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New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP)
Professional Development Materials for Reading and Writing
- Introduction
- About the Sample Items
- About the Sample Item Annotations
- About the Reading Passages
- About the Scoring Guides and Rubrics
- About the Use of these Materials
- Professional Development Materials Development Committee
The NECAP Professional Development Materials for Reading and Writing have been developed by content specialists at the New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont Departments of Education in partnership with the Education Development Center (EDC) and the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment (NCIEA). The purpose of these professional development materials is to illustrate how the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) assesses reading and writing in grades 3-8 on its annual test. The sample items serve as a guide to the types of items that appear on the NECAP assessment and are accompanied by annotations intended to be helpful to educators. The formatting, style, and wording of the individual items parallel the actual NECAP assessment items across different grade levels.
About the sample items
Although the individual items are samples of NECAP assessment items, these
samples do not comprise a practice test. These sample items are not released
items from the NECAP assessment, nor are they meant to represent or replicate
an actual NECAP assessment. In some cases, there are “choices”
of items presented, such as two or more items asking about the same content
in slightly different ways or using different formats for the same content
(e.g., first as a multiple choice item and then as a constructed response
item). This duplication of items with the same specific content does not
occur in the actual NECAP assessment.
The NECAP professional development materials do not include items for every GLE at each grade level nor do they provide every way to assess performance on a GLE. These items illustrate what items assessing certain GLEs might look like at different grade levels. There was an effort to develop sample items with a focus on the GLE wording that was “newly introduced” (underlined) at a particular grade level.
About the item annotations
Annotations appear with each sample item. The annotations are intended to
inform educators about the ways individual items are aligned to different
aspects of the GLEs and about the intended cognitive demand (DOK) of each
item. The annotations include the GLE assessed, the item type, the item
answer key (if multiple choice), and the depth of knowledge (DOK) level.
(See
Appendix: Norman Webb’s Depth of Knowledge Levels for Reading and
Writing.)
A sample end of grade 2 (assessed in fall of grade 3) reading item and
a sample end of grade 4 (assessed in fall of grade 5) writing item are included
on the following page with their annotations. If only part of the GLE wording
is included, that means that only part of GLE is tested with this item.
If multiple GLEs are being assessed, which is common with writing items,
multiple GLEs are listed. GLE underlining corresponds to concepts and skills
introduced at this grade level for the first time.
IMPORTANT REMINDER: Note that GLEs listed are for the grade prior to the
grade tested, since the NECAP is an assessment given in the fall of the
school year.
End
of grade 2 Reading GLEs are used to assess students in fall of grade 3.
This means, for example, that teachers teaching in grade 3, can use the
END OF grade 2 materials to understand what their third graders will be
tested on in the fall and END OF grade 3 materials to provide grade 3
instruction throughout the school year. |
Passage-Related Reading Items for
Literary Text: “Ant’s Journey” |
||
| Sample Reading Items for
End of Grade 2 |
Information
about the Items |
|
| 3. Read these lines from the poem.
What does the word scurry mean? |
Key: A R-2-2.1
(use context) Alignment to GLE R-2-2.1: Students identify the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary by… Using strategies to unlock meaning (e.g., knowledge of word structure or context clues) Depth of Knowledge: Level 2 - Use context cues to
identify the meaning of unfamiliar words |
|
Sample end of grade 4 writing item with annotation
W-4-3: Response to Literary Text Passage - “Knoxville, Tennessee”
1. Follow along as the poem is read to you. Then write a paragraph describing the speaker’s feelings about summer. Use details from the poem in your response.
End
of grade 4 Writing GLEs are used to assess students in fall of grade 5. |
| Item Type: CR – response to passage - - “Knoxville,
Tennessee” Grade Level: end of
grade 4 Alignment to GLEs
|
About the reading passages
As in the NECAP assessment, the reading passages come from authentic texts,
including an assortment of types and topics within the literary and informational
text categories. They are published works, similar to the ones students
encounter in the classroom and on the NECAP assessment. Some passages were
used for sample items at more than one grade level to show how to assess
different knowledge or skills appropriate to those grade levels (as described
in the GLEs). This approach – to use texts at multiple grade levels
- models good classroom instruction. However, in the NECAP assessment, passages
are used for assessment purposes in one grade only. And, while the actual
NECAP assessment conducts a bias and sensitivity review of all passages
used in the assessment, no bias and sensitivity review was conduced on the
passages included in these materials.
Text complexity descriptors
specific to each reading passage used in these materials are included with each
passage. An example from the grade 5 reading materials is provided below.
Supplemental Information about
Text Passages Used for End of Grade 4 |
||
| Title of Passage | Text Type | Text Descriptors |
| “The Best Summer Night Is…”
by Jill Esbaum |
Literary
Poetry |
|
| “A Brick to Cuddle up To,”
from Highlights for Children |
Informational
Historical |
|
(For more information about “Increasing Text Complexity,” see NECAP Reading GLEs Grades 3-8 – Appendix F. For more information about Suggested Informational and Literary Texts, see NECAP Reading GLEs Grades 3-8 – Appendix A.)
About the scoring guides and rubrics
IMPORTANT NOTE: Rubrics for these materials
are still under development and will be included as soon as they become
available.
A generic rubric for reading is included as a guide. In the actual NECAP
assessment, each reading rubric is item-specific, meaning that it will include
more specific information than the one included here. Also included are
generic writing rubrics for both the constructed and extended response items.
In the actual NECAP scoring of both reading and writing, the rubrics are
always accompanied by professional development for scorers which includes:
specific training notes, benchmarks (student samples taken from the NECAP
assessment administration), and on-going calibration for reliability.
About use of these materials
These NECAP professional development materials may be duplicated and used
for professional development and by teachers in the classroom with their
students. For assistance in planning your professional development
activities or for more information about the NECAP assessments, contact
your state department of education. (See contact information for departments
of education below.)
Professional Development Materials
Development Committee
Departments of Education Content Specialists
Linda Stimson, New Hampshire Department of Education - lstimson@ed.state.nh.us
Betsey Hyman, Rhode Island Department of Education - ride8252@ride.ri.net
Jackie Bourassa, Rhode Island Department of Education - rid05143@ride.ri.net
Diane Girard, Rhode Island Department of Education - rid00859@ride.ri.net
Marty Gephart, Vermont Department of Education - martygephart@education.state.vt.us
Lindy Johnson, Vermont Department of Education - lindyjohnson@education.state.vt.us
Item Development Specialist, Christina Felix
Project Director, Karin Hess, Center for Assessment
| Grade 2 Reading GLEs Grade 3 Reading GLEs Grade 4 Reading GLEs Grade 5 Reading GLEs |
Grade 6 Reading GLEs Grade 7 Reading GLEs Grade 8 Reading GLEs |
| Grade 4 Writing GLEs Grade 7 Writing GLEs |
|