Shifts:SAT Redesign &PA Core OverviewBaldwin-Whitehall SD

Presented by Heather Moschetta, PhD.Reading Achievement Center, Allegheny Intermediate Unit

What the College Board says…•You might be surprised by everything

that’s new about the new SAT:▫All-new essay — and it’s optional▫No penalty for guessing▫No vocab that you’ll never use again▫4 parts: Reading, Writing and Language,

Math, and the optional SAT Essay▫400–1600 score scale▫3 hours and 50 minutes with the SAT Essay

— or 3 hours without it▫4 answer choices

What the College Board says…• One of our biggest goals in changing the SAT is to make

sure it’s highly relevant to your future success. The new test will be more focused on the skills and knowledge at the heart of education. It will measure:▫ What you learn in high school▫ What you need to succeed in college

• If you think the key to a high score is memorizing words and facts you’ll never use in the real world, think again. You don’t have to discover secret tricks or cram the night before.

• The same habits and choices that lead to success in school will help you get ready for the SAT. The best way to prepare for the test is to:▫ Take challenging courses.▫ Do your homework.▫ Prepare for tests and quizzes.▫ Ask and answer lots of questions.

• In short, take charge of your education and learn as much as you can.

Key Shifts of the SAT Redesign for Spring 2016

• Command of Evidence • Evidence-Based Reading and Writing

section• Inferential thinking• Implications of authors’ words

• Language Tasks• taking the stance of an editor • assess the development of claims, clarity,

effectiveness, including relevance and quality of supporting textual evidence

• keep, add, revise, or delete written content to further a writer’s purpose.

The (optional) Essay• As you read the passage below, consider how [the

author] uses• evidence, such as facts or examples, to support

claims.• reasoning to develop ideas and to connect claims and

evidence.• stylistic or persuasive elements, such as word choice

or appeals to emotion, to add power to the ideas expressed.

Write an essay in which you explain how [the author] builds an argument to persuade [his/her] audience that [author’s claim]. In your essay, analyze how [the author] uses one or more of the features listed above (or features of your own choice) to strengthen the logic and persuasiveness of [his/her] argument. Be sure that your analysis focuses on the most relevant features of the passage. Your essay should not explain whether you agree with [the author’s] claims, but rather explain how the author builds an argument to persuade [his/her] audience.

Two big considerations. . .1. On every SAT, students will encounter

source texts from science, history, and social studies, analyzing them the way they would in those classes

2. Will be given source material to develop essay

• Analysis• Accuracy• Coherence

OLD NEW • Do not have to cite

evidence

• Passage-Based Reading• Comprehension of

what is stated or implied

• Evidence-Based Reading & Writing

• Analysis of Texts• Examine hypotheses• Interpret data• Consider implications• Analyze how author’s word

choice shapes meaning, style, and tone

• Identify how authors use evidence to support claims

• Find a relationship between an informational graphic and a paired passage

OLD NEW •Argument essay based on background and/or experience

•Vocabulary sometimes obscure and limited

•Essay measures ability to analyze evidence and/or explain how author builds an argument to persuade

•Vocabulary robust and highly generalizable or polysemous meaning dependent on context

OLD NEW •Source documents are texts not widely available

•Docs do not represent a wide range of academic disciplines

•Documents will include• 1 classic or contemporary work

of U.S. or world literature• 1 or a pair from either a U.S.

founding document or a text in the great global conversation they inspired• The U.S. Constitution or a speech

by Nelson Mandela, for example.• 1 about economics, psychology,

sociology, or some other social science.

• 2 science passages (or 1 and a pair) that examine foundational concepts and developments in Earth science, biology, chemistry, or physics.

Turn and Talk•What are the implications of the SAT

redesign for your practice?•For your school?•For your role within the school?•For others within the school?

More than level of texts. . .• DOK

• Modulate level of thinking (not necessarily text)

• Most PACS are at a DOK 3

• Writing is often at a DOK 4

• Teaching implication: Pre-plan questions that help students think deeply about text

Like the Lottery:Probability increases when you bet on combinations. . .

