October+PARCC+Bytes

This month our **//PARCC Byte//** focus will be on PARCC Assessment content.
====We will start with an overview of the assessment components. The remainder of the October **//PARCC Bytes//** will provide you with 2-3 sample items to help you in understanding how this assessment will be different from the ISAT and PSAE. ====

====The PARCC assessment is comprised of two required summative assessments. One is called a “Performance-Based Assessment” (PBA) which will be administered early in second semester (late March/early April), and an “End-of-Year Assessment” (EOY) which will be administered in May. Since they are administered electronically, results will be available quickly for classroom use. ==== ====The Speaking and Listening Assessment will not be available until the 2015-16 school year. The chart below is a graphic image of the PARCC Assessment plan. ====



**October 10 **
Many schools across the country are field testing PARCC test items this year. All schools will be able to access an online practice test this Spring. We will send that information as it becomes available. Below are sample items from the PARCC assessment that will begin to familiarize you with the new test items. We will start with Math.
 * ELEMENTARY EXAMPLE **


 * MIDDLE SCHOOL EXAMPLE **




 * HIGH SCHOOL EXAMPLE **



**October 17 **
====This week we will share ELA Items. Items are identified as EBSR (Evidence-Based Selection Response), TECR (Technology-Enhanced Constructed Response) and PCR (Prose Constructed Response). This week we will share EBSR examples. ====


 * ELEMENTARY EXAMPLE **


 * MIDDLE SCHOOL EXAMPLE **


 * HIGH SCHOOL EXAMPLE **

**October 24 **
====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">This week we will share ELA Items. Items are identified as EBSR (Evidence-Based Selection Response), TECR (Technology-Enhanced Constructed Response) and PCR (Prose Constructed Response). This week we will share TECR examples. ====


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">ELEMENTARY EXAMPLE **

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">These items are set up online for students to click the statement to highlight. // //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Link to online example: //[|//http://www.parcconline.org/samples/english-language-artsliteracy/grade-7-tecr-research-simulation-task//]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">MIDDLE SCHOOL EXAMPLE **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Below are three claims that one could make based on the article “Earhart’s Final Resting Place Believed Found.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Earhart and Noonan lived as castaways on Nikumaroro Island. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Earhart and Noonan’s plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">People don’t really know where Earhart and Noonan died. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Highlight the claim that is supported by the most relevant and sufficient evidence within “Earhart’s Final Resting Place Believed Found.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Click on two facts within the article that best provide evidence to support the claim selected in Part A.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Claims **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Part A **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Part B **

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">There are no TECR sample items for High School yet. This is an example of the Prose Constructed Response (PCR). // Student Directions <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: middle;">Use what you have learned from reading “ Daedalus and Icarus ” by Ovid and “ To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Triumph ” by Anne Sexton to write an essay that analyzes how Icarus’s experience of flying is portrayed differently in the two texts. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: middle;">Develop your essay by providing textual evidence from both texts. Be sure to follow the conventions of standard English.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">HIGH SCHOOL EXAMPLE **

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">October 31 **
====<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">This week we continue to share ELA Items. Items are identified as EBSR (Evidence-Based Selection Response), TECR (Technology-Enhanced Constructed Response) and PCR (Prose Constructed Response). This week we will share PCR examples. ====

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">The following is the beginning of a story that a student is writing for a class assignment. The story needs more details and an ending. Read the beginning of the story and then complete the task that follows.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">ELEMENTARY EXAMPLE **

Schools should have a longer school day for students. First, students could learn more about different subjects if the school day were longer. Also, students could get extra help from teachers. More hours in class each day would also mean more vacations scattered throughout the year! ||
 * The following is a rough draft of a paragraph that a student is writing for the school newspaper about why there should be a longer school day. The draft needs more details to support the student’s reasons for having a longer school day. || ** Why There Should Be a Longer School Day **

Now look at the following daily schedule for a school that has switched to a longer school day.


 * 8:00 || Morning Announcements ||
 * 8:20 || Reading Language Arts ||
 * 9:30 || Foreign Language ||
 * 10:30 || Morning Recess ||
 * 10:45 || Mathematics ||
 * 11:45 || Lunch ||
 * 12:45 || History ||
 * 1:45 || Art or Music ||
 * 2:15 || Afternoon Recess ||
 * 2:45 || Science ||
 * 3:30 || Homework Preparation ||
 * 3:45 || After-School Tutoring or Sports ||

Revise the paragraph by adding details from the daily schedule that help support the reasons for having a longer school day.

STUDENT DIRECTIONS You have read three texts describing Amelia Earhart. All three include the claim that Earhart was a brave, courageous person. The three texts are: Consider the argument each author uses to demonstrate Earhart’s bravery. Write an essay that analyzes the strength of the arguments about Earhart’s bravery in at least two of the texts. Remember to use textual evidence to support your ideas. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">The following paragraph is an excerpt from a student's report about plant life in the southern United States. After reading the paragraph, you will identify details that are unnecessary and explain why they should be removed.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">MIDDLE SCHOOL EXAMPLE **
 * “Biography of Amelia Earhart”
 * “Earhart's Final Resting Place Believed Found”
 * “Amelia Earhart’s Life and Disappearance”
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">HIGH SCHOOL EXAMPLE **


 * ** The Invasion of Kudzu **

In 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hosted the Centennial Exposition in honor of the country’s 100th birthday. The Japanese constructed one of the most popular exhibits, primarily due to an amazing vine called //kudzu//. For centuries, the Japanese used the pea vine for many purposes, including medicine, but what attracted the Americans the most were the sweet-smelling purple flowers that covered the vine. The warm, moist climate of the southern states—from Georgia to Florida and north to the Carolinas—was the most hospitable part of the US for the vine. Temperatures in Georgia can reach into the 90s, and the humidity is often above 90%. Residents all over the southeast began planting kudzu. The vine’s success caught the attention of many, including Channing Cope who promoted its use for erosion control and animal feed, especially during the Great Depression. Because of the depression, many homes were left abandoned, so there was not anyone to care for them and keep the plants properly groomed. No one predicted, however, that the vine would end up taking over. The vines slowly engulfed pine forests, telephone poles, and even houses, leading to the destruction of native plant life. Pines are not the only trees in the South, however. There are about 250 species of trees in Georgia alone. As kudzu out-competed the local plants, it deprived them of nutrients and, especially, sunlight. Kudzu now covers over 7 million acres of land, and it continues to expand at the rate of 150,000 acres annually. That is almost one foot per day! Attempts to kill it have proven difficult, as it is immune to most herbicides; thus, kudzu continues to smother the southern states. Researchers continue to search for a solution to “the vine that ate the South,” but the answer is nowhere in sight. ||

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 13pt;">In the space below, identify the sentences from the paragraph that are unnecessary, and briefly explain why each one should be removed.

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