ACTReading for leanning english

The guide includes: ■ A description of the College Readiness Standards for the ACT® ■ A description of the ACT Reading Test ■ A set of sample test questions ■ A description of the Asse

For Language Arts Teachers/ Reading

ACT endorses the Code of Fair Testing Practices in

Education and the Code of Professional Responsibilities

in Educational Measurement, guides to the conduct of

those involved in educational testing ACT is committed

to ensuring that each of its testing programs upholds the

guidelines in each Code

A copy of each Code may be obtained free of charge

from ACT Customer Services (68), P.O Box 1008,

Iowa City, IA 52243-1008, 319/337-1429

Visit ACT’s website at: www.act.org

T ABLE OF C ONTENTS

Introduction 1

The College Readiness Standards Report for ACT Reading 2

Description of the College Readiness Standards 5

Description of the ACT Reading Test 16

The Need for Thinking Skills 18

Thinking Your Way Through the ACT Test 25

The Assessment-Instruction Link 29

Using Assessment Information to Help Support Low-Scoring Students 31

Instructional Activities for ACT Reading 55

Putting the Pieces Together 66

Bibliography 67

Appendix: Passages Corresponding to Sample Test Questions 73

List of Tables 1 The College Readiness Standards for the ACT Reading Test 8

2 ACT Reading Test Content Areas 16

3 ACT Sample Test Questions by Score Range 19

4 College Readiness Benchmark Scores 30

5 The Link Between ACT Composite Scores and

ACT has developed this guide to help classroom

teachers, curriculum coordinators, and counselors

interpret the College Readiness StandardsTMreport for

ACT Reading The guide includes:

■ A description of the College Readiness

Standards for the ACT®

■ A description of the ACT Reading Test

■ A set of sample test questions

■ A description of the

Assessment-Instruction Link

■ A set of classroom instructional activities

The College Readiness Standards for the ACT are

statements that describe what students who score in

the six score ranges 13–15, 16–19, 20–23, 24–27,

28–32, and 33–36 on the multiple-choice tests and in

the five score ranges 3–4, 5–6, 7–8, 9–10, and 11–12

on the Writing Test are likelyto know and to be able to

do The statements are generalizations based on the

performance of many students College Readiness

Standards have not been developed for students

whose scores fall in the 1–12 range for the

multiple-choice tests and at score point 2 for the Writing Test

because these students, as a group, do not

demonstrate skills similar to each other consistently

enough to permit useful generalizations

The College Readiness Standards for the ACT are

accompanied by ideas for progress that help

teachers identify ways of enhancing students’ learning

based on the scores students receive

The College Readiness Standards Information

Services provide six aggregate reports for the ACT

Five of these reports are content specific: each

presents the scores of your most recent graduates in

one of the five content areas the ACT test measures—

English, Mathematics, Reading, Science, and Writing.These five content-specific reports present the ACTresults using ACT’s College Readiness Standards.The sixth report, the Summary Profile, summarizes thescores, across all five content areas, of your mostrecent graduating class who tested as tenth, eleventh,

or twelfth graders All six reports provide data thatcompare the performance of your school’s mostrecent graduating class with the performance of twonorm groups: national and state The data in thereports reflect the characteristics of those studentswho either took the ACT on a national test date or aspart of a state testing initiative and who reported thatthey plan to graduate from high school during themost recent academic year

The ACT is a curriculum-based assessmentprogram developed by ACT to help students preparefor the transition to postsecondary education whileproviding a measure of high school outcomes forcollege-bound students As part of ACT’s EducationalPlanning and Assessment System (EPASTM), the ACT

is complemented by EXPLORE®, ACT’s eighth- andninth-grade program, and by PLAN®, for tenthgraders We hope this guide helps you assist yourstudents as they plan and pursue their future studies

“The role of standardized testing

is to let parents, students, and institutions know what students are ready to learn next.”

— Ralph Tyler, October 1991

T HE C OLLEGE R EADINESS S TANDARDS

The College Readiness Standards report for ACT

Reading allows you to compare the performance of

students in your school with the performance of

students at the national and state levels The report

provides summary information you can use to map

the development of your students’ knowledge and

skills in reading Used along with your own classroom

observations and with other resources, the test results

can help you to analyze your students’ progress in

reading and to identify areas of strength and areas

that need more attention You can then use the

Standards as one source of information in the

instructional planning process

A sample report appears on the next page

An explanation of its features is provided below

This section briefly explains the uses of the

report to help you interpret the test results

These are the seven score ranges reported for

the College Readiness Standards for the ACT To

determine the number of score ranges and the width

of each score range, ACT staff reviewed normative

data, college admission criteria, and information

obtained through ACT’s Course Placement Service

For a more detailed explanation of the way the score

ranges were determined, see page 5

This section compares the percent of

graduating seniors who tested as tenth,

eleventh, or twelfth graders and who scored in a

particular score range at an individual school (Local)

with the percent of all graduating students in the

national and state norm groups who scored in the

same range The percent of students at the local

school and for the national and state groups are

based on the performance of students who either took

the ACT on a national test date or as part of a state

testing initiative and who reported that they plan to

graduate from high school during the most recent

academic year The number of local school students

who scored in each of the seven score ranges is

the total number of graduating students tested locally

is provided at the top of the report

The College Readiness Standards weredeveloped by identifying the knowledge andskills students need in order to respond successfully

to questions on the ACT Reading Test As you reviewthe report for ACT Reading, you will note that theStandards are cumulative, which means that ifstudents score, for example, in the 20–23 score range,they are likely to be able to demonstrate most or all ofthe knowledge and skills in the 13–15, 16–19, and20–23 score ranges Students may be able todemonstrate some of the skills in the next score range,24–27, but not consistently enough as a group toreach that score range A description of the way theCollege Readiness Standards were developed can befound on pages 5–6

The “ideas for progress” are statements thatprovide suggestions for learning experiencesthat students might benefit from These ideas forprogress are arranged by score range and strand.Although many of the ideas cross more than onestrand, a primary strand has been identified for each inorder to facilitate their use in the classroom Ideas forprogress are not provided for students who score inthe 33–36 score range, the highest score range for theACT Students who score in this range on the ACTReading Test have demonstrated proficiency in all oralmost all of the skills measured by the test

Page 2 of the report profiles the test results,College Readiness Standards, and ideas forprogress for score ranges 24–27, 28–32, and 33–36

Because the complexity of a passage on theACT Reading Test plays such a key role instudents’ ability to negotiate the passage (and tosuccessfully respond to test questions), the CollegeReadiness Standards also include Descriptions of theACT Reading Passages These descriptions can be

G F E D

C

B

A

WHAT ARE THE COLLEGE

READINESS STANDARDS?

The College Readiness Standards communicate

educational expectations Each Standard describes

what students who score in the designated range are

likelyto be able to do with what they know Students

can typically demonstrate the skills and knowledge

within the score ranges preceding the range in which

they scored, so the College Readiness Standards are

cumulative

In helping students make the transition from high

school to postsecondary education or to the world of

work, teachers, counselors, and parents can use the

College Readiness Standards for the ACT to interpret

students’ scores and to understand which skills

students need to develop to be better prepared for

the future

HOW WERE THE SCORE RANGES

DETERMINED?

To determine the number of score ranges and the

width of each score range for the ACT, ACT staff

reviewed ACT normative data and considered the

relationship among EXPLORE, PLAN, and the ACT

In reviewing the ACT normative data, ACT staff

analyzed the distribution of student scores across the

score scale, 1–36 Because the ACT is used for

college admission and course-placement decisions,

differing admission criteria (e.g., open, liberal,

traditional, selective, and highly selective) and the

course-placement research that ACT has conducted

over the last forty years were also reviewed ACT’s

Course Placement Service provides colleges and

universities with cutoff scores that are used to place

students into appropriate entry-level courses in

college; and these cutoff scores were used to help

define the score ranges

20–23, 24–27, 28–32, and 33–36 would bestdistinguish students’ levels of achievement so as toassist teachers, administrators, and others in relatingACT test scores to students’ attainment of specificskills and understandings

HOW WERE THE COLLEGE READINESS

STANDARDS DEVELOPED?

