Oregon English Teacher Update #39
September/October 2012
Please Forward to K-12 ELA Colleagues.
Educators may sign up for this monthly e-newsletter (and other content teacher newsletters) at www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=1843. See past issues.
1. October is Literacy Month in Oregon
2. Let’s Go Common Core! Next Steps for Classroom Instruction
3. Visit the CCSS Implementation Toolkit for Teachers
4. REMINDER! CCSS Webinars for 2012-13
5. Teacher Nominations for CCSS Instructional Criteria Committee
6. CCSS ELA & Literacy Module 1 is Complete!
7. OAKS English Language Arts 2012-2013
8. Important change--2012-13 Writing Assessment Available for Eligible 12th Graders
9. English/Language Arts Local Performance Tasks (Work Samples)-
10. How to Submit Articles
11. ODE Resources
***As you may be aware, Julie Anderson retired as ODE’s English Language Arts Specialist. Based on the feedback that has been received about the usefulness of the ELA Update, we are continuing to try and publish it. In the future, submissions should be sent to Ken Hermens, ELA Assessment Specialist. See the “How to Submit Articles” item for more details.***
1. October is Information Literacy Month in Oregon
Governor Kitzhaber issued a proclamation establishing October 2012 as Information Literacy Month. That’s a term that gets used a lot, but what does it mean? Well, the American Library Association defines information literacy, in its simplest form, as “a set of abilities requiring individuals to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information.” Among other things, the American Association of School Librarians adds that to become independent learners in this area, “students must gain not only the skills but also the disposition to use those skills, along with an understanding of their own responsibilities and self-assessment strategies.”
With the month-long spotlight, this is a great chance to collaborate with your school library staff to develop lessons or secure resources that will help your students become information literate. This could range from learning to find and use primary sources to build content area knowledge and critical thinking skills to being reminded how to access Citation Maker on OSLIS for an easy way to cite sources used in research. Or, in the wake of common core, you could co-create a collection development plan for increasing and varying the informational texts in the school library that can provide good fodder for writing projects “that emphasize use of evidence to inform or to make an argument.” Ultimately, the idea is to work together to help students become information literate. If you have no library staff in your building, this presents an opportunity to decide who takes lead on this charge. Questions? Contact Jennifer Maurer, School Library Consultant at the Oregon State Library.
These are the links that are embedded in the article:
· proclamation: http://infolit.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Oregon-2012.pdf
· defines information literacy: http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/informationliteracycompetency
· American Association of School Librarians: http://www.ala.org/aasl/sites/ala.org.aasl/files/content/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/AASL_LearningStandards.pdf
· OSLIS: www.oslis.org
· common core: http://www.ode.state.or.us/wma/teachlearn/commoncore/common-core-shifts-ela.pdf
Jennifer Maurer:
2. Let’s Go Common Core! Next Steps for Classroom Instruction: A Half-Day Workshop for K-12 Educators Sponsored by Concordia University for $50
Presenter: Penny Plavala, Literacy Consultant
With a solid understanding of the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts, teachers are now asking, “What steps are needed to integrate the standards into my classroom instruction?” In this engaging and practical workshop, participants will review vital instructional shifts required by the Common Core and learn more about the Smarter Balanced Assessment.
· Discover the reading and writing demands of a Common Core classroom
· Learn three instructional shifts required by the new standards
· Review how the Common Core State Standards will be assessed
· Make connections to your classroom instruction
Saturday, November 3, 2012, 8:00 am – Noon
Hagen Event Center • Concordia University
2811 Northeast Holman Street•Portland, OR 97211
• $50 registration fee includes continental breakfast and handouts
• Audience: K-5 classroom teachers, 6-12 Language Arts Teachers, Title One, ESL, Special Ed., Administrators
Online registration required www.cu-portland.edu/commoncore
For more information about this event, please contact: Jane Koivisto 503-493-6219
3. Visit the CCSS Implementation Toolkit for Teachers
The Implementation section of the Teacher CCSS Toolkit is now live on the web. For the Awareness and Transition phases, the toolkit was organized around the six shifts which describe the major changes in instruction that need to occur to support students in their attainment of the Common Core.
