High School English Language Arts Grade Level Considerations

High School Common Core StandardsGrade Bands

• Grades 9–10

• Grades 11–12

Considerations for High School

• Reading Level

• Vocabulary

• Contexts

• Item Difficulty

• Assessment Targets

Style Guide

Reading Level

• Increasingly complex text, independence and proficiency

• Claim 1 (Reading) and 3 (Speaking and Listening) passages range from being above, at, or below grade level

• For claim 2 (Writing) and 4 (Research) the passages one grade below the assessed grade

Vocabulary

• Use language that is clear and vocabulary that is at or below the assessed grade level

• Appropriate to high school students

• Vocabulary measured in context must be at least two levels above grade

High School Context

• Appropriate– teenagers– historical figures and

events – inventions – school – health– community

• Inappropriate– drugs and alcohol– prison– marriage or divorce– children’s games– toys and dolls

Item Difficulty

• Items should include a range of difficulty

• Anticipated difficulty for sample items

Smarter Balanced English Language Arts Claims and Assessment Targets

• Claim 1: Reading

• Claim 2: Writing

• Claim 3: Speaking & Listening

• Claim 4: Research

Claim 1: Reading

• 30% Literary texts: stories, poems, plays, myths, or legends

• 70% Informational texts: science, social studies, and technical texts/topics

• Selected Response, Constructed Response, and Technology-Enhanced Items.

Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly

complex literary and informational texts.

Claim 2: Writing

• Selected Response, Constructed Response, Technology-Enhanced Items, and Performance Tasks

• Write, revise or edit text

• Argumentative and Informational

• Performance Tasks incorporate research and reading skills to produce narrative, informational and argumentative essays

Students can produce effective and well-grounded writing for a range of purposes and audiences.

Claim 3: Speaking and Listening

• Selected Response, Constructed Response, or Technology-Enhanced Items

• Performance Tasks

– Plan and deliver presentations

Students can employ effective speaking and listening skills for a range of

purposes and audiences.

Claim 4: Research

• Selected Response, Constructed Response, and Technology-Enhanced Items

• Performance Tasks

• Real world sources and complex topics and issues

• Multiple sources and evidence

Students can engage in research / inquiry to investigate topics, and to analyze, integrate, and present information.

High School English Language ArtsGrade Level Considerations

• Vocabulary, style, context, and item difficulty

• Claims and assessment targets from the Smarter Balanced English Language ArtsContent Specifications