PCS PSSAs New Mathematics and ELA Test Items North Penn School District September 23, 2014

Rigorous Expectations

• Student learning needs to be at a higher level of analysis, evaluation, and synthesis.

• Student mastery of content and skills. • Greater Depth of Understanding

• New assessment items created to measure standards (anchors and eligible content)

• Assessments will cover multiple standards (anchors and eligible content)

NEW PCS MATH PSSA September 24, 2014

Mathematics – Old v. New

Task 1 (old): Martha is re-carpeting her bedroom that is 15 feet long and 10 feet wide. How many square feet of carpeting will she need to purchase? (simple multiplication to find area) Task 2 (new): Ms. Brown’s class will raise rabbits for their spring science fair. They have 24 feet of fencing to build a rectangular rabbit pen to keep the rabbits. If Ms. Brown’s students want their rabbits to have as much room as possible, how long would each of the sides of the pen be? (finding perimeter, area, multiple possibilities must be considered)

Mathematics – Old v. New Source: Foundation for Excellence in Education, 2014

Mathematics – Old v. New Source: Foundation for Excellence in Education, 2014

Mathematics – Old v. New Source: Foundation for Excellence in Education, 2014

Mathematics – Grade 3 Source: PSSA Released Items, Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2013-14

This problem is representative of 2014 PCS Math PSSAs. What do you notice about the level of difficulty? What do you notice about text or vocabulary?

Math – Old Grade 3

This problem is representative of 2010 Math PSSAs. What do you notice about the level of difficulty? What do you notice about text or vocabulary?

Mathematics – Grade 3 Source: PSSA Released Items, Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2013-14

OLD – 2010 Math PSSAs

Mathematics – Grade 3

Notice the difference between the Old vs. New when it comes to calculation of money.

NEW OLD

Old Open Ended – Grade 3

This item comes from the 2010 Math PSSAs for Grade 3. What do you notice about the level of difficulty? What do you notice about vocabulary and the amount of text?

Mathematics – Grade 3 Source: PSSA Released Items, Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2014-15

Mathematics – Grade 4

Mathematics – Grade 5

Mathematics – Grade 5

Mathematics – Grade 6

Example of an open-ended response for new PCS Math PSSA in Grade 6.

Old Math – Grade 6 Geometric Concepts from 2010 Math PSSAs

Mathematics – Grade 6

These two examples illustrate typical geometry problems for PCS PSSA for 2015.

Grade 8 Open Ended Example

Source: PSSA Released Items, Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2014-15

What did you see?

• Higher levels of thinking • Critical thinking skills • Application of knowledge in new context or situation • Linkage between knowing and explaining through

writing • Conceptual knowledge as important as knowing how to

process an equation

NEW PCS ELA PSSA September 24, 2014

ELA Assessment Changes

Writing • On-Demand writing prompts are now included on

Grades 2 through 8 ELA test. Combination of Reading and Writing Assessments.

• Three Modes – Informational, Narrative, and Opinion (Grades 3-5) / Argumentative (Grades 6-8)

• Grammar Questions – Terminology and Application

Selected Response (aka. Evidenced Based Selected Response)

• Two-Part Multiple Choice Questions – 2 to 3 pts. each • Grades 3 through 8 • Explicit understanding of Literary Terms and

Application

ELA Assessment Changes

Text Dependent Analysis • Multiple-paragraph essay that analyzes text and

requires students to cite evidence from text • Grades 4 through 8 • Combines reading comprehension and analysis

skills with writing skills

Increased Text Complexity • Passages represent a variety of genres (including

Drama, Poetry, Fiction, Non-Fiction) • Comparative Analysis of Text • Explicit understanding of literary terms and

analysis

ELA – Grade 3

2010 Reading PSSA

2014 PCS ELA PSSA

ELA - Grade 4

Grade 4 - Vocabulary

The question above is from the 2014 ELA test while the question at the right is from the 2010 Reading test. What are the differences you notice with vocabulary?

Grade 4 – TDA vs. Open Ended

The item at the left is the new 2014 Text Dependent Analysis question. The item above is the 2010 Reading Open Ended question.

ELA - Grade 5

The above item is from the 2010 Reading PSSA. The item at the right is from the new ELA test. How are they different?

Student Expectations

What are the differences in student expectations for the TDA vs. the old Open Ended Response? How strong were your students previously on the old Open Ended? What do you anticipate needs to be done with the new TDA?

ELA - Grade 6

Argumentative Scoring Guide

ELA - Grammar Grade 6

What did you see?

• Higher levels of thinking • Critical thinking skills – Analysis of text • Application of skills • Writing skills to demonstrate reading/thinking skills • Explicit knowledge and application of literary and

grammatical terms • Standards – Reading comprehension and analysis, citing

evidence to support analysis