FYI: The ELA State Test

Reading 

To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students:

• must read widely and deeply from among a broad range of high-quality, increasingly challenging literary and informational texts. Through extensive reading of stories, dramas, poems, and myths from diverse cultures and different time periods, students gain literary and cultural knowledge as well as familiarity with various text structures and elements (Shift 1: Balancing Informational & Literary Text; Shift 2: Knowledge in the Disciplines; Shift 3: Staircase of Complexity). 

By reading texts in history/social studies, science, and other disciplines, students:

• build a foundation of knowledge in these fields that will also give them the background to be better readers in all content areas. Students can only gain this foundation when the curriculum is intentionally and coherently structured to develop rich content knowledge within and across grades. Students also acquire the habits of reading independently and closely, which are essential to their future success (Shift 1: Balancing Informational & Literary Text; Shift 2: Knowledge in the Disciplines; Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary).

Writing 

To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students need to:

• learn to use writing as a way of offering and supporting opinions, demonstrating an understanding of the subjects they are studying, and conveying real and imagined experiences and events (Shift 2: Knowledge in the Disciplines; Shift 5: Writing from Sources);
• learn to appreciate that a key purpose of writing is to communicate clearly to an external, sometimes unfamiliar audience, and begin to adapt the form and content of their writing to accomplish a particular task and purpose (Shift 4: Text-based Answers; Shift 5: Writing from Sources); and
• develop the capacity to build knowledge on a subject through research projects and to respond analytically to literary and informational sources (Shift 2: Knowledge in the Disciplines; Shift 5: Writing from Sources).

Language

To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students:

• must gain control over many conventions of standard English grammar, usage, and mechanics, as well as learn other ways to use language to convey meaning effectively;
• must also be able to determine or clarify the meaning of grade-appropriate words encountered through listening, reading, and media use (Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary); and
• come to appreciate that words have non-literal meanings, shadings of meaning, and relationships to other words, and expand their vocabulary in the course of studying content (Shift 6: Academic Vocabulary).

Speaking and Listening

To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students:

• must have ample opportunities to take part in a variety of rich, structured conversations—as part of a whole class, in small groups, and with a partner. To be productive members of these conversations requires that students contribute accurate, relevant information (Shift 4: Text-based Answers);
• respond to and develop what others have said; and
• make comparisons and contrasts, analyzing and synthesizing a multitude of ideas in various domains (Shift 2: Knowledge in the Disciplines)