NOV 20 1997 RADIAN* W Information Bulletin Grade 9 E nglish Language Arts 1997-98 v * m ^0*^' # 4T m 40* #■ This document was written primarily for: Students / Teachers / G rade 9 T eachers Administrators / Parents General Audience Others / S uperintendents DISTRIBUTION : Superintendents of Schools • S chool Principals and Teachers • T he Alberta Teachers’ Association • A lberta School Boards Association • O fficials of Alberta Education • G eneral Public upon Request This bulletin contains general information about the Achievement Testing Program and information specific to the Grade 9 E nglish Language Arts Achievement Test. It replaces all previous bulletins. Copyright 1997, the Crown in Right of Alberta, as represented by the Minister of Education, Alberta Education, Student Evaluation Branch, 1 1 160 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5K 0L2. All rights reserved. Additional copies may be obtained from the Student Evaluation Branch, 403-427-0010. Alberta Educators may reproduce this bulletin for educational purposes. If y our school has a C anCopy licence, you may reproduce the excerpted material in this document in accordance with that licence. If y our school does not have a C anCopy licence, the excerpted material shall not be reproduced without the written permission of the original publisher (see credits page, where applicable). September 1997 Contents Looking Back: Highlights of 1997 1 Who Wrote the Test? 1 What Was the Test Like? 1 How Well Did Students Do? 2 Has Achievement Changed Since Last Year? 2 Commentary and Sample Questions from Grade 9 English Language Arts Achievement Test 1997 2 Reporting the Results 4 Looking Ahead: What is Upcoming for 1998 5 General Information 5 Administering the Tests 5 Schedule 6 Students in French Programs 7 Marking Achievement Tests Locally 7 Standards: Curriculum , A ssessment , A chievement 7 Definitions 8 Confirming Standards 8 Purpose of Assessment Standards 8 Description of the Language Arts Assessment Standards 9 Acceptable Standard 9 Standard of Excellence 9 Grade 9 E nglish Language Arts Assessment 10 General Description 10 Part A: Writing 10 Important Information to Note! 11 Blueprint for Part A: Section I— Narrative Writing 12 Blueprint for Part A: Section II — Functional Writing 13 Marking 14 Practice Writing Assignments 15 Practice Writing Assignment — Narrative/Essay Writing 16 Scoring Guide — Narrative/Essay Writing 18 Practice Writing Assignment — Functional Writing 23 Scoring Guide — Functional Writing 25 Part B: Reading 27 Development 27 Reading Blueprint 28 Practice Reading Questions 29 Key and Descriptors for Practice Reading Questions 39 Preparing Students for the Assessment 40 Part A: Writing 40 Part B: Reading 41 Three Business Letter Formats 42 Format of a B usiness Letter 43 Addressing an Envelope 44 Credits 45 Alberta Education Contact 45 Looking Back: Highlights of 1997 This information provides teachers, school administrators, and the public with an overview of the results for the June 1997 Grade 9 E nglish Language Arts Achievement Test. It complements the detailed school and jurisdiction reports. Who Wrote the Test? Acceptable Standard All students registered in Grade 9 w ere expected to write the 1997 English Language Arts Achievement Test. A t otal of 37 049 students completed the June 1997 assessment. This number reflects an increase of approximately 1 707 students over last years’ administration of the test. In 1997, only a small proportion of students in Grade 9 d id not write the test: 2.6% of students were absent, 3.7% of students Writing Reading Total were excused from writing by their superintendent, Standard of Excellence and an additional 2.5% of students wrote only one part of the test. What Was the Test Like? The test had two parts — Part A: Writing and Part B: Reading. Section / o f the Part A: Writing required students to read short literary selections and then write a narrative or essay in response to some aspect of the | A chievement Standards* readings that was identified in the assignment. □ A ctual Results** This writing was scored in five reporting categories: *the percentage of students in the province expected to meet the acceptable standard and Content, Organization, Sentence Structure, the standard of excellence Vocabulary, and Conventions. Content and Organization were weighted to be worth twice as **the percentage of students in the province who met the standards (based on those much as each of the other categories. who wrote) Section II of the Part A: Writing assignment required students to write a b usiness letter. This writing was scored in two reporting categories: Content and Content Management. These categories were weighted equally. Part B: Reading consisted of 55 multiple-choice questions based on reading selections that were either informational or narrative/poetic in nature. 