After reviewing normative data, college admissioncriteria, and information obtained through ACT’sCourse Placement Service, content experts wrote theCollege Readiness Standards based on their analysis

of the skills and knowledge students need in order tosuccessfully respond to the test questions in eachscore range Experts analyzed numerous testquestions that had been answered correctly by 80%

or more of the examinees within each score range.The 80% criterion was chosen because it offers thosewho use the College Readiness Standards a highdegree of confidence that students scoring in a givenscore range will most likelybe able to demonstratethe skills and knowledge described in that range

“The examination should describe the student in meaningful terms—

meaningful to the student, the parent, and the elementary and high school teacher—meaningful in the sense that the profile scores correspond

to recognizable school activities, and directly suggest appropriate distributions of emphasis in learning and teaching.”

As a content validity check, ACT invited nationally

recognized scholars from high school and university

English, Reading, and Education departments to

review the College Readiness Standards for the ACT

Reading Test These teachers and researchers

provided ACT with independent, authoritative reviews

of the ways the College Readiness Standards reflect

the skills and knowledge students need to

successfully respond to the questions on the ACT

Reading Test

Because the ACT is curriculum based, ACT and

independent consultants conduct a review every three

to four years to ensure that the knowledge and skills

described in the Standards and outlined in the test

specifications continue to reflect those being taught in

classrooms nationwide

READINESS STANDARDS BE

INTERPRETED AND USED?

The College Readiness Standards reflect the

progression and complexity of the skills measured in

the ACT Because no ACT test form measures all of

the skills and knowledge included in the College

Readiness Standards, the Standards must be

interpreted as skills and knowledge that most

students who score in a particular score range are

likelyto be able to demonstrate Since there were

relatively few test questions that were answered

correctly by 80% or more of the students who scored

in the lower score ranges, the Standards in these

ranges should be interpreted cautiously The skills

and understandings of students who score in the

1–12 score range may still be evolving For these

students the skills and understandings in the higher

score ranges could become their target achievement

outcomes

It is important to recognize that the ACT does not

measure everything students have learned nor does

any test measure everything necessary for students to

know to be successful in college or in the world of

work The ACT Reading Test includes questions from

a large domain of skills and from areas of knowledgethat have been judged important for success incollege and beyond Thus, the College ReadinessStandards should be interpreted in a responsible waythat will help students understand what they need toknow and do if they are going to make a successfultransition to college, vocational school, or the world ofwork Students can use the Standards to identify theskills and knowledge they need to develop to bebetter prepared for their future Teachers andcurriculum coordinators can use the Standards tolearn more about their students’ academic strengthsand weaknesses and can then modify their instructionand guide students accordingly

HOW ARE THE COLLEGE READINESS

Relationships; Meanings of Words; and

Generalizations and Conclusions

The strands provide an organizational frameworkfor the College Readiness Standards statements

As you review the Standards, you will note aprogression in complexity within each strand Forexample, in the 13–15 range for the Main Ideas andAuthor’s Approach strand, students are able to

“recognize a clear intent of an author or narrator inuncomplicated literary narratives,” while in the 33–36range, students demonstrate that they are able to

“identify clear main ideas or purposes of complexpassages or their paragraphs.”

WHAT ARE THE “DESCRIPTIONS OF

THE ACT READING PASSAGES”?

A guiding principle underlying the development of

the College Readiness Standards was that reading

well depends on a range of flexible, adaptable

strategies and that good readers work actively to

construct meaning As students progress in their

learning, they encounter different types of discourse

and read texts that vary in complexity Effective

readers adjust their reading to fit the type of text

and employ specific tactics when they encounter

sophisticated text Because the complexity of a

passage on the ACT Reading Test plays such

a key role in students’ ability to successfully negotiate

the passage (and the test questions), the College

Readiness Standards for ACT Reading also include

Descriptions of the ACT Reading Passages These

descriptions clarify what kinds of passages are

referred to in the College Readiness Standards as

Uncomplicated, More Challenging, or Complex

Literary Narratives andUncomplicated, More

Challenging, or Complex Informational Passages

The Standards are complemented by brief

descriptions of learning experiences from which

students might benefit Based on the College

Readiness Standards, these ideas for progress are

designed to provide classroom teachers with help for

lesson plan development These ideas, which are

given in Table 1, demonstrate one way that

information learned from standardized test results

can be used to inform classroom instruction

Because students learn over time and in various

contexts, it is important to use a variety of instructional

methods and materials to meet students’ diverse

needs and to help strengthen and build upon their

knowledge and skills The ideas for progress offer

teachers a variety of suggestions to foster learning

experiences from which students would likely benefit

as they move from one level of learning to the next

Because learning is a complex and individual

process, it is especially important to use multiple

sources of information—classroom observations and

teacher-developed assessment tools, as well asstandardized tests—to accurately reflect what eachstudent knows and can do The Standards and ideasfor progress, used in conjunction with classroom-based and curricular resources, help teachers andadministrators to guide the whole education of everystudent

WHAT ARE THE ACT READING TEST

COLLEGE READINESS STANDARDS?

Table 1 on pages 8–15 suggests links betweenwhat students are likelyto be able to do (the CollegeReadiness Standards) and what learning experiencesstudents would likely benefit from

The College Readiness Standards are organizedboth by score range (along the left-hand side) and bystrand (across the top)

The ideas for progress are also arranged by scorerange and by strand Although many of the ideascross more than one strand, a primary strand hasbeen identified for each in order to facilitate their use

in the classroom For example, the statement in the20–23 range “distinguish between key concepts andsubordinate ideas in a text and write a concisesummary” brings together concepts from severalstrands, such as Main Ideas and Author’s Approach;Supporting Details; and Generalizations and

Conclusions However, this idea is primarily linked tothe Main Ideas and Author’s Approach strand

As you review the table, you will note that ideas for progress have not been provided for the 33–36score range, the highest score range for the ACT.Students who score in this range on the ACT ReadingTest have demonstrated proficiency in all, or almostall, of the skills measured by the test These studentswill, however, continue to refine and expand theirknowledge and skills as they engage in readingactivities that require critical, logical, and creativethinking

ideas for progress

Table 1: The College Readiness Standards

The Standards describe what students who score in the specified score ranges arelikely to know and to be able to do The ideas for progress help teachers identify ways

of enhancing students’ learning based on the scores students receive

Main Ideas and Author’s Approach Supporting Details

■ Recognize a clear intent of an author

or narrator in uncomplicated literary narratives

■ Locate basic facts (e.g., names, dates,events) clearly stated in a passage

■ determine which details in a text areessential to understanding the author’s ornarrator’s intended message

■ scan a text in order to locate specificdetails (e.g., dates, specialized terms,facts)

■ identify the author’s or narrator’s reasonsfor including specific information in the text

■ locate and discuss details presented in atext (e.g., who, what, where)

■ work with peers to create logical statements about the main idea or purpose of simple paragraphs

Descriptions of the ACT Reading Passages

Uncomplicated Literary

Narratives refers to excerpts

from essays, short stories, and

novels that tend to use simple

language and structure, have a

clear purpose and a familiar

style, present straightforward

interactions between characters,

and employ only a limited

number of literary devices such

as metaphor, simile, or

More Challenging Literary Narrativesrefers to excerptsfrom essays, short stories, andnovels that tend to makemoderate use of figurativelanguage, have a more intricatestructure and messages

conveyed with some subtlety,and may feature somewhatcomplex interactions betweencharacters

