PARCCcompetencies

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APPENDIX A (Compiled by PARCC Assessment Team at University of Louisiana at Lafayette 1)

TEN TO TWENTY ESSENTIAL CORE COMPETENCIES AND EVIDENCE FOR COLLEGE-LEVEL ENGLISH I

ULL English Language PARCC Team Process:

The team met to consider elements we considered necessary for a student to be successful in the first-year English courses atULL. In addition to the Common Core State Standards and ACT Standards outlined in the PARCC document, we also looked atinstructional materials for English 101 used by the ULL English Department and at their Standards for courses in first-year writing,a framework of standards from the Council for Writing Program Administrators/National Council of Teachers of English/ and theNational Writing Project, and also a document written by the Center for Education Policy Research, Understanding UniversitySuccess, sponsored by the Association of American Universities and the Pew Charitable Trusts. We have arrived at the following19 competencies.

After discussing elements from these documents that faculty considered the most critical competencies for entering freshmen, wecategorized the 20-item Table in the PARCC document to follow the order of the CCSS/ACT matrix headings to make it easier forthe State committee to fold it into the matrix. Thus, the order of the list proceeds: Reading Literature & Informational Text, Writing,Language Knowledge & Use, Reading & Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, and Reading & WritingStandards for Literacy in Science/Technology. Then we compared the list with the BOR descriptors, provided, to ensure allreflected one or more of those elements.

# Essential core competencies that should bemeasured on a PARCC assessment that wouldindicate that a high school student has a 75%

likelihood of achieving a C or better (50% chance of aB or better) without need for remediation in acollege-level credit-bearing English I course.

Evidence that could be found on a PARCC assessmentthat would indicate that a high school student exhibits thecore competencies at the necessary proficiency level for

success.

1 Read and comprehend content from a variety of sources(aesthetic & expository) such as newspapers,magazines, textbooks, literature, poetry, internet blogs,

-Reading comprehension assessment questions

-[Include 2 poems such as the former, by Henry Wadsworth

1 Dr. Gerald Carlson, Dean, College of Education; Dr. Christine Briggs, Head, Curriculum and Instruction; Dr. Clancy Ratliff, Director of First-Year Writing,

English;

Dr. Elaine Taylor, Curriculum and Instruction; Dr. Frank DelFavero, Educational Foundations and Leadership.


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etc. Longfellow, and the latter, by Amy Lowell...]How are the structures of It Is Not Always May and Songsimilar?A. Both poems begin with a mildly cheerful tone that graduallygrows to elation.

*B. Both poems begin with images of life in its prime and endwith a sobering reminder of lifes end.C. Both poems begin with images of very small things and endwith images of very large things.D. Both poems begin by addressing no one in particular andthen switch to addressing an individual(Released Test Items: EOC, 2009).

2 Evaluate multiple sources of information presented indifferent media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively)as well as in words in order to address a question or

solve a problem (Louisiana Department of Education,2012).

Multiple choice interpretive exercises based on various sourcematerials such as graphs, political cartoons, written text fromnewspapers, magazines, Internet blogs, etc.

3 Engage in writing as a recursive process, writing eachproject as a series of drafts and doing global, higher-order revision of claims, evidence, integratingcounterarguments, and organization.

A mini-portfolio that shows a writing project from start to finish:notes, early drafts, instructor comments on early drafts thatfocus on higher-order content concerns (as opposed tosentence-level errors), and revised final draft, plus a shortpiece by the student reflecting on the process.

4 Recognize the difference between a strong argument anda weak argument (evidence, credibility, logical fallacies,

etc.) (First-Year Writing: Instructor Packet, 2011-2012)

Provide short arguments that are designed to be weak, eachusing a particular logical fallacy or other weakness (non

sequitur, begging the question, ad hominem,overgeneralization, lack of evidence, etc.), and ask multiple-choice questions requiring students to choose the correctlogical fallacy or other problem with the argument.

5 Recognize an argument and explain what makes anargument different from a text in which purpose is solelyto inform (First-Year Writing: Instructor Packet, 2011-2012)

Assessment prompts that ask students to read two newsarticles on the same topic: one taken from the front page, theother from the op-ed page. A multiple choice could be: a.)Article 1 is an argument; article 2 is not. b.) Article 2 is anargument; article 1 is not. c.) Neither one is an argument. d.)Both are arguments. But preferably wed have a space for


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them to explain their answers.

