Quantitative

Demonstrating Mastery in PARCC

Introduction

Overview of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for Colleges & Careers (PARCC) Assessment

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), also known as MCAP (Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program), is a standardized assessment given to students starting in 3rd grade and continuing through high school. For Language Arts in middle school, the exam is separated into 3 units–-the Literary Analysis Task (LAT), the Research Simulation Task (RST), and the Narrative Writing Task (NWT). "For the English Language Arts and Literacy assessment, students read literary and informational passages from published texts (fiction and nonfiction) as well as engage in multimedia such as video or audio pieces. Students demonstrate their reading comprehension through written responses as well as demonstrating their knowledge of the conventions of English" ("English Language Arts and Literacy," n.d., n.p.). Each unit has both multiple choice questions and a written response question. Each task is used to measure students’ mastery of Common Core state standards and Maryland College and Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts. The assessment is given in to students yearly during the spring over the course of a couple of days. Teachers receive data from the assessments in the summer and use the information to inform instruction for the upcoming year.

To prepare students throughout the school year, I focus on PARCC-related skills within my project-based learning framework. For example, when students write their Social Justice research paper, it is teaching them the skills needed to be successful on the PARCC's RST. Or when I am having students write Stoop Stories, it is helping them practice narrative writing, which helps with the NWT. I also put a huge emphasis on test preparation a couple of months before PARCC where I help build students' confidence in the testing genre. Participating in these activities not only increases students' readiness for assessments, but also helps prepare them for the rigor necessary for college and career readiness in the 21st century.

Samples of PARCC

While the actual PARCC assessment itself is embargoed, PARCC releases portions of the previous year's assessments to help teachers prepare their students. PARCC also releases a scoring guides and rubrics. Below are a few examples of the types of assessment questions used to assess students quantitatively.

Sample PARCC Assessments

RST-MIGRATION_BV-1.pdf

Released multiple choice questions for the Research Simulation Task Unit (above).

During the Research Simulation Task, students must view multiple texts to engage with the questions. For example, students may need to view video clips, articles, etc. There are a mix of normal multiple choice questions, evidence-based selected response, and other types of questions. In the sample, the examples are extremely rigorous requiring students not only to have basic comprehension but also being able to make inferential leaps. Additionally, students must be able to analyze and make meaning of the texts.

For example, to the right is an example of the first evidence-based selected response question from the above guide.

A sample Research Simulation Task Question (above).

To accurately answer this question, students would need to "determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone" (RI 7.4.1) for the first part. Students would have to be able to understand the meaning of "twittering" using previous knowledge or context clues to select the correct answer (C). In the second part, students would need to "cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text" to show that the answer is A (RI.7.1.1). In essence, these two-part questions force students to show their thought process.

E07_R_VH085028_ReleasedSet_2018_0816-1.pdf

Released Research Simulation Task Extended Response for Grade 7 (above).

Students also have to write a constructed response. The sample responses show various levels of understanding. Students can earn a 4, 3, 2, or 1 in most categories in the writing section.

This exam is difficult because it is timed writing. Students have to use their comprehension from the articles to answer the written question. Additionally, students need to make sure that they have fully answered each part of the question.

For example, the extended response for this passage is:

To accurately answer this question, students must not only display understanding of the 2 articles and video clip, but students must also use their command of writing to write about each source and how it shows the role of migration in the lives of animals.

To the right, you will see an example of an Extended Response Essay that scored a 2.

This Extended Response Essay (above) shows that the student has a basic comprehension of the text. Additionally, the student can incorporate some textual evidence. Note that there are grammatical and spelling errors in the response.

Scoring Key

After assessing students, students are put in 5 different performance level categories based on mastery of multiple choice questions and written responses.

The performance level categories are:

5 = Exceeded Expectations; 4 = Met Expectations; 3 = Approached Expectations; 2 = Partially Met Expectations; 1 = Did Not Meet Expectations

Grade7-ELAPLDs-2.pdf

This PARCC Scoring Key (above) contains a scoring chart used to evaluate student scores on the assessment in both reading and writing.

For example, in reading, students who score a Level 5 must read very complex text mostly accurately, moderately complex texts mostly accurately, and readily accessible texts accurately. Students who score a Level 3 must read very complex texts minimally accurately, moderately complex texts generally accurately, and readily accessible texts mostly accurately.