Complex Literary Narratives

refers to excerpts from essays,short stories, and novels thattend to make generous use ofambiguous language andliterary devices, feature complexand subtle interactions betweencharacters, often contain

challenging context-dependentvocabulary, and typically containmessages and/or meanings that

Sequential, Comparative, and

Cause-Effect Relationships

■ Determine when (e.g., first, last, before,

after) or if an event occurred in

uncomplicated passages

■ Recognize clear cause-effect

relationships described within a

single sentence in a passage

■ analyze how an author or narrator uses

description, dialogue, and action to

suggest relationships between

characters in written or nonprint

sources (e.g., films, ads)

■ select phrases or statements from a

literary text that illustrate how a specific

character feels toward others in the text

■ read portions of a literary text,

predicting how a person’s actions or

words would likely impact a specific

situation

■ use various strategies (e.g.,

questioning, role-playing) to determine

plausible cause-effect relationships

Table 1: The Standards and the Pathways for Transition

Meanings of Words Generalizations and Conclusions

■ Understand the implication of a familiar word or phrase and of simple descriptive language

■ Draw simple generalizations and conclusions about the main characters

in uncomplicated literary narratives

■ examine specific language in a textand propose plausible interpretationsbased in part on their own viewpointsand experiences

■ analyze the reasonableness of generalizations by reviewing information presented in the text and from other sources

■ compose generalizations that includequalifying language (e.g., a few, sometimes) when limited evidence ispresented by the author or narrator

■ determine what a literary narrative isgenerally about, organizing the text’sinformation into general statements thatare supported by details from the text

■ draw reasonable conclusions aboutpeople and situations using evidencepresented in a text

■ use various strategies (e.g., timelines,

event chains, discussion) to determine

whether an event occurred and, if so,

when it occurred

■ discuss an issue of interest,

determining how past events affected

the present

■ locate evidence in a text that explicitly

states why an event or a series of

events occurred

■ search for patterns or clues (e.g.,

signal words) that indicate cause-effect

relationships

■ use various resources (e.g., dictionary,thesaurus) to explore connotations offamiliar words or descriptive language

■ recognize generalizations about themain character in a literary text

■ combine several pieces of information

to make a reasonable generalizationabout a specific character

■ make predictions about characters andevents presented in a literary text, verifying or rejecting those predictionsand making new ones as they read

Descriptions of the PLAN Reading Passages

Uncomplicated Informational

Passagesrefers to materials

that tend to contain a limited

amount of data, address basic

concepts using familiar

language and conventional

organizational patterns, have a

clear purpose, and are written to

be accessible

More Challenging Informational Passagesrefers

to materials that tend to presentconcepts that are not alwaysstated explicitly and that areaccompanied or illustrated bymore—and more detailed—

supporting data, include somedifficult context-dependentwords, and are written in a

Complex Informational Passages refers to materialsthat tend to include a sizableamount of data, present difficultconcepts that are embedded(not explicit) in the text, usedemanding words and phraseswhose meaning must bedetermined from context, andare likely to include intricate

ideas for progress

Table 1 (continued): The College Readiness Standards

The Standards describe what students who score in the specified score ranges arelikely to know and to be able to do The ideas for progress help teachers identify ways

of enhancing students’ learning based on the scores students receive

Main Ideas and Author’s Approach Supporting Details

■ Infer the main idea or purpose of forward paragraphs in uncomplicated literary narratives

straight-■ Understand the overall approach taken by

an author or narrator (e.g., point of view,kinds of evidence used) in uncomplicatedpassages

■ Locate important details in uncomplicatedpassages

■ Make simple inferences about how detailsare used in passages

■ gather and interpret details presented in atext, determining the contribution of each

to the author’s or narrator’s intended message

■ identify details that clearly support the keypoint(s) of written or nonprint sources

■ check inferences against information provided in a text, identifying what is and

is not sufficiently supported by the text

ACT

READING TEST

■ Identify a clear main idea or purpose

of straightforward paragraphs in uncomplicated literary narratives

■ analyze techniques used by the author of

a text to reveal or conceal his or her point

of view

■ explain in their own words the significance

of specific information in written or nonprint sources

■ distinguish between what is most and leastimportant in a text

■ Locate simple details at the sentence and paragraph level in uncomplicatedpassages

■ Recognize a clear function of a part of anuncomplicated passage

■ determine how an inference might changebased on the inclusion of additional information

■ synthesize information from challengingtexts to clarify understanding of importantconcepts and ideas

■ distinguish between key concepts andsubordinate ideas in a text and write aconcise summary

■ search for clues that suggest the viewpointfrom which a literary text is written or toldand determine whether the author’s or narrator’s point of view is valid or biased

■ analyze the relationship between anauthor’s or narrator’s intended messageand the rhetorical devices used to conveythat message (e.g., language used, evidence provided)

Sequential, Comparative, and

Cause-Effect Relationships

■ Order simple sequences of events in

uncomplicated literary narratives

■ Identify clear relationships between

people, ideas, and so on in

uncomplicated passages

■ Identify clear cause-effect relationships

in uncomplicated passages

■ analyze the sequence of events in

written or nonprint sources

■ map sequences of events in texts or

films or from everyday occurrences,

defending their reasoning

■ evaluate the extent to which

comparisons made by the author or

narrator help clarify specific textual

relationships

■ search for clues embedded in a text

that suggest cause-effect relationships

■ examine events in written or nonprint

sources to determine the precipitating

cause(s) and final outcome(s)

Table 1: The Standards and the Pathways for Transition

Meanings of Words Generalizations and Conclusions

■ Use context to determine the appropriate meaning of some figurativeand nonfigurative words, phrases, andstatements in uncomplicated passages

■ Draw generalizations and conclusions about people, ideas, and

so on in uncomplicated passages

■ Draw simple generalizations and conclusions using details that supportthe main points of more challenging passages

■ investigate the meanings of words and their possible effect(s) on the perceptions and behavior of people

■ research words and phrases from different sources, identifying theirshades of meaning in various contexts or situations

■ defend or challenge the author’s or narrator’s assertions by locating several key pieces of information in

a challenging text

■ make accurate generalizations based

on implicit information in the text

■ analyze specific parts of a text, drawing accurate conclusions

■ place events from a literary text in

chronological order by locating

substantial evidence from the text

■ identify similarities and differences

between people, objects, events, or

ideas, drawing accurate conclusions

■ identify interrelationships between and

among people, objects, events, or

ideas in written or nonprint sources

■ determine factors that have clearly

influenced the outcome of a situation

■ identify statements in texts that clearly

state the cause(s) and effect(s) of

■ Identify relationships between main

characters in uncomplicated literary

narratives

■ Recognize clear cause-effect

relationships within a single paragraph

in uncomplicated literary narratives

■ clarify the meanings of words ordescriptive phrases by searching for clues in the text (e.g., sentencestructure, context, prefixes/suffixes,spelling patterns)

■ make accurate generalizations aboutpeople and events based on evidencepresented in the text

■ identify inaccurate generalizations(e.g., stereotypes) in written or nonprintsources

■ identify details in a challenging textthat confirm or disprove conclusionsdrawn by the author or narrator and bythe students themselves or their peers

■ make reasoned judgments about ideasand events based on evidence fromwritten or nonprint sources

24–27 Standards

ideas for progress

Table 1 (continued): The College Readiness Standards

The Standards describe what students who score in the specified score ranges arelikely to know and to be able to do The ideas for progress help teachers identify ways

of enhancing students’ learning based on the scores students receive

Main Ideas and Author’s Approach Supporting Details

ACT

READING TEST

■ Identify a clear main idea or purpose

of any paragraph or paragraphs in uncomplicated passages

■ Infer the main idea or purpose of straightforward paragraphs in more challenging passages

■ Summarize basic events and ideas inmore challenging passages

■ Understand the overall approach taken by

an author or narrator (e.g., point of view,kinds of evidence used) in more challenging passages

