Test Specifications
Contents
Language Arts Literacy
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Overview of the Assessments - p. 2
The language arts literacy component of New Jersey's statewide assessments is an integrated, project-oriented unit through which students draw upon their speaking, listening, writing, reading, and viewing experiences to think, to learn, to communicate, and to create original work. As with most instructional materials that are familiar to students, the language arts assessments provide a variety of texts, illustrations, and activities that are intended to engage and sustain student interest in the content and sequence of assessment topics and tasks. Content Clusters
. Speaking . Reading . Listening . Viewing . Working with or interpreting text . Analyzing/critiquing text . Extending understanding of text
Students will encounter performance-based tasks for speaking
and writing, as well as multiple-choice and open-ended items
for reading, listening, and viewing. The assessments will also
present a variety of visual and aural materials and formats
that students will use to construct meaning as they speak, listen,
write, read, and view. Additionally, in a culminating activity,
students will extend their understanding of text as they draw
upon their reading to develop and Administration Demonstration of Abilities
Working with Text (ESPA) - Interpreting Text (GEPA and HSPA)Scoring In all three assessments, students will encounter multiple-choice and open-ended items for reading, listening, and viewing. Most open-ended items will ask students to write a paragraph or more in response. However, for fourth-grade students, at least one open-ended question will require students to work with a graphic organizer. For all three tests, students' responses to open-ended items will be scored using the 0- to 4-point Open-Ended Scoring Rubric (or scoring scale) designed to measure students' levels of understanding. Each open-ended question has specific requirements that guide use of the rubric to score student responses. Writing and speaking tasks will be scored using holistic scoring rubrics developed specifically to assess students' performance in each of those activities. Each writing sample will be scored on a 0-to 6-point scale, the New Jersey Registered Holistic Scoring Rubric, which is designed to assess essential features of good writing. Eighth- and eleventh-grade students will also be asked to revise and edit a student text that presents errors in sentence structure, usage, and mechanics as well as problems in content and organization. Students will be expected to read through the student text and decide on their own what they need to do to correct the errors and to improve the meaning and clarity of the text. The students' revisions and editing will be scored using a holistic scoring rubric, Revising/Editing Scoring Guide. For the speaking component of all three assessments, students' oral presentations will be scored with the New Jersey Speaking Rubric, which is a 0-to 4-point scale that focuses on content/organization and on delivery. Students will have 60 minutes to prepare a speech on a given topic. What students do to develop their ideas for their presentation is a matter of individual choice. Students may opt to prepare notes, an outline, a full written text, and/or visual aids to support their speaking. Schools will provide students with the materials they need to complete the task. One section of the assessment, Extending Understanding of the Text, is designed as an integrated unit based on a central idea or theme. Students taking the fourth-grade ESPA will read an informational article, respond to multiple-choice and open-ended items, and complete a writing project. Students taking the eighth-grade GEPA and the eleventh-grade HSPA will be given both informational and everyday texts. For all three assessments, students will be expected to use information from the reading selection(s) to complete a text-linked writing project. As they work on their project, students will make decisions, solve problems, and create original work that may include visual materials as well as their own written text. Students' writing projects will be scored using the 0- to 5-point Extending Understanding Scoring Rubric, which is designed to assess students' abilities to apply and extend their understanding of the text. Scoring Rubrics for ESPA, GEPA, and HSPA
The matrix on the following pages shows the content clusters and cognitive skills assessed in the Language Arts Literacy component of the ESPA, GEPA, and HSPA. Although the matrix provides a two-dimensional classification that can be used to categorize certain test items in a single cell, the activities inviting students to generate their own text (writing and speaking) will be scored holistically and thus will encompass more than one cell of the matrix. One part of the assessment. Extending Understanding of the Text, combines both cell-specific multiple-choice and open-ended items and a holistically scored project. |