1 How Well Did Students Do? of students meeting the acceptable standard was slightly lower than last year (0.9%), and As shown in the graphs on the previous the percentage of students meeting the page, on the Writing part of the test, 4.6% standard of excellence was 2.7% lower. more students than expected met the acceptable standard and 2.1% more students than expected met the standard of Commentary and Sample Questions excellence. On the Reading part of the test, from Grade 9 E nglish Language 4.1% fewer students than expected met the Arts Achievement Test 1997 acceptable standard , and 2.2% fewer students than expected met the standard of In the narrative/essay assignment, most excellence. For the total test, 1.6% more students clearly demonstrated the ability to students than expected met the acceptable explain their ideas well and to support them standard , b ut 3.7% fewer than expected met with appropriate details and/or anecdotes. the standard of excellence. Many students did not make much use of the planning page, apparently preferring to use In 15.2% of the schools, the percentage of the prompt as their outline. students meeting the acceptable standard for the total test was significantly above This was the second year that a f unctional provincial expectations. In 69.7% of the piece of writing was required in addition to schools, the percentage of students meeting the narrative/essay. Most students were able the acceptable standard was not to write letters employing a t one appropriate significantly different from provincial to their audience. However, many students expectations. In 15.1% of schools, the had a some difficulty sustaining the purpose percentage of students meeting the of the letter. Some teachers had expressed acceptable standard was significantly below concern that the existence of a number of provincial expectations. Schools where business letter formats might be confusing. fewer than five students wrote the Grade 9 In fact, most students were able to select a test are not included in these school format and apply it consistently. calculations. The following is a d iscussion of specific For detailed provincial results, refer to your areas of strength and weakness for students school reports. in Part B: Reading of the Grade 9 t est. Sample questions from the test are provided to highlight these areas for students meeting Has Achievement Changed Since the acceptable standard and for those Last Year? meeting the standard of excellence for reading. For each sample question, the For the total test, the percentage of students keyed answer is marked with an asterisk. meeting the acceptable standard was The passages on which these questions are slightly lower than last year (1.3%), while based are on pages 29 to 37 of this bulletin. the percentage of students meeting the These questions are no longer secured and standard of excellence was the same. On the will not be reused in 1997. Writing part of the test, the percentage of students meeting the acceptable standard was slightly lower than last year (0.6%), while the percentage of students meeting the standard of excellence was 4.3% higher. On the Reading part of the test, the percentage 2 Acceptable Standard In question 13, students had to locate key 13. Several references were made to “Giza” in this details in the passage. Of the students who article. “Giza” is an Egyptian met the acceptable standard but not the *A. city standard of excellence, 78% were able to do B. pharaoh this. C. pyramidologist D. measure 1 5. In lines 1 9 t o 21 , t he dramatist most likely In question 15, students had to draw a wishes to draw the reader’s attention to conclusion about characters by synthesizing Khlestakov’s information in the passage. Only 45% of students who met the acceptable standard *A. arrogance but not the standard of excellence answered B. humbleness this question correctly. C. state of hunger D. willingness to pay The strengths of students who met the acceptable standard but not the standard of excellence include the ability to • understand the relationship among details in a r eading selection • i dentify directly stated details of setting and character • i nfer the meaning of words and expressions from their context However, many of these students did not do as well as expected in • making judgements about character motivation by synthesizing information in a reading selection • understanding the author’s writing style and organizational methods • understanding poetic selections 3 Standard of Excellence Students meeting the standard of excellence had little difficulty with the following questions, which were more difficult for students meeting the acceptable standard but not the standard of excellence. In question 17, students had to draw a 17. In lines 23 to 34, Khlestakov is ridiculing the conclusion by synthesizing information in the passage. Of the students who met the *A. rural nobles standard of excellence, 76% answered the B. footman C. urban merchants question correctly. D. servant In question 25, students had to recognize 25. Which of the following lines best shows a contrast of ideas? the poet’s use of contrasting ideas. Of the students meeting the standard of excellence, 93% answered this question correctly. A. “Ring out a b rutal rhythm from black ice” (line 2) *B. “A gawky skater with a g odlike heel” (line 3) Students who met the standard of excellence C. “He springs into a f aster pace, and then” (line 9) had very few difficulties with this test. These