■ develop a reasonable interpretation of thecentral theme(s) or main point(s) of a challenging text

■ divide challenging texts into sections,determining what the key points are foreach section

■ determine the primary purpose of specificsections of a text or the text as a whole

■ use two different mediums (e.g., sculpture,poetry, photography, music) to present asynopsis of the main idea(s) of a text,thereby expanding understanding of thetext’s meaning

■ identify subtle evidence that conveys the author’s or narrator’s point of view inchallenging texts

■ change the wording of a text in order

to convey a different tone or attitude (e.g., from persuasive to serious)

■ enumerate aspects or characteristics ofpeople, objects, events, or ideas

■ interpret and integrate details in a text inorder to verify or contradict a specificpoint or claim made by the author or narrator

■ recognize and study the evolution of anauthor’s argument(s) as presented in acomplex informational text

■ Locate important details in more challenging passages

■ Locate and interpret minor or subtly stateddetails in uncomplicated passages

■ Discern which details, though they mayappear in different sections throughout apassage, support important points in morechallenging passages

Sequential, Comparative, and

Cause-Effect Relationships

Table 1: The Standards and the Pathways for Transition

Meanings of Words Generalizations and Conclusions

■ read texts containing challenging

sequences (e.g., flashback,

flash-forward), discussing how the order of

events affects understanding of the text

■ explain how altering a series of events

would likely change the outcome of

a situation or the actions of the

characters

■ develop an in-depth understanding of

the fine distinctions between literary

characters in a challenging text by

closely examining the language used

by the author or narrator

■ identify relationships between ideas

and/or people in a challenging text and

how those relationships develop over

the course of the text

■ identify clues in a challenging text that

suggest possible motives for and

effects of a person’s actions or words

■ read conflicting viewpoints of an event

and use textual evidence to identify

which one has the most reasonable

explanations of causes and effects

■ Use context to determine the appropriate meaning of virtually any word, phrase, or statement inuncomplicated passages

■ Use context to determine the appropriate meaning of some figurativeand nonfigurative words, phrases, and statements in more challengingpassages

■ Draw subtle generalizations and conclusions about characters, ideas,and so on in uncomplicated literarynarratives

■ Draw generalizations and conclusionsabout people, ideas, and so on in morechallenging passages

■ Order sequences of events in

uncomplicated passages

■ Understand relationships between

people, ideas, and so on in

uncomplicated passages

■ Identify clear relationships between

characters, ideas, and so on in more

challenging literary narratives

■ Understand implied or subtly

stated cause-effect relationships in

uncomplicated passages

■ Identify clear cause-effect relationships

in more challenging passages

■ develop and use strategies for deciphering the meanings of words orphrases embedded in richly figurative

or technical contexts

■ analyze figurative and technical language in the media, relating someinstances to a personal experience

■ synthesize information in challengingtexts, making valid generalizations

or conclusions about people and situations

■ confirm or disprove generalizationssuggested in texts by providing examples or counterexamples fromother sources

Table 1 (continued): The College Readiness Standards

The Standards describe what students who score in the specified score ranges arelikely to know and to be able to do The ideas for progress help teachers identify ways

of enhancing students’ learning based on the scores students receive

Main Ideas and Author’s Approach Supporting Details

■ Identify clear main ideas or purposes ofcomplex passages or their paragraphs

■ Locate and interpret details in complexpassages

■ Understand the function of a part of a passage when the function is subtle orcomplex

■ identify facts embedded in complex mational texts

infor-■ Infer the main idea or purpose of morechallenging passages or their paragraphs

■ Summarize events and ideas in virtuallyany passage

■ Understand the overall approach taken by

an author or narrator (e.g., point of view,kinds of evidence used) in virtually anypassage

■ Locate and interpret minor or subtly stateddetails in more challenging passages

■ Use details from different sections of somecomplex informational passages to support a specific point or argument

Sequential, Comparative, and

Cause-Effect Relationships

■ Order sequences of events in complex

passages

■ Understand the subtleties in

relationships between people, ideas,

and so on in virtually any passage

■ Understand implied, subtle, or complex

cause-effect relationships in virtually

any passage

Table 1: The Standards and the Pathways for Transition

Meanings of Words Generalizations and Conclusions

■ Determine, even when the language isrichly figurative and the vocabulary isdifficult, the appropriate meaning ofcontext-dependent words, phrases, orstatements in virtually any passage

■ Draw complex or subtle generalizationsand conclusions about people, ideas,and so on, often by synthesizing information from different portions ofthe passage

■ Understand and generalize about portions of a complex literary narrative

■ determine the chronological sequence

of events and the spatial relationships

in complex texts (e.g., Dickens, Garcia

Marquez, Morrison, Tolstoy)

■ analyze subtle relationships between

and among people, objects, events,

and ideas in complex texts or films,

forming accurate inferences

■ identify implications and possible

con-sequences of actions in complex texts

■ Order sequences of events in more

challenging passages

■ Understand the dynamics between

people, ideas, and so on in more

challenging passages

■ Understand implied or subtly stated

cause-effect relationships in more

challenging passages

■ Determine the appropriate meaning ofwords, phrases, or statements from figurative or somewhat technical contexts

■ Use information from one or more sections of a more challenging pas-sage to draw generalizations and conclusions about people, ideas, and

so on

■ employ strategies for defining a difficultconcept, such as identifying its characteristics or providing examples

of what it is and is not like

■ examine information from multiplesources and perspectives (includingthe author’s or narrator’s) in order tomake reasonable generalizations aboutpeople, objects, ideas, and situations

■ evaluate the impact of literary devices(e.g., figurative language) on themeaning of a literary narrative

Table 2: ACT Reading Test Content Areas

40 questions, 35 minutes, 4 passages (750 words each)

Description of Passage Percentage of Questions

Prose Fiction The test questions in this category are based on passages 25%

from short stories or novels

Humanities The test questions in this category are based on passages 25%

from memoirs and personal essays, and in the content areas

of architecture, art, dance, ethics, film, language, literarycriticism, music, philosophy, radio, television, or theater

Social Science The test questions in this category are based on passages in 25%

anthropology, archaeology, biography, business, economics, education, geography, history, political science, psychology,

or sociology

Natural Science The test questions in this category are based on passages 25%

in anatomy, astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, ecology, geology, medicine, meteorology, microbiology, natural history,

WHAT DOES THE ACT READING TEST

MEASURE?

Good readers develop an understanding of texts

by becoming actively involved as they read, and in

doing so, they use a range of flexible, adaptable

strategies that influence their “ability to read the lines,

to read between the lines, and to read beyond the

lines” (Gray, 1960, p 17) “Get[ting] students to build

understanding of text ideas” is a goal of reading

instruction across all grade levels and content areas

(Beck, McKeown, Hamilton, & Kucan, 1998, p 67)

To meet this goal requires active reading and the use

of various kinds and combinations of skills, skills that

can be assessed using various measures

The ACT Reading Test, a curriculum-based

assessment, measures the reading comprehension

skills students have acquired in courses taken up to

the beginning of twelfth grade ACT determines the

content of the ACT Reading Test by identifying the

concepts and skills that are taught in classrooms

nationwide and considered necessary for future

academic and career success Designed to simulatethe types of reading tasks students encounter in theiracademic work and in life outside of school, theReading Test measures students’ literal-level readingskills as well as their ability to make inferences, drawconclusions, generalize from specific data, andreason logically

The passages selected for the Reading Test are from published works of fiction and nonfiction,represent diverse points of view, and are produced

by writers who reflect a wide variety of backgrounds.Students’ reading skills are assessed in four contentareas: Prose Fiction, Humanities, Social Science, andNatural Science Each passage is preceded by a

“The test should measure what students can do with what they have learned.”

