A Question, a Shark, and a Scream in the Dark

Halloween came early for me this year.  I was dressed in my assistant principal costume and attending a professional development session in Central Office.  Dr. Schauna Findley was leading our work, and she put up a series of questions labeled “2015-2016 Possible Prototypes.”  These are exemplar questions of the type likely to be on our new school accountability tests.

You saw these several weeks ago in a presentation Matt gave during our PD time:

Even though you saw these last week, that doesn't make them any less scary.  Think of Jaws.  The music starts.  The tension builds.  You know the great white shark is going to attack, but that doesn't lessen the tension.  In fact, it increases it.  Or think of walking through a haunted house.  You know someone is going to jump out and scream.  The anticipation and wait is just as scary as the actual event. 

These kinds of questions are coming.  We don’t know exactly when or how they will appear, but they are “out there” waiting for us in the dark.

Close Reading: The Text and the Prompt

Let me tell you why I’m a bit frightened.  These questions have a whole different look and very different instructions.  Our students have taken so many tests in their school careers that they think they know exactly what is being asked and don’t need to read carefully.

When our students come to questions like these, what will they assume they are being asked to do? What are they actually being asked to do?

Try it for yourself.  Go back up and take a quick look at question #1.  Without reading the prompt carefully, what do you assume you are supposed to do in order to answer this question?  Now complete a careful reading of the same question prompt below with just a few words highlighted.  I marked words which refer to numbers in red in order to help with close reading.

The article shows that understanding plant DNA offers many advantages to plant growers and scientists. To complete the chart below, first select the two statements from the left column that are advantages of understanding plant DNA.

Then, drag and drop one quotation from the list of possible supporting evidence into the “Supporting Evidence” column to provide textual support for each advantage you selected. You will not use all of the statements from the box titled “Possible Supporting Evidence.”

The students are not asked to fill in each box with supporting evidence.  Rather, they are to pick the correct two answers and provide supporting evidence for only those two.  Be honest.  How many of your students will take the time to read the prompt carefully? 

Cue the Music from Jaws

How about number 2?  Here is the prompt:

Choose two quotations, one from each letter, that provide evidence for the claim made by both Abigail and John Adams.  Drag each quotation into the appropriate box.

That seems straight forward.  Now do a close reading.  Do you know what a “claim” is?  (Do all of our students?)  Look carefully at the boxes.  Did you catch on first glance that the top box is for John Adams and the bottom is for Abigail?   Notice that the quotations are listed with Abigail’s letter on the left-hand column.  Would students likely drag quotations to the wrong boxes?  Would you?  Are you hearing the music from Jaws yet, or are feeling the tension of waiting for the first scream?

My point is twofold.  First, these new tests are going to have different formats than what our students are used to.  Besides “drag and drop,” students are going to have multiple choice questions with six to ten options.  Students may have to choose one, two, or more correct answers and then justify their choices.  They are going to have to use close reading skills for understanding the text and for understanding the prompt.

Secondly, we don’t need to panic--yet.  Just like walking through a haunted house at Halloween or watching a scary movie, we can prepare ourselves—and our students—for the unexpected.  We can shine a light in the dark corners, and we can listen to the music being played to help them know when, to paraphrase Ray Bradbury, “something frightening this way comes.” 

In the coming weeks I want to take a look at what action steps we can take—and are taking—in order to make sure our students get the treat rather than the trick when they take the new Graduation Qualifying Exams and the Revised SAT.

Welcome to October, HSE.  I hope your week is frighteningly wonderful.

Phil