students could D. “Far down the pastures, paper-white and pure” (line 10) • synthesize information from a selection to make inferences and judgements and to draw conclusions • make judgements about the author’s theme, purpose for writing, and tone • understand the author’s point of view • understand the poetic selections Reporting the Results On August 22, 1997, each school Two copies of an individual profile for each student will be sent to the school that the jurisdiction received, electronically, a district report and individual school reports student will attend in September. We expect that the Parent Copy will be given to parents regarding their students’ achievement, as well as guidelines for interpreting these and the School Copy will remain with the results in relation to provincial standards. student’s record. To facilitate reflection on school programs, we expect that results will be shared with all The following Achievement tests are secured: Grade 6 M athematics, 1995 school staff (not just teachers of grades 3, 6, ALL tests from 1996 and 1997 and 9), as well as with parents and the community. 4 Looking Ahead: What is Upcoming for 1998 General Information Purpose The purpose of the Achievement Testing Program is to • determine if students are learning what they are expected to learn • report to Albertans how well students have achieved provincial standards at given points in their schooling • assist schools, jurisdictions, and the province in monitoring and improving student learning Enhance Student Learning Enable Accountability Careful examination and interpretation of Alberta Education and school jurisdiction the results can help identify areas of personnel are responsible for ensuring relative strength and weakness in student that the highest quality education is achievement. Teachers and provided to all students in the province. administrators can use this information Information about achievement is in planning and delivering relevant and effective instruction in relation to broad, provided to • schools and jurisdictions general learnings in the Program of Studies. • parents • the public so that they may know how well students in their schools are meeting local targets and provincial expectations. Interpreting Results Achievement tests assess only part of what is to be learned. In addition, many factors contribute to student achievement. Personnel at the jurisdiction and school levels are in the best position to appropriately interpret, use, and communicate jurisdiction and school results in the local context. The Achievement Testing Program provides The assessments are based on provincial teachers, parents, students, school standards, which reflect important learnings in administrators, Alberta Education, and the the subject areas listed above. Classroom public with information about what students teachers from across the province are know and can do in relation to provincial extensively involved in developing and field standards. Group results are reported at testing the assessment instruments. school, district, and provincial levels to improve learning opportunities for students. Administering the Tests The assessments are administered in two subject areas at Grade 3 — language arts and Information about the nature of the provincial mathematics — and in four subject areas at assessments as well as their administration to grades 6 a nd 9 — language arts, mathematics, special needs students can be found in the social studies, and science. General Information Bulletin, Achievement Testing Program, which is mailed each fall to all superintendents and principals. 5 Schedule The schedule for administering achievement tests in the 1997-98 school year is mandated. January 1998 The January achievement tests for Grade 9 s chools on a semester system must be administered according to the following schedule: Wednesday, January 21 Grade 9 E nglish Language Arts Part A Thursday, January 22 Grade 9 S cience Friday, January 23 Grade 9 F ran9ais/French Language Arts Partie A Monday, January 26 Grade 9 E nglish Language Arts Part B Tuesday, January 27 Grade 9 M athematics Wednesday, January 28 Grade 9 S ocial Studies Thursday, January 29 Grade 9 F ran9ai s/French Language Arts Partie B May 1998 The written component of the language arts achievement tests for grades 3, 6, and 9 m ust be administered according to the following schedule: Tuesday, May 26 Grade 3 E nglish Language Arts Part A Grades 6 a nd 9 E nglish Language Arts Part A Thursday, May 28 Grades 6 a nd 9 F ran9ais/French Language Arts Partie A June 1998 The machine-scorable component of achievement tests for Grades 3, 6, and 9 m ust be administered according to the following schedule: Monday, June 15 Grade 3 E nglish Language Arts Part B Grade 6 E nglish Language Arts Part B Wednesday, June 17 Grade 3 M athematics Grade 6 M athematics Thursday, June 18 Grade 6 S ocial Studies Grade 9 F ran9ais/French Language Arts Partie B Friday, June 19 Grade 9 S cience Monday, June 22 Grade 6 S cience Grade 9 E nglish Language Arts Part B Tuesday, June 23 Grade 6 F ran9ais/French Language Arts Partie B Grade 9 M athematics Wednesday, June 24 Grade 9 S ocial Studies 6