— (ACT, 1996a, p 1)

heading that identifies the passage type (e.g., Prose

Fiction), names the author, and may provide a brief

note that helps in understanding the passage The

lines of the passage are numbered for reference

Table 2 on page 16 provides additional information

about the ACT Reading Test

Questions in the Reading Test are classified in the

general categories of Referring and Reasoning

Referring The questions in this category ask

about material explicitly stated in a passage These

questions are designed to measure literal reading

comprehension A question is classified in the

Referring category if the information required to

answer it is directly given in the passage text In such

questions, there are usually relationships between the

language of the passage and that of the question,

and the answer to the question is evident in a single

sentence, or two adjacent sentences, in the passage

Some Referring questions paraphrase the language of

the passage

Reasoning The questions in this category askabout meaning implicit in a passage and requirecogent reasoning about a passage These questionsare designed to measure “meaning making” bylogical inference, analysis, and synthesis A question

is classified in the Reasoning category if it requiresinferring or applying a logical process to elicit ananswer from the passage, or if it demands that theexaminee combine many statements in the passage

or interpret entire sections of the text

T HE N EED FOR T HINKING S KILLS

Every student comes to school with the ability

to think, but to achieve their goals students need

to develop skills such as learning to make new

connections between texts and ideas, to understand

increasingly complex concepts, and to think through

their assumptions Because of technological

advances and the fast pace of our society, it is

increasingly important that students not only know

information but also know how to critique and manage

that information Students must be provided with the

tools for ongoing learning; understanding, analysis,

and generalization skills must be developed so that

the learner is able to adapt to a variety of situations

HOW ARE ACT TEST QUESTIONS

LINKED TO THINKING SKILLS?

Our belief in the importance of developing

thinking skills in learners was a key factor in the

development of the ACT ACT believes that students’

preparation for further learning is best assessed by

measuring, as directly as possible, the academic

skills that students have acquired and that they will

need to perform at the next level of learning The

required academic skills can most directly be

assessed by reproducing as faithfully as possible the

complexity of the students’ schoolwork Therefore, the

ACT test questions are designed to determine how

skillfully students solve problems, grasp implied

meanings, draw inferences, evaluate ideas, and

make judgments in subject-matter areas important

to success in intellectual work both inside and

as the range of complexity within each strand Thesample test questions for the 16–19, 20–23, 24–27,28–32, and 33–36 score ranges are examples ofitems answered correctly by 80% or more of the ACTexaminees who obtained scores in each of these five score ranges The sample test questions for the13–15 score range, however, are examples of itemsanswered correctly by 80% of the PLAN examineeswho obtained scores in this score range PLAN testquestions are given for the 13–15 score rangebecause it was not possible, using the 80% criteriondescribed on page 5, to identify ACT sample testquestions for this score range

As you review the sample test questions, you will note that each correct answer is marked with

an asterisk Also note that each sample test questionincludes the passage content area and subcategoryfor the corresponding passage as well as the pagenumber where the passage is located in the

appendix

“Learning is not attained by chance,

it must be sought for with ardour and attended to with diligence.”

— Abigail Adams in a letter to John Quincy Adams

Table 3: ACT Sample Test Questions by Score Range

Main Ideas and Author’s Approach Strand

Score

Range Main Ideas and Author’s Approach Sample Test Questions

Passage Information

The primary focus of lines 65–92 is:

A. the relationship between the narrator and her mother

*B. Okaa-chan’s strength and integrity

C. Albany’s move toward the twenty-first century

D. the narrator’s father’s stubbornness

Each of the three projects described in the passage reveals:

A. the increasing antagonism between the grandfather andgrandson

B. the errors the narrator makes and the disapproval theybring from others

*C. that such incidents set the stage for the Bryant familytraits to emerge

D. that the narrator is determined to avoid being ungrateful,hateful, or overly fastidious

The main point of the passage’s last two paragraphs (lines76–88) is that:

A. Lawrence’s use of color has grown more dramatic, buthis work has not otherwise changed

B. even if Lawrence’s work had become more popular, hewould not have changed his stance

*C. though Lawrence’s style has changed over the years, thefeelings expressed in his work have not changed

D. Lawrence has used more subdued colors to echo his loss

of interest in social injustice

Throughout the passage, the narrator is most specific indescribing:

A. the thoughts and feelings of the people she’s traveling with

*B. her own feelings upon arriving in a new place

C. the wrenching feeling people have before leaving home

on a long journey

D. the reluctance she felt to take one swift action to changeher life

Infer the main idea or purpose of

straightforward paragraphs in more

challenging passages

Understand the overall approach taken

by an author or narrator (e.g., point of

view, kinds of evidence used) in

uncomplicated passages

Identify a clear main idea or purpose of

straightforward paragraphs in

uncomplicated literary narratives

Recognize a clear intent of an author or

narrator in uncomplicated literary

Table 3: ACT Sample Test Questions by Score Range

Main Ideas and Author’s Approach Strand, continued

Score

Range Main Ideas and Author’s Approach Sample Test Questions

Passage Information

The main idea of the passage is that:

A. most particle collisions are “mundane” events

B. bubble chambers were constructed to capture high-energy particles

*C. the technology for detecting particle images is improving

D. the detection of particle images has direct application

to the study of nuclear energy

Which of the following statements best summarizes theauthor’s view of commons?

A. The commons provided an ideal place where new settlers could build farms, raise their families, and runlivestock

B. The commons worked well as an abstract idea, but infact its maintenance was a burden on village economies

*C. The commons provided an area where wild plants andanimals could thrive, which benefited villagers

D. The commons tempted villagers to overgraze, and eventually such overgrazing led to the enclosure movement

Identify clear main ideas or purposes of

complex passages or their paragraphs

Summarize events and ideas in virtually

any passage

33–36

28–32

Table 3: ACT Sample Test Questions by Score Range

Supporting Details Strand

Score

Range Supporting Details

Locate basic facts (e.g., names, dates,

events) clearly stated in a passage

*B. Working in her yard

C. Listening to the radio

D. Visiting the old farm

Long believed that Republicans were incapable of:

*A. handling the problems of the depression

B. dealing with big business

C. winning the 1936 presidential election

D. ruining the country

What is Madame Zilensky’s habit of talking?

A. She talks incessantly, day after day

*B. She goes days without talking, then is talkative

C. She chats daily with Mr Brook

D. She discusses mostly local and departmental affairs

Particular attention was paid to the Heian era in this sage primarily to illustrate which of the following?

pas-*A. The emergence of women as a force in Japanese ture

litera-B. A typical cultural period in Japanese history

C. The dominance of Chinese thought on Japanese ture

cul-D. The effect of military and political upheavals on theculture

Sample Test Questions

Passage Information

Locate and interpret minor or subtly

stated details in more challenging

passages

Discern which details, though they may

appear in different sections throughout a

passage, support important points in

more challenging passages

Locate important details in

uncomplicated passages

Locate simple details at the sentence

and paragraph level in uncomplicated

passages

Understand the function of a part of a

passage when the function is subtle or

complex

According to the passage, a list of literary classics produced

by Japanese women should include which of the following?

I The Tale of Genji

II The Tosa Diary III The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon

A. II only

*B. I and III only

C. II and III only

D. I, II, and III

How does the discussion of uniqueness in the first threeparagraphs (lines 1–27) function in the passage?