In writing, students who score a Level 5 must "address the prompts and provide effective development of ideas, including when drawing evidence from multiple sources, while demonstrating effective coherence, clarity, and/or cohesion" while also "[demonstrating] full command of the conventions of Standard English consistent with edited writing" with few errors that don't impede understanding. While students who score a Level 3 provide development of the ideas with less coherence and have errors that "occasionally impede with understanding."

This Scoring Key is extremely rigorous. This assessment offers one way to assess if a student is on the path to being college and career ready.

Additional Rubrics

PARCC_English_Language_Arts_Literacy_Scoring_Rules_v8.00.pdf

PARCC English Language Arts/Literacy: General Scoring Rules (above) describes the scoring rules for multiple choice questions.

Multiple choice questions are evaluated on a right or wrong basis (whether the student chose the correct letter).

But some PARCC questions have two parts (Evidence-Based Selected Response) questions. These questions require students not only to select the correct answer, but also select a piece of textual evidence supporting their response. These questions are highly rigorous and follow a different scoring.

Similarly, the Technology-Enhanced Constructed Response also follows a different grading rubric that is displayed within the document.

Grade6-11-ELA-LiteracyScoringRubric-July2015_0.pdf

General Rubric for Prose Constructed Response Items (above).

Students can earn a maximum of 4 points on Reading Comprehension and Written Expression in the RST and LAT sections (Written Expression for the NWT section), as demonstrated in the guide above. Students can earn a maximum of 3 points on the Knowledge of Language and Conventions for each section.

To do well on the assessment, students will need to:

demonstrate full comprehension
address the prompt and provides effective and comprehensive development of the claim or topic
use clear reasoning supported by relevant text-based evidence
effectively organize
establish and maintain an effective style.
demonstrate full command of the conventions of standard English with few minor errors where meaning is clear

Data from Spring 2019 - 7th grade class

Mastery Data Report

PARCC Scores11032019.pdf

This Student Roster (above) shows the mastery levels in my 7th grade class for both reading and writing. This roster shows that while some students have an impressive mastery of content, many do not.

The 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1s all have deeper meaning. Looking at each individual score report helps me have a better understanding of how to support my students. The above score report not only looks at the overall score, but also breaks the information into 2 major categories:

Reading (categories within - Literary, Information, Vocabulary)
Writing (categories within - Written Expression, Writing Conventions)

In every category, my students outperformed the district and competed with the state in the writing section.

However, there is a tremendous amount of growth that still needs to happen with my current students. The data shows that the area where students need the most intense growth is in vocabulary and reading information. These two categories have the most students who did not or partially met expectations. This information can help me find more activities where students can practice vocabulary words in context, preferably non-fiction to help with reading information.

Looking even further into the performance of individual students helps me fine-tune my understanding of these issues. As an educator, I am particularly interested in "bubble students." "Bubble students" are students who were approaching proficiency. With intense support, these students can easily make it to a 4 or 5 the following year. An example of a bubble student would be student #1, 4, 20, and 25.

High-Level Summary & Highlights

My data interpretations - PARCC

The Mastery Levels presentation (above) provides a summary of the data, conclusions, and next steps for this assessment.

Individual Student Mastery

Student #1 struggled with literary multiple choice questions in particular, and could show improvement in reading information multiple choice and writing conventions in the essay section. Knowing this information can help me create more opportunities for this student to read short passages and answer multiple choice questions.

Student #2 struggled with reading information multiple choice questions. Student #2 met and exceeded expectations on the other areas. This student will benefit for more opportunities to read non-fiction texts like guides and manuals, science articles, etc.

Student #3 struggled in all areas--literary, reading information, vocabulary, written expression, and writing conventions. This student has an IEP. But when given extended time, this student can produce quality work. I would like to work with this student on building confidence. Sometimes this student shuts down and does not allow all of her talents to show. Also, I would like to use other forms of assessment to see where this student really performs academically to get a further picture of supports that I can put in place.

Conclusion

While standardized assessments are not the best way to measure growth, using the information from the previous year can help teachers make instructional decisions to increase not only students' test scores but what really matters, students' ability to think critically about texts, defend and argue a claim, and write creatively. Over the course of the school year, seeing students master standards is extremely rewarding to their families and themselves and makes them college and career ready.

Back to Dramatic Academic Growth

References

English Language Arts and Literacy – Mathematics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2019, from http://marylandpublicschools.org/about/Pages/DAAIT/Assessment/PARCC/index.aspx/

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