ACT Aspire Reading: Quick Facts
- ACT notes that a student’s score on the Reading portion of the Aspire is indicative of how well he/she will do in social science classes in college.
- The Reading score is NOT a reflection of how well only the ELA teachers taught.
- Reading is also to be heavily taught in science and social science courses.
- The ELA portion of the ACT Aspire reveals the student’s knowledge of grammatical practices.
CCRS + DOK = ACT Aspire
What is DOK (Depth of Knowledge)?
ACT Aspire Teaching Resources (highly recommended)
- http://actaspire.pearson.com/exemplars.html
- ACT Aspire has developed two resources designed to help students, parents, educators, and policymakers become familiar with ACT Aspire test presentation and content. These resources, the Student Sandbox and the Exemplar Test Question Booklets, illustrate the different types of test questions and formats found in both paper-based and computer-based testing modes.
- http://www.discoveractaspire.org/assessments/test-items/
- This resource contains exemplars for all grades and content areas. It also presents a reading passage and the sequence number, grade, question type, DOK level, alignment to the ACT Aspire reporting categories, and correct response for each question. Each question is accompanied by an explanation of the question and the correct response as well as improvement idea statements for ACT Aspire Reading.
- This site also presents a sample writing prompt for each grade level, a written explanation of the task, a task-specific scoring rubric, and improvement ideas. The sample task has been developed to DOK level 3.
- http://www.engageny.org/
- This site contains sample writing prompts, actual student written responses, and a rubric and an explanation of why the student scored what he/she scored.
- I would suggest having the students view these actual student responses and use the rubric provided to score it themselves in order to understand the scoring process. ( https://www.engageny.org/resource/sample-student-work-from-the-2013-nys-ela-common-core-test )
- This site contains sample writing prompts, actual student written responses, and a rubric and an explanation of why the student scored what he/she scored.
Question: What percentage of questions on the ACT Aspire is DOK Level 4?
Answer: 0%
Question: Then why do we teach DOK Level 4 lessons/activities/questions?
Answer: We teach DOK Level 4 because if a student can master DOK Level 4 material, then he/she can master DOK Levels 1, 2 and 3!
Answer: 0%
Question: Then why do we teach DOK Level 4 lessons/activities/questions?
Answer: We teach DOK Level 4 because if a student can master DOK Level 4 material, then he/she can master DOK Levels 1, 2 and 3!
DOK Level 1
DOK Level 2
DOK Level 3
DOK Level 4
ACT Aspire Timing in Minutes | Difficulty vs. Rigor |
Question: Why is the reading portion so much longer than the ELA and writing portions? Is it more important?
Answer: The reading and math portions of the ACT Aspire are given the most amount of time. These two assessments are part of a major component of Plan 2020's Accountability Model.
*Attaining a benchmark score on the reading and math portions of the ACT is an indicator on ALSDE's Plan 2020 that a student is college- and career-ready. The goal is to decrease the number of students requiring remedial courses in reading and math in two- or four- year colleges.
Answer: The reading and math portions of the ACT Aspire are given the most amount of time. These two assessments are part of a major component of Plan 2020's Accountability Model.
*Attaining a benchmark score on the reading and math portions of the ACT is an indicator on ALSDE's Plan 2020 that a student is college- and career-ready. The goal is to decrease the number of students requiring remedial courses in reading and math in two- or four- year colleges.
Sources:
Alabama Reading Initiative- In the Coaches' Corner Training Module
Common Core Institute, 2013
Presentation and research by Dr. Stephanie Ledbetter, Instructional Coach, Monrovia Middle School
www.engageNY.org
ALSDE's Plan 2020
Alabama Reading Initiative- In the Coaches' Corner Training Module
Common Core Institute, 2013
Presentation and research by Dr. Stephanie Ledbetter, Instructional Coach, Monrovia Middle School
www.engageNY.org
ALSDE's Plan 2020