6 -Demonstrates critical thinking (ability to recognizecomplexity, cultural diversity, biases, and stereotypicalrepresentations; distinguishing fact from opinion), notoverly reliant on clichs or culturally conditioned/

ethnocentric assumptions and biases.(Standards for First-Year Writing, 2012)

Write an argument that explains your position on one of thegiven topics. Provide reasons that elaborate your ideas andsupport your position convincingly. A successful exam essaywill:

1. include a clear position on the issue and adequate supportfor it; 2. address opposing view(s); 3. be well organized,treating ideas systematically, one at a time (one well-developed idea per paragraph, with clear transitions from onepoint to the next); 4. have a discernible introduction andconclusion[Writing Prompt:]The university near your hometown is debating whether or notto change from a grading system of A, B, C, D, F to aplus/minus system. The current system assigns the following

point values to grades:A=4.0B=3.0C=2.0D=1.0F=0.0The proposed new system would have these point values:A = 4.00A- = 3.70B+ = 3.30

B = 3.00B- = 2.70C+ = 2.30C = 2.00C- = 1.70D = 1.00F = 0.00Write a letter to the university Provost explaining your positionon the issue. Do you believe the university should keep thecurrent system or adopt the proposed new plus/minus system?

Do you think students GPAs would increase or decrease as a


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result? Dont hesitate to use yourself as an example. What doyou think the effect would be on merit-based financial aid?

7 Habits of mind such as curiosity, creativity, flexibility,openness, metacognition, persistence, responsibility,

engagement, etc.) (WPA, NCTE, & NWP, 2011)

-Students self-assess using a writing prompt about the habitsof mind such as the following:

The Council of Writing Program Administrators, in collaborationwith the National Council of Teachers of English and theNational Writing Project, recently published a report titled"Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing." In it, theylist a variety of qualities that students need to have in order towrite well as they move on to college. From the report:------------------Habits of mind refers to ways of approaching learning that areboth intellectual and practical and that will support studentssuccess in a variety of fields and disciplines. The Framework

identifies eight habits of mind essential for success in collegewriting: Curiosity the desire to know more about the world. Openness the willingness to consider new ways of beingand thinking in the world. Engagement a sense of investment and involvement inlearning. Creativity the ability to use novel approaches forgenerating, investigating, and representing ideas. Persistence the ability to sustain interest in and attention to

short- and long-term projects. Responsibility the ability to take ownership of ones actionsand understand the consequences of those actions for oneselfand others. Flexibility the ability to adapt to situations, expectations, ordemands. Metacognition the ability to reflect on ones own thinking aswell as on the individual and cultural processes used tostructure knowledge.------------------

For your proficiency exam essay, you will need to do the


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following:1. Select two of the above habits of mind that you think areparticular strengths of yours.2. Make an argument that you have these habits of mind andstate reasons why you chose these as your strengths.

3. Support your argument with evidence: examples of thecoursework you have done (the papers youve written, yourclass participation/peer reviewing, the reading youve done,etc.). Here youll be explaining how these habits of mind applyto writing in particular.4. Explain how you have used these same habits of mind in atleast one of your classes how the same two habits of mindyou chose apply, or transfer, to your work in another subject.Give specific examples to support your explanation.

-Teachers rate students habits of mind using a Likert Scale2

.8 -Demonstrate (at a minimum) some level of organization,

i.e., introduction sets up the major concerns and aims ofthe paper, develops ideas through body (each paragraphfocuses on one discrete idea/subpoint of the argument,and some attempt at transitions between paragraphs aremade, even if they are awkward). Conclusion providessome closure to the argument, even if only a summary ofthe main points-Analyze, make inferences, and draw conclusions

-Write a concise statement containing a claim and areason3

(First-Year Writing: Instructor Packet, 2011-2012)

-Papers, preferably a portfolio of writing, that require studentsto do simple summary, response, and analysis (First-YearWriting: Instructor Packet, 2011-2012)

-Assignment of various types of papers such as personalnarrative/essay, research paper, position paper, etc.

9 Write prose that is mostly free of sentence-level errors,but some degree of sentence-level error is expected andacceptable; writing at the whole-discourse level is morehighly prioritized than the sentence level.

-Review of essays/papers that students write for their classes.

