Achievethecore.org :: Understand how college- and career-ready assessment is different

Understand how college- and career-ready assessment is different

All of the mini-assessments presented are designed to highlight one or more aspects of the ELA/literacy Shifts. Although aligned to the CCSS, these items also represent the demands of all college- and career- readiness standards in their call for close reading, appropriately complex texts, and use of evidence. The resources below explain what each of the Shifts look like in CCR-aligned assessment. Learn more about the ELA/literacy Shifts.

Complexity: Regular practice with Complex Text and its Academic Language

Evidence: Reading, Writing and Speaking Grounded in Evidence from Text, both Literary and Informational

Knowledge: Building Knowledge through Content-rich Nonfiction

These assessments are designed for teachers to use in the classroom or for professional learning. Below is a resource with illustrations of what the literacy Shifts look like in CCSS-aligned assessment. See examples of test questions, passages, and writing prompts and learn about what's different with CCSS assessment -- and why.
- Literacy Shifts in CCSS Assessment (PowerPoint)
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Teachers share stories of how their students are responding to shifts in assessment. New college- and career-ready standards are asking more of our students; here, teachers reflect on how aligned assessments support the hard work happening in classrooms and how students are rising to meet these higher expectations.
- Educator Perspectives: Common Core Aligned Assessment Video

Previous	CCR-Aligned
Little emphasis on text complexity	Strong emphasis on text complexity
Vocabulary questions often focused on prior knowledge rather than context; little emphasis on tier 2 words	Vocabulary questions focused on meaning of words in context; strong emphasis on tier 2 words and words important to central ideas
Figurative language questions focused on literary terms	Figurative language questions focused on meaning, not terms

Previous	CCR-Aligned
Focus on simple recall or superficial analysis	Focus on careful reading and analysis of texts
Little or no emphasis on using textual evidence	Strong emphasis on using textual evidence
Decontextualized writing prompts	Writing to sources

Previous	CCR-Aligned
Equal representation of informational and literary texts; limited focus on the quality of informational texts	More informational texts as students move through the grades; greater focus on content-rich informational texts at all grades