A. It introduces the concept of sameness to prove that allsea life is really the same

B. It introduces the concept of self-marking in order toexplain how animals defend against predators

C. It introduces the concept of difference in nature to provethat different creatures really can’t get along

*D. It illustrates the ways of understanding self and ness that are suggested by nature

Table 3: ACT Sample Test Questions by Score Range

Sequential, Comparative, and Cause-Effect Relationships Strand

Score

Range

Sequential, Comparative,

and Cause-Effect Relationships

Recognize clear cause-effect

relationships described within a single

sentence in a passage

Recognize clearly stated cause-effect

relationships within a single paragraph

in uncomplicated literary narratives

Order simple sequences of events in

uncomplicated literary narratives

Understand relationships between

people, ideas, and so on in

A. a distraction from her sadness

B. symbolic of her new life

*C. cooked by her grandmother

D. her favorite food

According to the narrator, Mrs Sennett wears a hat becauseshe:

A. is often outside

B. wants to look like a literary figure

*C. has thin hair

D. has unique taste in clothing

The first insight about Madame Zilensky that came to Mr.

Brook during his cozy evening was that she was a great:

A. composer

B. teacher

C. performer

*D. liar

The passage indicates that today’s society differs from that

of our ancestors in that:

A. our ancestors were more critical of society

B. our ancestors exalted consumerism

C. today’s society has a broader view of success

*D. today’s society has a narrower view of success

Sample Test Questions

Passage Information

B. lose too many of their cases

C. seldom honor the code of the Bar Association that governs the practice of criminal law

*D. must do their best to win cases that may result in freeing criminals

Understand implied or subtly stated

cause-effect relationships in more

A. bubble chambers are much better at tracking the particles

B. electronic detectors can track pions

*C. electronic detectors are more selective of the particleevents

D. electronic detectors can photograph the particles themselves

Understand the subtleties in

relationships between people, ideas,

and so on in virtually any passage

33–36

Table 3: ACT Sample Test Questions by Score Range

Meanings of Words Strand

Score

Range Meanings of Words

Understand the implication of a

familiar word and of simple descriptive

language

Use context to understand basic

figurative language

Use context to determine the

appropriate meaning of some

figurative and nonfigurative words,

phrases, and statements in

uncomplicated passages

Use context to determine the

appropriate meaning of virtually any

word, phrase, or statement in

A. Clara and Francey’s home

B. the home place in the country

C. the narrator’s home

Considering how Mrs Sennett is portrayed in the passage,

it is most reasonable to infer that the word ravaged, as it is

used in line 86, most nearly means that her face reveals:

A. irritation and annoyance

B. resentfulness and anger

*C. age and fatigue

D. enthusiasm and excitement

Sample Test Questions

Passage Information

A. dependence on late-nineteenth-century design

B. lack of financial support

C. excess of detail

*D. austere and minimal style

Determine the appropriate meanings of

words, phrases, or statements from

figurative or somewhat technical

Determine, even when the language is

richly figurative and the vocabulary is

difficult, the appropriate meaning of

context-dependent words, phrases, or

statements in virtually any passage

28–32

Table 3: ACT Sample Test Questions by Score Range

Generalizations and Conclusions Strand

Score

Range Generalizations and Conclusions

Draw simple generalizations and

conclusions about the main

characters in uncomplicated literary

narratives

Draw simple generalizations and

conclusions about people, ideas, and

so on in uncomplicated passages

Draw generalizations and conclusions

about people, ideas, and so on in

uncomplicated passages

Draw generalizations and conclusions

about people, ideas, and so on in

more challenging passages

*A. Macon would like to impress Muriel

B. Macon is indifferent to Muriel

C. Macon resents Muriel’s good looks

D. Macon is disappointed in Muriel

What is the main insight suggested by the conversation inlines 66–80?

*A. The Curley family cries to manipulate Mrs Sennettinto doing what they want

B. The narrator regrets that she is not going to Bostonand is a little jealous of Mrs Sennett

C. Mrs Sennett is happy to leave the Curley familybecause they are always whining and crying

D. Mrs Sennett intends to return to the Cape soonbecause she has discovered that they have been manipulating and taking advantage of her

Which of the following best describes Eduviges’ nature as

it is presented in the passage?

A. a shocking new style with no architectural forebears

B. a conservative answer to the New England Victorianstyles

C. an abrupt reversal of the Victorian trends in architecture

*D. a whimsical mixture of architectural style

Sample Test Questions

Passage Information

*A. contradictory and ambivalent

B. curious and respectful

C. fearful and apprehensive

D. sympathetic and supportive

Use information from one or more

sections of a more challenging passage

to draw generalizations and conclusions

about people, ideas, and so on

*A. direct and honest

B. popular and fascinating

C. difficult and argumentative

D. sympathetic and kindly

Draw complex or subtle generalizations

and conclusions about people, ideas,

and so on, often by synthesizing

information from different portions of

the passage

33–36

In our increasingly complex society, students’

ability to think critically and make informed decisions

is more important than ever The workplace demands

new skills and knowledge and continual learning;

information bombards consumers through media and

the Internet; familiar assumptions and values often

come into question More than ever before, students

in today’s classrooms face a future when they will

need to adapt quickly to change, to think about

issues in rational and creative ways, to cope with

ambiguities, and to find means of applying information

to new situations

Classroom teachers are integrally involved in

preparing today’s students for their futures Such

preparation must include the development of thinking

skills such as problem solving, decision making, and

inferential and evaluative thinking These are, in fact,

the types of skills and understandings that underlie

the test questions on the ACT

HOW CAN ANALYZING TEST

QUESTIONS BUILD THINKING SKILLS?

On pages 26–28 you will find an additional

passage and sample test questions The sample test

questions provide a link to a strand, a Standard, and

a score range Each sample test question includes a

description of the skills and understandings students

must demonstrate in order to determine the best

answer The descriptions provide a series ofstrategies students typically might employ as theywork through each test question Analyzing testquestions in this way, as test developers do toproduce a Test Question Rationale, can providestudents with a means of understanding theknowledge and skills embedded in the test questionsand an opportunity to explore why an answer choice

is correct or incorrect

Providing students with strategies such as theseencourages them to take charge of their thinking andlearning The sample test questions that appear inTable 3 on pages 19–24 can be used to developadditional Test Question Rationales

“Learning is fundamentally about

making and maintaining connections

among concepts, ideas, and meanings.”

— American Association for Higher Education, American College Personnel Association,

& National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, June 1998

In sea cucumbers (again, uniquely among all echinoderms) the skeletal plates are reduced to micro- scopic size and come in delicate patterns like snowflakes, but serve who knows what use In overall body shape, some species resemble Italian sausages, some are more faithful to their garden namesake, some display the distinguished profile of a balloon overfilled precariously with tapioca They range from the size of a baby gherkin to the size of a huge zucchini, one of those monstrous country-fair winners that gets its photo sent out on the AP wire They are variously decorated in swirls and mottles and stripes of lavender, orange, yel- low, parakeet green Truly these guys are out in left field.

But it bothers them not In the deepest trenches of the ocean they carry on blithely and quite successfully, working a zone that few other animals are equipped to explore Researchers on the ocean abyss have discov- ered that, at a depth of 13,000 feet, sea cucumbers account for half of all the living organisms Down at 28,000 feet, the sea cucumber majority rises to 90 per- cent And at the ocean’s bottomest bottom, 33,000 feet down in the Philippine Trench, almost no living crea- tures are to be found—except sea cucumbers.

In shallower waters, like those coral formations off the west coast of Mexico, they also get along well This

is in part because sea cucumbers have few natural ators, owing presumably to the various nasty poisons contained in the mucous secretions of their skin Additionally, some species have developed the useful trick of self-mutilation: If a lobster or an otter or a snoopy human lays hold of one of this group, the sea cucumber constricts itself drastically at certain points along the body, and breaks into several pieces The predator, ideally, will be satisfied with a middle or a posterior section All the sections are destined to die except the front end, with the mouth and tentacles If this chunk is left in peace, from it will regenerate a new entire cucumber.

NATURAL SCIENCE: This passage is adapted from David

Quammen’s Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and

Nature (©1985 by David Quammen)

Sea cucumbers are not vegetables They only look

and act that way In fact they are marine animals of the

echinoderm phylum, a primitive group that also

includes starfish, sea urchins, and two other star-shaped

members called the feather-stars and the brittle-stars.

