TNCore update #20

Update #20

February 20, 2013

Announcements:

TN Core Summer Training Registration Now Open: These trainings are designed to support the transition to the Common Core State Standards in mathematics, English Language Arts, and Literacy for Science, Social Studies, and technical subjects. Registration is now open for school and district teams, and closes May 24.

To learn more and to register, please visit www.tncore.org/register. Please direct all questions to tncore.questions@tn.gov.

Common Core State Standards for Mathematics New Coding: The Common Core State Standards for mathematics has a new coding system to refer to the standards. Standards in K-8 now have an additional letter that refers to the cluster of which that standard is a part. If there are three clusters in a particular domain, the standards in each cluster are designated with and A, B, or C. For example, 4.NF.C.6 is the new code for fourth grade in the Number and Fractions Domain (NF) under the third cluster (C) for standard 6. High School standards have the same cluster designation as K-8 and now begin with HS. While there are no content or organizational changes to the Common Core State Standards, we encourage districts to use the new coding system. For more information visit www.corestandards.org

2012-13 TCAP Constructed Response Assessment - Phase II Universally Scored Tasks and Scoring Webinar Information:

As previously communicated, the State is requiring data entry for the Phase II administration of the Constructed Response Assessment (CRA). The window to score and upload Phase II tasks for the CRA opens on March 4 and closes on April 19. Phase II scoring guides are now available to download here.

Students are expected to complete all four tasks on the Phase II administration. However, instead of scoring all student responses for all four tasks, teachers will be expected to score and upload:

All student scores for one "universally scored" task
A representative sample of 15 student scores for the other three tasks, (chosen at the discretion of the teacher, representing a range of performance), per teacher per grade per school

*Please note that the aforementioned expectations are the minimum requirements, and schools and districts are welcome to exceed them.

Content specialists and the regional math coordinators played a central role in the rangefinding process for Phase II tasks. Their involvement equipped them with an in-depth understanding of the design of the tasks and their feedback from this process was instrumental in the selection of the universally scored tasks.

Below, you will find the list of tasks to be scored and uploaded per grade level:

Grade Level	Phase II Universally Scored Task
3^rd	Task 1: Carpet Squares Task
4th	Task 2: Portion of a Whole Task
5^th	Task 2: Pillow Cases Task
6^th	Task 2: Three Trips Task
7^th	Task 3: Used Video Games Task
8^th	Task 3: Heights of Eighth Graders Task

*Please note that for the remaining three tasks in each grade, 15 student scores per teacher per grade per school should be uploaded. The online application is accessible at

http://state2.measinc.com/wp/signin.aspx%20 . A video resource, Quick Start Guide, and full-length User Guide for accessing and utilizing the CRA scoring application will be available on the TNCore site prior to the opening of the scoring application.

Phase II Scoring Webinars

To aid in the scoring process, the regional math coordinators will also be hosting grade-specific webinars the week of Feb. 25 for district and/or school teams. In these webinars, the regional math coordinators will:

Review updates to the scoring process
Walk through examples of student work from each Phase II task, with an emphasis on the universally scored task
Answer questions submitted by webinar attendees

The webinars for each grade level will be hosted live as well as recorded, and posted on the TNCore website as a resource for all teachers during the scoring process. Here are instructions for joining the webinar:

1. Go to https://www.connectmeeting.att.com .

2. Enter your name, email address and the following information:

a. Meeting number: 866-434-5269

b. Code: 5135783

3. Select to view the webinar through your Internet browser ("Web Participant Application").

4. Once in the webinar space, you will see instructions for calling in to hear the conference audio.

5. For technical support, call AT&T Connect Customer Care at 1- 888-796-6118.

For those who can't make the live webinar, an audio recording will be posted to the Math page of TNCore.org.

Monday, Feb. 25^th

Tuesday, Feb. 26^th

Wednesday, Feb. 27^th

3 p.m. CST

5^th grade

4^th grade

3^rd grade

4 p.m. CST

8^th grade

7^th grade

6^th grade

More information and further guidance regarding Phase II updates to the scoring process can be found here. In addition, the Phase II Frequently Asked Questions document, which can be accessed here, addresses a number of frequent questions and themes that have been identified to date.

Please email questions to tncore.questions@tn.gov.

PARCC Update

PARCC Draft Accommodation Policies for Review: The Accessibility, Accommodations, and Fairness (AAF) working group along for PARCC has released draft accommodation policies in the area of writing access for public review and feedback. Tennessee is represented on the AAF by Lori Nixon, director of assessment design for special populations. The department is asking for additional stakeholder comments on the policy. Please read the policy and follow the directions provided in order to submit your comments. If you have specific questions, please email tncore.questions@tn.gov.

Resources:

Release of Extra TCAP Writing Assessment Prompts: This week, we released four extra writing prompts per grade level and posted them along with the previously released prompts and rubrics here.

These prompts include:

The operational prompt used for the official February 2013 TCAP WA administration
Three additional prompts per grade level, one in each writing mode (narrative, informative/explanatory, opinion/argument)

These prompts can be used for a variety of purposes: ELA pilot districts can select among them for pilot writing assignments with their students; ELA educators may find them useful for PARCC preparation as further examples of Common Core-aligned writing tasks; students and teachers can use them for additional practice with text-based writing responses. Even though the TCAP WA administration for this year is over, we hope teachers will find ways to incorporate these prompts into instruction, as the Common Core emphasizes the importance of regular writing practice for all students across the school year. The prompts will also be added to the MIST practice site in March for students to practice keyboarding. As with all resources on the TCAP WA webpage, Tennessee educators are welcome to print, duplicate, and use these materials as they see fit.

New Math Instructional Tasks:

The department is releasing 7 new instructional mathematics tasks. These tasks are posted to the TNCore site to support your work in engaging students in high level tasks. Principals and teachers can find the new math tasks at www.tncore.org.