For Implementation, the toolkit is organized around the four claims. Smarter Balanced (the common assessment that all students will take in 2014-15) has established four “claims” regarding what students should know and be able to do to demonstrate readiness for college and career in English Language Arts and Mathematics. For each claim, teachers will find resources in the toolkit to support:
· Unit and Lesson Design
· Instruction
· Assessment
A webinar has been archived on the ODE webinar web page http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=3750 that provides an in-depth tour of the teacher toolkit. Come see what this section of the toolkit has to offer! www.ode.state.or.us/go/ccsstoolkit
4. REMINDER! CCSS Webinars for 2012-13
ODE is continuing its CCSS webinar series in 2012-13. While topics and dates have not been set for the entire series, the following webinars have been scheduled:
October 16 – Smarter Balanced 101: The Foundation
November 13 – Smarter Balanced 102: Performance Tasks
All webinars will run from 3:00-4:00 and will be recorded for later viewing. Information about joining the September webinars is posted on ODE’s Calendar Events Registration web page at http://www.ode.state.or.us/news/events/.
Contacts: Cheryl Kleckner, Education Specialist at or 503947-5794 or Mickey Garrison, Director of Data Literacy at or 541-580-1201.
5. Teacher Nominations for CCSS Instructional Criteria Committee
The Oregon Department of Education is looking for nominations of teachers, curriculum specialists, and others who have interest and experience in CCSS English Language Arts and Literacy and English Language Development and Proficiency to participate in the development of instructional materials criteria. Travel and substitute costs will be reimbursed.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Oregon Department of Education
Basement Room A
Nomination Recommendation Form https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NMBTQQ7 (to be completed by a superintendent or principal)
Nominee Acceptance Form https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NMVT9DQ (to be completed if you have been recommended by a superintendent or principal)
Contacts: Drew Hinds, Instructional Materials Specialist, , 503-947-5799 or Paula Merritt, Administrative Specialist at or 503-947-5746.
6. CCSS ELA & Literacy Module 1 is Complete!
The final two sessions that complete English Language Arts & Literacy Module 1 (Text-based Answers and Writing from Sources) are now online. Each of the 45 minute sessions include a Facilitator’s Guide, a PowerPoint presentation, and handouts for session activities.
All six ELA sessions can be found at http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=3454.
Module 1 for Mathematics is also available and can be found online at http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=3406.
Contact: Sarah Martin, Instructional Resources Specialist at or 503-947-5668.
7. OAKS English/Language Arts 2012-2013
No Content or Cut Score Changes for OAKS Reading and Literature and Writing in 2012-2013: The content standards and achievement standards (cut scores) will continue to be the same for reading and writing in 2012-2013.The 2012-2013 OAKS Reading and Literature and Writing will be based on the content standards that were adopted in 2002-2003. The 2012-2013 Achievement Standards are the same as 2011-2012 (http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=3182):
OAKS Reading and Literature / Achievement LevelGrade Level / Nearly Meets / Meets / Exceeds
3rd Grade / 204 / 211 / 224
4th Grade / 210 / 216 / 226
5th Grade / 214 / 221 / 230
6th Grade / 217 / 226 / 237
7th Grade / 222 / 229 / 241
8th Grade / 226 / 232 / 242
High School / 232 / 236 / 247
High School / 35 / 40 / 50
8. Important change--2012-13 Writing Assessment Available for Eligible 12th Graders:
During the 2011 legislative session, in response to budgetary restrictions, the Oregon Legislature voted to suspend funding for the state writing test at grades 4 and 7 and to restrict eligibility to take the high school writing test to 11th grade students who had not yet met or exceeded the writing standard.
ODE has collaborated with partners in the Legislature to expand eligibility for the high school Writing assessment to include 12th grade students who have not yet met or exceeded the standard. This change also applies to the Extended Writing Assessment. For 2012-13, there is no change to the testing of 11th grade students in writing; they will still have one opportunity to be assessed in either the winter or the spring test window. Eligible 12th grade students may take the writing test (either online or paper based) once during the winter test window. 12th graders will not be allowed to test in writing during the spring test window. Districts administering the paper-based assessment may order tests for eligible 12th grade students through the Test Information Distribution Engine (TIDE) during the winter writing order window, which runs from October 18 – December 10, 2012.