Echinoderms are distinct from almost all other animal

groups in being radially, rather than bilaterally,

symmet-rical In other words they know top from bottom but not

front from back nor left side from right side They all

share a pentamerous anatomical organization, with most

of their features occurring in fives: five axes of

symme-try, five sets of each organ, five major arteries, and for

those like the starfish and the brittle-stars, five legs.

They have a mouth hidden under the belly, and an anus

that generally marks the center of their back The skin

of an echinoderm is often described as “leathery” or

“rubbery” but think instead of the texture of

imperfect-ly cooked tripe Imbedded in that skin are calcareous

plates, in some cases quite small and with no

intercon-nections, constituting a minimal skeleton Echinoderms

have been known to stay in one spot, without moving,

for up to two years They have never heard of eyes.

They developed all these eccentric proclivities, back in

the Cambrian period a half billion years ago, before any

consensus arose as to how an animal is supposed to

behave But just as the echinoderms are exceptional

among animals, so the sea cucumbers are exceptional

among echinoderms.

They retain the five-sided symmetry on the inside

but don’t give much hint of it externally Sometime in

the dim past they grew so tall and top-heavy that they

have tipped over permanently onto one flank The

radi-al symmetry is now 90 degrees off kilter Consequently

they do have a discernible front: the end with the mouth,

around which have been added a ring of tentacles like

the leaf ends of celery They shuffle across the sea

bot-tom in worm-like fashion, by means of muscular

con-tractions and elongations that roll down their soft

bod-ies in waves Moving deliberately, they swallow the rich

benthic mixture of sand and muck, strain the organic

debris from it in their long simple gut, and pass the

ster-ile sand out behind Theoretically at least, they glide

along like an open pipe while the sand, rippling faintly

as it is cleaned, remains stationary.

Students reading this passage and recognizing it

to be an informational passage will need to adjust

their reading to serve the purpose of absorbing and

processing information As students recognize that

the passage is science-oriented, it will be important

for them to shift their reading style to one that is more

analytical The reader will realize that the passage is

composed of myriad details and facts and that many

of the details and facts are interrelated This passage,

and others similar to it, will require the reader to be

alert for terms signifying cause and effect, sequence,

and comparison This passage, like most natural

science passages, contains a fair amount of technical

or specialized vocabulary

Indeed, the inclusion of technical and specialized

vocabulary occurs early in the passage with the

following words and terms all appearing within the first

ten lines: “echinoderm phylum” (line 3), “radially” and

“bilaterally” (line 7), and “pentamerous anatomical

organization” (line 10) However, in the middle of the

first paragraph, the author shifts from a somewhat

detail-laden approach to one that is friendlier, more

informal and, probably, more engaging He does this

through the use of an analogy, the first of many In

attempting to describe the skin of the marine animal

in question, the echinoderm, he states, “The skin of

an echinoderm is often described as ‘leathery’ or

‘rubbery’ but think instead of the texture of imperfectly

cooked tripe.” While it’s unlikely that all high school

students are familiar with tripe, the author has

successfully changed the tone of the passage by

directly addressing the reader and by offering a

description of the tripe as “imperfectly cooked,”

thereby alerting the reader that the physical

appear-ance of an echinoderm is not particularly pleasing

The passage continues to incorporate a sprinkling

of scientific terms: “calcareous plates” (lines 18–19),

“radial symmetry” (lines 32 – 33), and “benthic”

(line 40), but the author retains the informal style he

introduced in the opening paragraph, largely through

the use of analogies In the third paragraph, the

author uses three separate analogies: (1) the sea

cucumber’s skeletal plates are compared to

snowflakes; (2) the animal’s body shape is described

in three distinct ways—as an Italian sausage, as its

“garden namesake,” and as “a balloon overfilled precariously with tapioca,” and (3) the sea cucumber’s size is described as ranging in size from that of a baby gherkin to the size of a huge zucchini

1 It can reasonably be inferred from the author’s comment

“Truly these guys are out in left field” (lines 57–58) that

he feels sea cucumbers are:

A. perhaps the most misunderstood sea animals ever known.

*B. awfully strange and eccentric sea animals.

C. a species that lives far from other sea animals.

D. known to come in quite a range of sizes.

To select the correct answer to question 1,choice B, the reader must home in on the nuances ofthe author’s language, concluding that the words in thecorrect response, “strange” and “eccentric,” are synonyms for the phrase “out in left field,” which is provided in the item A student can also pick up onnumerous clues that occur in earlier paragraphs: (1) inthe first paragraph, the sea cucumber is described as

“distinct from almost all other animal groups,” the seacucumber’s physical characteristics are “eccentric proclivities,” and the author summarizes the seacucumber’s physical appearance and behavior throughthe use of the word “exceptional”; and (2) in the thirdparagraph there is a reference to the fact that seacucumbers are unique among all echinoderms and theanimal’s skeletal plates are described as serving “whoknows what use.”

■ Determine the appropriatemeaning of words, phras-

es, or statements from figurative or somewhattechnical contexts

■ 28–32 score range

Test Question Rationale

Meanings of Words

2 The main point of the fourth paragraph (lines 59–68) is

that sea cucumbers:

F. account for the majority of undersea animals.

G. are studied often by researchers on the ocean

abyss.

*H. live successfully where few other sea animals can.

J. actually enjoy being different from other animals.

Question 2 is an example of an item in which the

students must infer the main idea of a paragraph The

phrase used in the correct response, choice H, “live

successfully where few other sea animals can,” is

implied in the fourth paragraph For the student to

choose the correct response, it’s necessary to return to

the fourth paragraph and note the use of certain

phrases—“it bothers them not,” “they carry on blithely

and quite successfully,” “few other animals are

equipped to explore”—and then combine the author’s

use of this language with the various ocean depths

referred to in the paragraph: 13,000 feet to 28,000 feet

to 33,000 feet By doing so, the student can

successfully surmise that the author’s intent in the fourth

paragraph is to not only describe where sea

cucumbers live, “at the ocean’s bottomest bottom,

33,000 feet down in the Philippine Trench,” but also to

convey that their living space is where “almost no living

creatures are to be found.”

3 According to the passage, the sea cucumber’s

pentamer-ous anatomical organization differs from that of a starfish in that it:

A. relies on delicate skeletal plate patterns.

B. is even more pronounced externally.

C. exhibits remarkable and inexplicable cies.

inconsisten-*D. is not especially obvious externally.

The last example, question 3, taps the critical comprehension skills of the reader To select the correctanswer, choice D, “is not especially obvious externally,”the reader must complete a number of steps: (1) locatethe information that describes the starfish, which initself is not straightforward because the reference to astarfish is in the context of other echinoderms such as

“sea urchins and two other star-shaped memberscalled the feather-stars and the brittle-stars”;

(2) understand the description of these other members

of the echinoderm phylum, “They all share a pentamerous anatomical organization, with most of theirfeatures occurring in fives” including the starfish; (3) note the transition that occurs at the end of paragraph 1 (lines 26– 28): “But just as the echinoderms are exceptional among animals, so thesea cucumbers are exceptional among echinoderms”;(4) use this transitional statement as a clue to themeaning of the next sentence (lines 29– 30): “Theyretain the five-sided symmetry on the inside but don’tgive much hint of it externally”; and finally (5) translatethat statement to the correct response of “is not especially obvious externally.”

■ Infer the main idea or purpose of more challengingpassages or their paragraphs

■ 28 – 32 score range

Test Question Rationale

Main Ideas and

Author’s Approach

■ Understand the subtleties inrelationships between people, ideas, and so on invirtually any passage

■ 33 – 36 score range

Test Question Rationale

Sequential,Comparative, andCause-EffectRelationships

The Assessment-Instruction Link

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO LINK

ASSESSMENT WITH INSTRUCTION?