TEXT THINKING Low Low Medium Low High Low

Low Medium Medium Medium High Medium

Low High Medium High High High

Too much time here

SweetSpot

TheStretch

Three Instructional ShiftsRequired by the Core• Regular practice with complex texts and

their academic language

• Reading, writing, and speaking grounded in evidence from texts, both literary and informational

• Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction

Instructional Shift 1•Regular practice with complex texts and

their academic language▫Two parts:

Complex text Academic vocabulary

Instructional Shift 1•Staircase of Complexity:

▫K-12, to prepare students for demands of college- and career-level reading

▫Progressive development of reading comprehension so that students advancing through the grades are able to gain more from what they read

Instructional Shift 1•What are complex texts?

•Typified by a combination of longer sentences, a higher proportion of less-frequent words, and a greater number and variety of words with multiple meanings ▫In higher grade levels, complex text involves

higher levels of abstraction, more subtle and multidimensional purposes, and a wider variety of writing styles — all of which place greater demands on working memory.

Instructional Shift 1•Measuring text complexity

Reader and Task Considerations

Instructional Shift 1•Quantitative

▫Lexile•Qualitative• Relationships: interactions among ideas or characters• Richness: size and sophistication of information

conveyed through data or literary devices• Structure: text organization• Style: author’s tone and use of language• Vocabulary: author’s word choice• Purpose: author’s intention•Reader & Task Considerations

▫Individualized to class and students▫Background knowledge, academic level,

cultural relevance

Instructional Shift 1

Instructional Shift 1•Why not just Lexile?

Which of these titles has the highestLexile score?

Instructional Shift 1• Why not just Lexile?• Lexile uses quantitative

methods▫individual words ▫sentence lengths

• Lexile score does not include:▫Qualitative analysis of

content▫Thus, Lexile scores for

texts do not reflect factors such as multiple levels of meaning or maturity of themes

Guess the Lexile score

•730•2nd-3rd grade

Instructional Shift 1•Three levels of complexity based on

qualitative factors…

Instructional Shift 1• Reader & Task Considerations

There had been no words for naming when she was born. She was “Girl Owens” on the stamped paper that certified her birth, and at home, she had just been “Sister,” that was all. When asked to decide, at six, what she would be called, she had chosen “Sunday,” the time of voices, lifted in praise.That was one piece of the story, but other parts had gone unspoken, and some had been buried, but were not at rest. She was headed back to claim them, as she had taken her name.

Instructional Shift 1•Suggestions for effective practice:

▫Text sets that balance: More complex texts with easier tasks Less complex texts with more challenging

tasks▫Close reading – anchor text of text set▫Gradually increase the complexity of the

task and complexity of the text▫Not all texts must be complex!

We want to build readers We want kids to experience success

Analyze Your Curriculum•How is the staircase of complexity

reflected in in the curriculum and your textbooks?

▫Passages/literature▫Instructional learning activities/tasks▫Assessments of comprehension & analysis

Instructional Shift 1•Regular practice with complex texts and

their academic language▫Two parts:

Complex text Academic vocabulary

Instructional Shift 1•Focus on academic vocabulary

▫Inextricably connected to reading comprehension

•Academic vocabulary:▫Words that appear in a variety of content

areas▫Words with multiple meanings, often tied

to their use in different content areas EX: Ignite, commit

Instructional Shift 1• What do students need to be able to do?

▫Determine word meanings

• How?▫The most effective vocabulary instruction

teaches word meanings as concepts; it connects the words being taught with their context and with the students' prior knowledge.

▫Five techniques have proven especially effective: Concept Definition Maps Semantic Mapping/Semantic Feature Mapping Possible Sentences Comparing and Contrasting Teaching Word Parts

Instructional Shift 1•What do students need to be able to do?

▫Appreciate the nuances of words

•How?▫Teach denotation vs. connotation▫Not just synonym and antonym

Instructional Shift 1•Connotation writing activity:

•Write about someone who could be considered “slender.” Be as detailed and descriptive as possible.