-Multiple choice items based upon reading and editingpassage, such as the following:

2 We understand this method's limitations: teachers evaluating students' habits of mind using a Likert scale could be influenced by not only personal biases

and feelings toward individual students or groups of students, but they may also feel pressure from administrators to give students high scores.3

Some call this a thesis statement, but that term has a variety of uses, and we want to be precise.


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A Voice of Her OwnSandra Cisneros, perhaps the best known Latinaauthor in the United States, writes poems and storieswhose titles aloneBarbie-Q, My Lucy Friend WhoSmells Like Corn, Woman Hollering Creekengage

potential readers curiosity. To the pleasure of her readers,Cisneross work, which uses both English and Spanish, isas interesting as the titles suggest.*A. NO CHANGEB. potential, readersC. potential, readersD. potential readers (ACT, 2012)

10 -Ability to proofread and to know the difference betweenrevising and proofreading (understanding revision as aglobal necessity).

-[Note: Studies show editing of de-contextualizedsentences does not typically transfer into improvementon a students own writing. What does transfer, however,is for a student to engage in a process to edit his or herown piece of writing4.]

-Can they edit and revise a piece of their own writing? Forexample, based upon a student collection of personal drafts toa polished piece, student writes a one-page reflection on their

writing process: What revisions did they make and why? Howdid the revisions reflect their rhetorical choices?

-Or, an online testing system could be designed to allowstudents to access their own writing from a previous writingtest in the same system and actually edit that piece of writingin a new editing test.

11 General academic norms and ethics involving intellectualproperty and citation; integrating their own ideas withthose of others. In other words, the awareness that

academic writing is a conversation and that its importantto academic audiences to know who said what -- alsothat a major way to establish credibility in ones writing isto demonstrate (by citing sources) that one has readsome published scholarship about the subject he or sheis writing about. Note: this competency is not necessarilytied to a particular documentation style (MLA, APA forexample).

Give student a scenario/short piece to read followed by aquestion such as you want to use the statistics in the article.Should that be cited, and why? The next prompt draws from

the same short piece and asks: The capital city of Alabama isMontgomery, should that be cited, and why or why not?(answer: No, because is common knowledge)

4 In that testing will be done on subsequent occasions over a student's K-12 career, would it be possible with advancing technology to provide students

access to their own writing from their last test (say, via a pop-up window), and they edit it within the test setting.


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12 Writing responds to the needs of various audiencesapplying appropriate voice, tone, and level of formality(Standards for First-Year Writing, 2012).

Short writing prompts specifying the audience would test forawareness of appropriate voice, tone, and level of formalitywithin a given context. A sample would be write three lettersdescribing your senior year of high school: one to yourgrandmother, one to your principal, and one to your best

friend. Students should understand what kinds of informationand what style of voice/tone each of these three audienceswould and would not be interested in reading.

13 Present information, findings, and supporting evidenceclearly and distinctly, such that listeners can follow theline of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectivesare addressed, and the organization, development,substance, and style are appropriate to purpose,audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.

-Case studies of 10-12 randomly selected students whose in-class oral presentations are video-recorded and evaluated bysmall pool of qualified assessors.

-Classroom visits by designated evaluator/s who will score in-class presentations using an agreed-upon rubric.

14 Understand the idea of genre: that genre is a type of

rhetorical response to a recurring communicativesituation and that each genre has its own conventions:news article, op-ed news article, white paper, grantproposal, literature review, annotated bibliography, togive some examples.

-Present students with samples of different genres and give

test questions asking which genre the text is. These could bemultiple choice or fill-in-the-blank. Students can also be askedsomething like Which of the following is a convention of theannotated bibliography genre? a.) a section addressingprojected budget for the project; b.) complete bibliographicalcitations followed by summaries of those sources; c.) both ofthe above; d.) none of the above.

-Respond to a Writing Prompt such as the following:ULL is considering the production of a new pamphlet to recruitfreshman students. One proposed pamphlet has a photo of thestudent section at a ULL sporting event that shows smilingstudents interacting with each other and includes thecheerleaders and band members. Another pamphlet displays aphoto taken of a few students gathered at the Jazzman Caf inDupr Library talking together about a class project. Write aletter to Julie Simon-Dronet, director of Public Relations andNews Services, in which you make a case for the pamphletyou think is more effective to recruit new students. If you wantto suggest a different photograph altogether or a differentrecruiting strategy besides pamphlets, that is fine, but explain


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the problems with the pamphlets/photographs currentlyproposed.5

15 Integrate multiple sources of information presented viadifferent media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively)as well as in words in designing and supporting an

argument with evidence (Louisiana Department ofEducation, 2012).

