 and 7 WritingEnglish I, II,
and III

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

2
Writing Administration Issues

• Students writing compositions on incorrect page
  in answer document (e.g., composition 1 in space
  for composition 2)
• Students recording answers to multiple-choice
  questions and/or writing prompts in test booklet
  but not transferring answers/compositions to
  answer document
• Test administrators not allowing students to keep
  dictionaries on revising and editing

3
Initial Rangefinding Discoveries

• Expository writing caused the most difficulty
  across the boardgrade 4 through English II
• Central idea/controlling idea/thesis statement
• So broad and nebulous that it caused us
  difficulty discerning which ideas in the essay
  actually functioned as support/development
• Weak or evolving controlling idea led to
  inclusion of extraneous information

4
Initial Rangefinding Discoveries

• Essay jumpy from idea to ideaa result of too
  many ideas in one page and a lack of meaningful
  transitions (e.g., One reason that, Another
  reason that)
• Student included a personal narrative that simply
  told a story rather than explained

5
Initial Rangefinding Discoveries

• Potential solutions
• Honing the central idea/controlling idea/thesis
  statement
• Writing narrow and deep
• Teaching the difference between personal anecdote
  that explains and personal anecdote that doesnt

6
STAAR Writing Rubric

• Score Point 1VERY LIMITED
• Score Point 2BASIC
• Score Point 3SATISFACTORY
• Score Point 4ACCOMPLISHED

7
Scoring Model for STAAR

• TAKS compositions were scored using the perfect
  agreement model. Two readers read each paper,
  and if the scores did not agree, a third reader
  (and sometimes a fourth) read the paper to
  determine the final score.
• STAAR compositions will be scored using the
  adjacent scoring model. Perfect agreement does
  not have to be reached. With this method,
  districts will receive a more accurate
  description of each students writing
  performance.

8
Scoring Model for STAAR

SCORE 1 SCORE 2 SUMMED SCORE CSR RATING

0 0 0 Nonscorable Performance
1 1 2 Very Limited Performance
1 2 3 Between Very Limited and Basic Performance
2 2 4 Basic Performance
2 3 5 Between Basic and Satisfactory Performance
3 3 6 Satisfactory Performance
3 4 7 Between Satisfactory and Accomplished Performance
4 4 8 Accomplished Performance
9
STAAR Summary ReportsConstructed Responses
Rating
0
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Total
PERCENT
RATING
10
Coding Student Expectationson STAAR

• Example 1Grade 7 Poetry
• Question The repetition of the line xxxx
  suggests that the speaker
• Coded as 4A
• SE assessed 4(A) explain the importance of
  graphical elements (e.g., capital letters, line
  length, word position) on the meaning of a poem

11
Coding Student Expectations on STAAR

• Example 2Grade 7 Poetry
• Question Because the poem is written from the
  speakers point of view, the reader is better
  able to understand
• Coded as 4FD
• SE assessed Figure 19(D) make complex inferences
  about text and use textual evidence to support
  understanding
• The 4 indicates the genre.

12
Determining AppropriateReadability Level on STAAR

• Steps used in test-development process to ensure
  appropriate readability level
• Approximately 6 months before submission
  (selections and questions) is due, reading
  selections are presented at early passage
  review to reading content teams before
  development of questions beginsselections are
  accepted, rejected, or moved specific edits are
  requested on commissioned selections

13
Determining AppropriateReadability Level on STAAR

• Internal review by TEA and contractor reading
  content teams to edit selections and questions
• Educator committees meet to determine
  appropriateness of proposed reading selections
  and questionscommittees approve, edit, or reject
  selections and questions committees may also
  recommend that a selection and its questions be
  moved to another grade or course

14
Determining AppropriateReadability Level on STAAR

• Approved selections and questions are
  field-tested within the actual test
• Field-test student performance data are analyzed
  to determine appropriateness
• Questions are accepted into the item bank or
  rejected
• If rejected, selection and its questions can be
  redeveloped at a different grade level and put
  back through the entire development process the
  next year

15
Determining AppropriateReadability Level on STAAR

• Bottom Line
• Educators, not readability formulas, are primary
  determiners of grade-level appropriateness of
  reading level
• Test-development process is a fail-safe system,
  with multiple levels of review incorporated from
  different perspectives
• A selection and its questions is never placed
  into the item bank until successfully passing
  through all stages of the development process

16
STAAR Reading Design

• STAAR reading assessments will emphasize
  students ability
• to make connections within and across texts
• to think critically/inferentially about different
  types of texts (almost all test questions go
  beyond literal understanding)
• to understand how writers craft affects meaning
• to understand how to use text evidence to confirm
  the validity of their ideas

17
STAAR Reading PerformanceShort Answer Questions

• Score Point 0INSUFFICIENT
• Score Point 1PARTIALLY SUFFICIENT
• Score Point 2SUFFICIENT
• Score Point 3EXEMPLARY
• Perfect agreement between two readers is
  required during scoring.
• A total of 56 points on reading test multiple
  choice worth 38 points (68 of total score) and
  short answer questions worth 18 points (32 of
  total score)

18
STAAR Short Answer QuestionsIdea

• By English I, all students must understand what
  constitutes a credible idea in response to a
  question.
• An idea represents the quality and depth of
  thinking and understanding
• Idea for a score of 3 perceptive, coherent,
  discerning, clearly analytical
• Idea for a score of 2 reasonable and specific
  goes beyond literal reading

19
STAAR Short Answer QuestionsIdea

• Idea for a score of 1 lacks explanation or
  specificity represents only a literal reading of
  the text
• Idea for a score of 0 doesnt answer the
  question incorrect or invalid reading of the
  text too general, vague, or unclear to judge
  whether it is reasonable

20
STAAR Short Answer QuestionsText Evidence

• By English I, all students must by able to use
  text evidence to prove that their ideas are
  valid.
• Text evidence substantiates the readers ideas
  it reflects the degree to which the reader can
  connect his or her own ideas with the pieces of
  the text that best support the analysis.

21
STAAR Short Answer QuestionsText Evidence

• Text evidence for a score of 3 specific and well
  chosen
• Text evidence for a score of 2 accurate and
  relevant
• Text evidence for a score of 1 only a general
  reference, too partial, weakly linked, or wrongly
  manipulates the meaning of the text
• Text evidence for a score of 0 not evident or
  not attached to an idea

22
Analytical Writing

• A combination of expository writing and
  interpretation of one aspect of a literary or
  expository text (really a hybrid of writing and
  reading)
• Analytical prompts contain a literary or
  informational text (approximately 350-450 words),
  which students must analyze
• Score based on (1) the students ability to
  interpret the text and support it with relevant
  textual evidence (15C) AND (2) the quality of the
  writing (criteria under expository writing in
  15A)

23
CONTACT INFORMATION

• Victoria Young
• Director of Reading, Writing, and Social Studies
  Assessments
• Texas Education Agency
• 512-463-9536
• victoria.young_at_tea.state.tx.us