Literacy Links

May/June 2013
Volume 9, Number 10	Monthly E-Newsletter of 
Maine Department of Education	

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

~Maya Angelou

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.

~Benjamin Franklin

“He who learns but does not think, is lost! He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger.”

~Confucius

UPCOMING
EVENTS

ELA/Literacy Summer Institute
2013

Shifting Practices to Meet Common Goals

2-day Institute sponsored by MDOE for school/district teams

June 25-26
University of Maine Presque Isle

August 13-14 
Jeff’s Catering, Bangor

August 19-20
Ramada Inn Conference Center, Saco

Cost--$75 per person

Registration information available at:
http://www.maine.gov/education/lres/ela/elasummerinstitute2013.html 

New England Reading Association
65th Annual Conference

Moving Forward: Inspiring Learners Beyond Measure

September 19-21, 2013
Holiday Inn By the Bay
Portland, ME

Registration information available at: 
http://www.nereading.org/index.php/mainconferences 

	
       This month’s edition of Literacy Links continues exploration of the Smarter Balanced Assessment system.  This month we examine the ELA Claims and Targets, as well as assessment item types. 
Spotlight on…

Smarter Balanced Assessment
The Smarter Balanced assessment system will cover the full range of college- and career-ready knowledge and skills in the Common Core State Standards.  To do this, each test item is associated with assessment targets and overall content claims. Content claims are major categories for looking at student performance. The assessment targets were developed to ensure item writers and reviewers address the standards, learning progressions, and the range of thinking possible. For ELA, there are is an overall claim supported by four additional claims to which specific assessment targets are aligned.   
Overall Claim for Grades 3–8
Students can demonstrate progress toward college and career readiness in English language arts and literacy.

Overall Claim for Grade 11
Students can demonstrate college and career readiness in English language arts and literacy.	

Claim #1 – Reading 
Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts.	

Claim #2 – Writing 
Students can produce effective and well-grounded writing for a range of purposes and audiences. 	

Claim #3 – Speaking and Listening 
Students can employ effective speaking and listening skills for a range of purposes and audiences.	

Claim #4 – Research/Inquiry 
Students can engage in research and inquiry to investigate topics, and to analyze, integrate, and present information.	

English Language Arts/Literacy Assessment Targets
Within each claim for ELA, specific assessment targets have been established to guide the development of the SBAC items.  Assessment targets often integrate multiple standards to pinpoint the big ideas which will be assessed through the SBAC design.  For example, Reading Literature Target 4 incorporates three standards:

4. REASONING & EVIDENCE: Use supporting evidence to interpret and explain inferences about character traits, motivations, feelings; point of view, author’s lesson or message. 
Standards: RL- 2, RL-3, RL-6

The links below will take you to the specific item and task specifications for each grade span and from here you can access the assessment targets associated with each claim.  Additional links are provided for the ELA rubrics and stimulus specifications.  
•	ELA General Item and Task Specifications (PDF) 
o	ELA Grades 3-5 (ZIP)
o	ELA Grades 6-8 (ZIP)
o	ELA Grades 9-11 (ZIP)
•	ELA Rubrics (PDF)
•	ELA Stimulus Specifications (PDF) 
o	ELA Stimuli (ZIP)
•	Issues Related to Stimulus and Item Development (PDF)
Item and Task Types
The Smarter Balanced assessment system includes a variety of item types. The item formats will be updated based on findings from cognitive labs, small scale trials, and pilot testing being conducted in early 2013.  Item types include the following: 
•	Selected-response items prompt students to select one or more responses for a set of options.
•	Technology-enhanced items take advantage of computer-based administration to assess a deeper understanding of content and skills than would otherwise be possible with traditional item types. Technology-enhanced items capitalize on technology to collect evidence through a non-traditional response type, such as editing text or highlighting textual evidence. 
•	Constructed-response items prompt students to produce a text response in order to collect evidence about their knowledge or understanding of a given assessment target.
•	Performance tasks measure a student’s ability to integrate knowledge and skills across multiple standards—a key component of college and career readiness. Performance tasks will be used to better measure capacities such as depth of understanding, research skills, and complex analysis, which cannot be adequately assessed with selected- or constructed-response items. 
Samples of these item types can be found at the following link: http://sampleitems.smarterbalanced.org/itempreview/sbac/ELA.htm.  Additionally, item types can be viewed via the practice tests which are now open.  Access to the Practice Tests does not require a password, making it accessible to all who are interested.  Practice tests are available for grades 3–8 and 11 in both English language arts and mathematics, and may be accessed at: http://www.smarterbalanced.org. 
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Online Resources…
This month’s online resources feature links to several resources that support the CCSS for ELA.  Make checking out these resources part of your summer professional learning efforts.  