All high school writing tests will be scored by at least two raters. While this expansion provides an additional means for students to demonstrate their proficiency in writing, ODE strongly encourages districts to continue administering work samples to 12th graders who have not yet met their Essential Skill requirement in this area. Scores from the winter writing test window will not be available until mid-April, so districts would be wise to have students complete at least one passing work sample before the results are returned.
On a related note, ODE anticipates being able to add back 4th and 7th grade writing in the 2013-15 biennium. More information on this will be provided next spring.
2012-2013 Reading and Writing Test Specifications and Blueprints-New and Improved: The 2012-2013 Reading and Literature and Writing Test Specifications and Blueprints are now posted on the ODE website. This is a valuable tool for educators because it not only states assessable content and vocabulary, but it also explains how the test is designed, developed, and scored. Also included in the document are sample item stems for each of the different standards. (http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=496).
2012-2013 OAKS Online Practice Tests: Before schools and districts administer the official assessment to their students, ODE highly recommends that students be given the online practice assessment for each subject. The online practice assessments allow students to become familiar with the testing environment. (www.oaks.k12.or.us)
9. English/Language Arts Local Performance Tasks (Work Samples)-
In June 2008, the State Board of Education adopted OAR 581-022-0615: Assessment of Essential Skills. This rule requires school districts and public charter schools to administer local performance assessments on an annual basis to all students in Grades 3 through 8 and once in high school in the following skill areas: Writing, Reading, Speaking, Mathematical Problem Solving, and Scientific Inquiry. Local performance assessment in social sciences is optional.
Official work sample scoring guides for all subjects can be found on the Oregon Department of Education website (http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=32). Additional information in regard to how students can meet the Essential Skills requirement for both reading and writing can be accessed at http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=2042.
English/Language Arts Work Sample Resources
Reading, Writing and Speaking Student Language Scoring Guides (English/Spanish): Sample student language scoring guides are now available for middle and high school reading (informational text and literary text), K-8 and high school speaking and grade 4, grade 7 and high school writing. The scoring guides can be accessed at the following link on the ODE website: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?=2667. The sample student language scoring guides that have been translated into Spanish are now also available.
English/Language Arts Work Sample Tasks with Student Work: Work samples will more effectively support student learning when they are integrated systematically into the district curriculum and are also part of the classroom instruction. For example, when they are used to help summarize a unit of study or extending the concepts presented, work samples can be a natural part of classroom practices and be offered many times during the school year.
(Reading: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?=515)
(Writing: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?=524)
DISCS: The Dynamic Integrated Scoring Calibration Systems (DISCS) is an online scoring guide training tool designed to aid educators in calibrating to the Oregon Official Scoring Guides in the Essential Skills of Reading, Writing and Mathematics. This valuable resource can be accessed at (http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?=2715).
10. How to Submit Articles
If you or your colleagues would like to submit articles to this publication, please email publication-ready articles for the Oregon English Language Arts Teacher Update by the last working day of the month to Please include links and contact information, but no attachments. The newsletter will be posted and e-mailed early each month. Please forward this newsletter to any interested educators who might want to submit articles of interest to Oregon English teachers.
11. ODE Resources
Stay connected and informed with the Superintendent's Pipeline: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=684
Past issues of English Teacher Update: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?=1876
Oregon K-12 Literacy Framework: http://www.ode.state.or.us/go/literacyframework
English Language Arts Announcements: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=8
English Language Arts Content Standards: http://www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/real/newspaper/Newspaper_Section.aspx?subjectcd=el
Oregon Achievement Standards: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=223
Scoring Guides: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=32
Content Area Teacher Newsletters: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=1843
State Adopted Instructional Materials for English Language Arts : To see the list of adopted materials, go to http://www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/instructionalmaterials/englishlangarts.pdf For publisher representative information, go to http://www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/instructionalmaterials/pubrepelarts.pdf
ODE English Language Arts web pages:
English Language Arts “landing” page: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/results/?id=8