Give students a few sample pieces on a topic (populationgrowth) and excerpts from, for example, two newspaperarticles with divergent positions, a journal article, and a

population density map showing growth in a region over time.Using these resources, students would write a one-pagepersuasive argument stating a position on the topic and usingevidence from the materials given to support the claims.

16 Use knowledge of language and its conventions whenspeaking.

In a short interview regarding content-related topics, studentsuse of conventions in spoken language (vocabulary andgrammar) mostly adheres to standardized, spoken English.

17 Integrate information from diverse sources, both primaryand secondary, into a coherent understanding of an ideaor event, noting discrepancies among sources (Louisiana

Department of Education, 2012). Students shouldunderstand what types of sources would be best suitedto answer their particular research questions.

-Which source is a secondary source?A. a diary kept by Abraham LincolnB. a letter written to Abraham Lincoln

C. a speech written by Abraham Lincoln*D. a biography written about Abraham Lincoln(Released Test Items: EOC, 2009)

-Also short-answer scenario questions like You are asked todo a research project pursuing the question of how AbrahamLincoln treated his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. What types ofsources would you consult to answer this question? Answersmay vary but should probably include letters between the twoand/or biographies of each of them.

18 Research to build and present knowledge by conductingshort as well as more sustained research projects toanswer a question (including a self-generated question)or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry whenappropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject,demonstrating understanding of the subject under

-Give students a narrative account from the diary of LieutenantColonel John Winslow of the British military expressingsadness for the French Acadian people during their exodus (athis command) from Nova Scotia, Canada in the 1750s due to along-standing conflict between Britain and France and thefollowing prompt: You want to know more about the history

5 While this prompt may be too local for a statewide testing population, we recommend that writing prompts be designed to reflect students direct

experiences, making them more meaningful than abstract examples such as Should people try to live in the world the way it is or try to change

it?(Released Test Items: EOC).


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investigation (Louisiana Department of Education, 2012). that led to this conflict. Based upon the information in thenarrative, develop a question as a basis around which to beginyour inquiry which will narrow the focus of your personalresearch project.

-Require that all students who wish to earn a HS diploma writea senior thesis.

19 Use technology, including online library data bases, toproduce, publish, and update individual or shared writingproducts in response to ongoing feedback, including newarguments or information. (Louisiana Department ofEducation, 2012)

-Assessor conducts a case study of student seated at acomputer doing a think-aloud protocol while completing awriting task using digital technology.

-Require that all students who wish to earn a HS diploma writea senior thesis6

References

ACT. (2008). College Readiness Standards. Retrieved from ACT.orgACT. (2012, May 1). Retrieved from ACT: http://www.act.org/newsroom/data/2005/downloads/SampleACTTestItems.pdfCenter for Education Policy Research. (2003, May 1). Understanding University Success. Retrieved from The American Association of

Universities & the Pew Charitable Trusts: https://www.epiconline.org/files/pdf/UUS_Complete.pdfFirst-Year Writing: Instructor Packet. (2011-2012). English Dept. Lafayette, LA: University of Louisiana at Lafayette: Unpublished.Louisiana Department of Education. (2012, May 1). Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts. Retrieved from

http://www.doe.state.la.us/topics/ccss_ela.html

Released Test Items: EOC. (2009, November). Retrieved from Louisiana Department of Education:http://www.louisianaschools.net/lde/uploads/15029.pdf

Standards for First-Year Writing. (2012, May 1). Retrieved from English Department, University of Louisiana at Lafayette:

http://english.louisiana.edu/about-us/firstyearwriting/index.shtmlWPA, NCTE, & NWP. (2011). Framework for success in post-secondary writing. ?: Council of Writing Program Administrators, the National

Council of Teachers of English, and the National Writing Project.

6 A number of European countries have experienced success using versions of a curriculum model that builds upon itself over the span of high school years

by structuring content along a spiraling continuum, designed to scaffold and reinforce knowledge at each level. Near the end of the final year, each student

takes a comprehensive written Exam/Thesis to be subsequently defended before a small committee, a process which broadens and deepens student

understanding of content knowledge.

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