•Write a minimum of five lines.•Time limit: 1:47

Instructional Shift 1•What do students need to be able to do?

▫Steadily expand their range of words and phrases

•How?▫Read more complex and varied texts▫Vocabulary activities to understand the vocab in

the texts they read; apply word concepts to other unfamiliar, but related, words in future reading

▫Model use of language of the standards

Analyze Your Curriculum•How is academic language reflected in in

the curriculum and your textbooks?

▫Passages/literature▫Vocabulary activities/tasks▫Vocabulary instruction

Instructional Shift 2•Reading, writing, and speaking grounded

in evidence from texts, both literary and informational

Instructional Shift 2•Emphasis on using evidence from texts to

present:▫Careful analyses▫Well-defended claims▫Clear information

Instructional Shift 2•The standards no longer require students

to answer questions from prior knowledge and experience▫Drawing personal connections is an

important part of comprehension, but we can no longer stop there

•Standards require students to answer questions that depend on having read the texts closely

Instructional Shift 2•In writing:

▫Drawing on student experience and opinion is not enough to prepare students for the demands of college, career, and life

▫Standards still expect narrative writing▫Standards also expect an command of

sequence and detail that are essential for effective argumentative and informative writing

Instructional Shift 2•Close reading•Text-dependent questioning techniques

▫Require inferential thinking▫Require evidence from the text▫More than just comprehension of content▫Questions about author’s craft, text

structure, key ideas & details, integration of knowledge & ideas

Analyze Your Curriculum•How is text evidence reflected in in the

curriculum and your textbooks?

▫Close reading▫Text-dependent questions▫Analysis questions▫Questions and texts that require deep

inferencing▫Writing activities/assignments requiring

students to cite evidence

Instructional Shift 2•Suggestions for effective practice:

▫Close reading▫Text-dependent questions▫Citing evidence & analysis of evidence▫Model TDA & gradually transition into

students writing their own TDA essay responses

Instructional Shift 3•Building knowledge through content-rich

nonfiction

Instructional Shift 3•Content-rich nonfiction:

▫Builds strong general knowledge▫Helps students develop vocabulary

•Students need extensive opportunities to build knowledge through texts so they can learn independently

Instructional Shift 3•How much informational text?

▫K-5: 50-50 balance between informational and literary reading Informational: content-rich nonfiction in

history/social studies, sciences, technical studies, arts

Deliberately select texts to support students in systematically developing knowledge about the world

Instructional Shift 3•How much informational text?

▫Grades 6+ Much greater attention on the specific category

of literary nonfiction in ELA standards The standards recognize that literature is the

core of the work of secondary (6-12 ELA teachers)

Standards require that students build knowledge in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects through reading and writing

Pairing Fiction with Nonfiction•Five reasons to say yes to text sets:

1.Increase range of complexity2.Extend into varying genres3.Promote ideation4.Require synthesis 5.Increase domain knowledge

Instructional Shift 3•Activity: Analysis of literary nonfiction

▫TDQ for “We Are the Ship”

•Turn and talk:▫If this is the kind of thinking that students

are required to do in grades 4-5, what does this mean for middle/high school teachers?

Analyze Your Curriculum•How is knowledge building though

content-rich nonfiction reflected in in the curriculum and your textbooks?▫Genre-based units or text pairings/text

sets?▫50/50 balance (grades 3-5)▫Amount of literary nonfiction (grade 6)▫How much is student-directed (vs.

teacher-directed) learning?

Instructional Shift 3•Suggestions for effective practice:

▫Text sets▫Supplementary texts

To pair with texts that require world knowledge

▫Analysis of literary elements in nonfiction More than just facts and content!

Where Are You?•Balancing Literary and Informational Texts

•Knowledge in the Disciplines

•Staircase of Complexity

•Text-based Answers

•Writing from Sources

•Academic Vocabulary

▫Areas of strength? Areas of need?