Text Project Playlist
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0F32BE29849E98E1
This series of webinars on the Common Core State Standards offers educators the chance to hear from experts who served in advisory roles to the CCSS development team. In their webinars, experts discuss the knowledge base of the original CCSS report, ancillary documents, reports of foundations and policy groups, current implementation projects, and newly published research. The webinars give educators the opportunity to focus on the core goals of the CCSS and to chart a course that supports literacy levels needed for the 21st century.

  Common Core Close Reading Sample Lessons

http://www.achievethecore.org/ela-literacy-common-core/sample-lessons/ 
These exemplars created by Achieve the Core contain full materials for two to five lessons each, including:
•	Readings with teacher and student instructions
•	Text dependent questions
•	Student discussion activities
•	Vocabulary and syntax tasks for challenging words and phrases
•	Writing-based formative assessments
Fiction and nonfiction lessons are included and are searchable by grade levels.
National Center for Literacy Education (NCLE)

http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/home
“There are some remarkable efforts underway in American schools to invest the next generation of students with the literacy skills needed to innovate, solve problems, and meet unprecedented challenges. Until now, there has been no way to connect these initiatives, to provide models for advancing literacy learning in every subject, to collaborate in identifying and pursuing critical research questions about literacy teaching and learning on a consistent, sustained basis.  That’s about to change.
The National Center for Literacy Education (NCLE) is building a coalition of stakeholders representing the premiere education organizations, policy analysts, researchers, and foundations who are working together to identify and share the plans, practices, support systems, and assessments used by educator teams working to improve literacy learning. NCLE will celebrate the work of successful school teams across the country that are achieving remarkable results in advancing literacy learning, and share what is learned with education policymakers” (NCLE homepage).  
Check out the wide variety of resources available through NCLE’s website, and consider signing up the NCLE Smart Brief, a weekly collection of articles, resources, and tips related to literacy for educators. 
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Summary of Professional Texts…
This month we feature two professional texts that contain information related to aspects of the CCSS for ELA.

Vocabulary Strategies That Work: Do This, Not That!
Lori Wilfong, 2012

“Update your vocabulary practices to meet the Common Core and improve students' word knowledge! This new, clearly-structured guide shows you how. It's packed with engaging, research-based, classroom-ready strategies for teaching vocabulary.  Topics include... 
•	Selecting meaningful words for direct instruction
•	Strategies for engaging students in word study
•	Helping students come up with their own definitions
•	Authentic vocabulary assessment
•	Greek and Latin word study
•	Bringing vocabulary to life using symbols and pictures
•	Using a word wall effectively
•	Teaching vocabulary all the time
•	Creating opportunities for wide reading
•	Using and expecting academic language” (Amazon Review).

Close Reading of Informational Texts: Assessment-Driven Instruction in Grades 3-8 
Sunday Cummins, 2012

“This essential book provides a roadmap for instruction and assessment of close reading skills in grades 3-8. To engage deeply with informational texts--a key requirement of the Common Core standards--students need to determine what details are important, how they fit together to convey a central idea, and how to synthesize information from multiple sources. They also need to understand the unique demands of different text features and structures. Presenting effective instructional strategies that teachers can tailor to their own classrooms, the book includes lesson plans, vignettes, and examples of student work, plus a Study Guide with professional learning activities and discussion questions” (Amazon Review).
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Children’s Literature…

     With summer vacation upon us, this month we feature a link to an online resource that describes the various awards issued annually to children’s literature.  The link is from Reading Rockets.  This listing is a terrific place to explore high quality children’s literature that has been honored for a variety of reasons.  Check out the wide variety of selections and keep them in mind for use in the coming school year.  

http://www.readingrockets.org/books/awardwinners/

News from Maine’s ELA Team…

This past school year, the MDOE launched a new professional learning network for K-12 educators called the Cross Discipline Literacy Network (CDLN).  300 educators from across the state have participated in the components of this network which include webinars developed by Maine educators focused on literacy instruction strategies that benefit content learning, as well as in-person sessions in which participants share applications of the content learned through webinars and engage in closer examination of literacy standards across the disciplines.  Webinars created as part of this past year’s series are now available for public viewing at: http://www.maine.gov/doe/literacy-for-me/cdln-schedules.html. The MDOE is excited about moving into the second year of this network and hope that many educators will consider participating in 2013-14.  Details about the CDLN will be availabe in August and will be sent out with the August edition of Literacy Links.  	

	For additional information about any of the items in this newsletter, please email Leeann.Larsen@maine.gov

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Click here to view back editions of Literacy Links
http://www.maine.gov/education/rf/newsletters/index.html 
The professional development opportunities and materials are listed in Literacy Links for informational purposes only and are not necessarily endorsed by the Maine Department of Education.