3rd Grade Parent Night

Florida Standards Assessment (FSA)

January 22, 2015

Session Agenda

• What is the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA)?

• FSA Testing Dates

• FSA Test Length, Sessions, and Times

• Achievement Levels

• Promotion Requirements

• FSA Test Item Specifications

• How Can I Help My Child At Home?

What is the Florida Standards Assessment?

• The FSA is an authentic assessment that includes more than just multiple choice questions.

• Students will be expected to respond to multiple choice questions, create graphs, write and respond in different ways than on other traditional tests.

• The FSA will prepare Florida students for success in college, career, and in life by emphasizing analytical thinking.

• Measures student mastery of standards taught

• Meets high quality standards for assessment, including reliability and validity for a variety of accountability purposes

• Emphasizes critical thinking

Third Grade FSA Test Dates

English Language Arts (ELA)

ELA Session 1

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

ELA Session 2

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

ELA Make-Up Sessions:

April 2 – April 6, 2015

Mathematics

Mathematics Session 1

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Mathematics Session 2

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Mathematics Make-Up Sessions:

April 9 – April 10, 2015

*All dates are subject to change

ELA Sessions and Times

Florida Standards Assessment English Language Arts (Not Including the Writing Component)

Grade/Subject Administration Time Number of Sessions* Computer-Based in 2015

3-4 160 Minutes 2 No

5 160 Minutes 2 Yes

6-8 170 Minutes 2 Yes

*All sessions are administered over two (2) days.

Grade 3 will not be assessed in writing

ELA: Number of Test Items

Grade/Course Number of Items

3rd Grade 56-60

4th Grade 56-60

5th Grade 56-60

6th Grade 58-62

7th Grade 58-62

8th Grade 58-62

Note: Approximately 6-10 items within the Reading, Language, and Listening components listed above are experimental (field test)

items and are included in the ranges but are not included in students’ scores.

ELA: Number of Words per Passage

Grade Level Number of Words

3rd Grade 100-700

4th Grade 100-900

5th Grade 200-1,000

6th Grade 200-1,100

7th Grade 300-1,100

8th Grade 350-1,200

The length and complexity of texts should vary within each grade-level assessment. The table below

suggests an approximate word count range for a text or text set.

Mathematics: Sessions and Times

Florida Standards Assessment Mathematics

Grade/Subject Administration Time Number of Sessions* Computer-Based in 2015

3-4 160 Minutes 2 No

5 160 Minutes 2 Yes

6-8 180 Minutes 3 Yes

*All sessions are administered over two (2) days.

FSA Achievement Levels

• The success a student has achieved with the Florida Standards will be

assessed by FSA ELA and Mathematics assessments and is described by

Achievement Levels that range from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).

• Level 3 indicates satisfactory performance.

• The level of performance required to score in each Achievement Level will

be established prior to the Spring 2016 test administration.

Third Grade Promotion Requirements F.S.1008.25

To be promoted to fourth grade, a third-grade student must score a Level 2 or above on the statewide FSA-ELA.

Will students scoring a Level 1 on the grade 3 statewide FSA-ELA be retained?

• Third grade is the only grade at which there is state-mandated retention for public school students

• Florida Statute 1008.25 (5), requires that any third-grade student scoring Level 1 on the grade 3 statewide FSA-ELA be retained

• Some students may qualify for a good cause exemption and may be promoted to fourth grade

What promotion options are available to grade 3 students who have not achieved a Level 2 or above on the statewide FSA-ELA?

• Students who demonstrate an acceptable level of performance on a state-approved alternative standardized Reading or English Language Arts assessment

• Students who demonstrate, through the Third Grade Portfolio Assessment, that he or she is performing at least at Level 2 on targeted standards

Third Grade Portfolio Assessment

• More information will be communicated by the Florida Department of

Education (FLDOE) in February 2015

• Test Administration Window: February through May 2015

• FLDOE has not announced the targeted assessed standards

• Third Grade Portfolio will be used as Good Cause Promotion Criteria

Test Item Specifications Florida Standards Assessment: Grade 3

Editing Task Choice

Overall Task Description

• Includes a three- or four-paragraph passage with five to six grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.

• The first and the last sentences in the passage will not include errors.

• Students will edit the passage for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.

• The word(s) or phrases to be edited will be indicated by a highlight in the passage.

Editing Tasks with Choices (ETCs)

• Students will select the correct edit from

the options.

• One of the options will be the word or

phrase as it appears in the paragraphs.

• The other options should contain

common usage errors—errors authentic

to student work.

Evidence-Based Selected Response

Overall Task Description

• In this two-part item, the student is directed to select the correct answers from Part A and Part B.

• Typically Part A is multiple-choice, whereas Part B may be either multiple-choice or multiselect.

• Part A often asks the student to make an analysis or an inference, and Part B requires the student to use the text to support the answer in Part A.

Sample Test Item

Graphic Response Item Display (GRID)

Overall Task Description

• Requires student to model how

parts of a text interact with each

other.

• Requires the student to choose

key details or events into the

correct order to recount or

describe the text.

Sample Test Item

Multimedia

Overall Task Description

• Content may include multimedia

elements such as audio clips,

slideshows, or animations.

• Multimedia elements may be

presented when appropriate.

Sample Test Item

Multiselect

Overall Task Description

• The student is directed to select

all (or a specific number) of the

correct answers from among a

number of options.

• These items are different from

multiple-choice items, which allow

the student to select only one

correct answer.

Sample Test Item

Open Response

Overall Task Description

• Requires the student to describe in words using

explicit or implicit information from the text as

support.

• Requires the student to state details from the text

that can be used to support the central idea,

lesson, or moral of the passage.

• Requires the student to draw an inference about

characters and their actions or events in words and

support the inference with details from the text.

• Requires the student to provide details from the

text to describe a character and his/her actions or

an event, and determine how these descriptions or

events affect the text.

Sample Test Item

Hot Text and Two-Part Hot Text

Overall Task Description • Requires the student to select words and phrases

from different texts that demonstrate how the author treats themes and patterns of events.

• Requires the student to select words or phrases from the text that explicitly state the main idea.

• The student must fully synthesize multiple texts to determine how each passage is similar or different. The student must then provide textual evidence to support the selected answer [Two-Part Hot Text].

• Requires the student to select the main idea from the choices and then to select words or phrases from the text to support the selected main idea [Two-Part Hot Text].

Sample Test Item

Parent Resources

• www.fldoe.org

• www.justreadflorida.com

• www.FCRR.org

• www.fsassessments.org

• www.bealearninghero.org

• www.raisethebarparents.org

• www.achievethecore.org

How Can I Help My Child at Home?

Ask your child about their school day and visit their teacher’s website on a daily basis

Help infuse what is being learned in class at home

READ with your child at least 30 minutes each day. Students can then use books read at home to take tests at school using the Accelerated Reader (AR) program

Ask your child questions about what they read and prompt them to think critically by using text-based evidence

Use Digital Resources:• Power School• Discovery Education• Study Island• Think Central

Thank you for joining us!