Assessment provides feedback to the learner and

the teacher It bridges the gap between expectations

and reality Assessment can gauge the learners’

readiness to extend their knowledge in a given area,

measure knowledge gains, identify needs, and

determine the learners’ ability to transfer what was

learned to a new setting

When teachers use assessment tools to gather

information about their students, then modify

instruction accordingly, the assessment process

becomes an integral part of teaching and learning

Using assessment to inform instruction can help

teachers create a successful learning environment

Students can use assessment as a tool to help

them revise and rethink their work, to help integrate

prior knowledge with new learning, and to apply their

knowledge to new situations Connecting assessment

to classroom instruction can help both teachers and

students take charge of thinking and learning

As teachers review student performances on

various measures, they can reexamine how to help

students learn As Peter Airasian, the author of

Classroom Assessment,says, “Assessment is not an

end in itself, but a means to another end, namely,

good decision making” (p 19) Linking assessmentand instruction prompts both teachers and students totake on new roles and responsibilities Through

reflecting together on their learning, students andteachers can reevaluate their goals and embark on

a process of continuous growth

ARE YOUR STUDENTS DEVELOPING THE NECESSARY SKILLS?

Many high schools monitor the effectiveness oftheir educational program by tracking the success oftheir graduates after they leave high school Some ofthe criteria by which schools measure success are thenumber of graduates who enroll in postsecondaryinstitutions, the courses into which those students areplaced, and the attrition rate of those students

Because many colleges use ACT scores as onepiece of information in making decisions about admissions and course placement, high schools canuse students’ ACT scores as they review their schools’performance It is important to tie all the assessmentinformation you gather to the goals of your EnglishLanguage Arts program and to discuss how these goals are aligned with information about postsecondary institutions With an ever-increasingnumber of high school graduates entering college, itbecomes the school’s responsibility to ensure that itsgraduates have mastered the prerequisite skills necessary for success in entry-level courses ACT’sEducational Planning and Assessment System, ofwhich EXPLORE, PLAN, and the ACT are each a part,can help provide information about students’ level ofknowledge and skills that can be used to guide students’ secondary school learning experiences

EXPLORE and PLAN are developmentally andconceptually linked to the ACT and thus provide acoherent framework for students and counselors and

a consistent skills focus for teachers from Grades 8

“Every objective, every lesson plan,

every classroom activity, and every

assessment method should focus on

helping students achieve those

[significant] outcomes that will help

students both in the classroom and

beyond.”

As students and others review test scores from

EXPLORE, PLAN, and the ACT, they should be aware

that ACT’s data clearly reveal that students’ ACT test

scores are directly related to preparation for college

Students who take rigorous high school courses,

which ACT has defined as core college preparatory

courses, achieve much higher test scores than

students who do not ACT has defined core college

preparatory course work as four or more years

of English, and three or more years each of

mathematics, social studies, and natural science

ACT works with colleges to help them develop

guidelines that place students in courses that are

appropriate for their level of achievement as

measured by the ACT In doing this work, ACT has

gathered course grade and test score data from a

large number of first-year students across a wide

range of postsecondary institutions These data

provide an overall measure of what it takes to be

successful in a standard first-year college course

Data from 98 institutions and over 90,000 students

were used to establish the ACT College Readiness

Benchmark Scores, which are median course

placement scores achieved on the ACT that are

directly reflective of student success in a college

course

Successis defined as a 50 percent chance

that a student will earn a grade of B or better

The courses are the ones most commonly taken by

first-year students in the areas of English,

mathemat-ics, social studies, and science, namely English

Composition, College Algebra, an entry-level College

Social Studies/Humanities course, and College

Biology The ACT scores established as the ACT

College Readiness Benchmark Scores are 18 on the

English Test, 22 on the Mathematics Test, 21 on the

Reading Test, and 24 on the Science Test The

College Readiness Benchmark Scores were based

upon a sample of postsecondary institutions fromacross the United States The data from these institutions were weighted to reflect postsecondaryinstitutions nationally The Benchmark Scores aremedian course placement values for these institutionsand as such represent a typicalset of expectations

College Readiness Benchmark Scores have alsobeen developed for EXPLORE and for PLAN, to indicate a student’s probable readiness for college-level work, in the same courses named above, by thetime the student graduates from high school TheEXPLORE and PLAN College Readiness BenchmarkScores were developed using records of studentswho had taken EXPLORE, PLAN, and the ACT (fouryears of matched data) Using either EXPLORE subject-area scores or PLAN subject-area scores, weestimated the conditional probabilities associated withmeeting or exceeding the corresponding ACT

Benchmark Score Thus, each EXPLORE (1–25) orPLAN (1–32) score was associated with an estimatedprobability of meeting or exceeding the relevant ACTBenchmark Score We then identified the EXPLOREand PLAN scores, at Grades 8, 9, 10, and 11, thatcame the closest to a 0.5 probability of meeting orexceeding the ACT Benchmark Score, by subjectarea These scores were selected as the EXPLOREand PLAN Benchmark Scores

All the Benchmark Scores are given in Table 4.Note that, for example, the first row of the table should

be read as follows: An eighth-grade student whoscores 13, or a ninth-grade student who scores 14,

on the EXPLORE English Test has a 50 percent probability of scoring 18 on the ACT English Test; and

a tenth-grade student who scores 15, or an grade student who scores 17, on the PLAN EnglishTest has a 50 percent probability of scoring 18 on theACT English Test

U SING A SSESSMENT I NFORMATION TO

Students who receive a Composite score of 16 or

below on the ACT will most likely require additional

guidance and support from their teachers and family

in order to meet their post-high school goals,

particularly if one of their goals is to attend a four-year

college or university

College admission policies vary widely in their

level of selectivity Students who score at or below 16

on the ACT might best be served by exploring those

institutions that have an open or liberal admission

policy ACT Composite scores typically required by

colleges having varying levels of selectivity are shown

in Table 5 This information provides only general

guidelines There is considerable overlap among

admission categories, and colleges often make

exceptions to their stated admission policies

A student’s score on each content-area test on the

ACT should also be reviewed with respect to his or

her future goals For example, a student who wishes

to become a journalist will need a solid reading

background A high Reading Test score can be used

as evidence that the goal is realistic A low score

(or subscore) suggests the student should considerways of improving his or her reading skills throughadditional course work and/or additional assistance

in the area

WHAT ARE SOME FACTORS THAT

AFFECT STUDENT PERFORMANCE?

Many factors affect student achievement DianeRavitch, a research professor at New York University,has identified several positive factors in her book TheSchools We Deserve: Reflections on the EducationalCrisis of Our Time(1985, pp 276 and 294) Thesefactors, which were common to those schools thatwere considered effective in teaching students,include

■ a principal who has a clearly articulated vision forthe school, and the leadership skills to empowerteachers to work toward that vision;

■ a strong, clearly thought-out curriculum in whichknowledge gained in one grade is built upon inthe next;

Admission Typical Class Rank Typical ACT Composite Scores Policy of Admitted Students of Admitted Students

Highly Selective Majority of accepted freshmen in top 10% 25–30

of high school graduating classSelective Majority of accepted freshmen in top 25% 21–26

of high school graduating classTraditional Majority of accepted freshmen in top 50% 18–24

of high school graduating classLiberal Some of accepted freshmen from lower 17–22

half of high school graduating class

Table 5: The Link Between ACT Composite Scores and College Admission Policies

■ dedicated educators working in their field of

expertise;

■ school-wide commitment to learning, to becoming

a “community of learners”;

■ a blend of students from diverse backgrounds;

■ “high expectations for all” students; and

■ systematic monitoring of student progress through

an assessment system

There are also factors that have a negative impact

on student achievement For example, some students

“may not know about, know how, or feel entitled to

take academic advantage of certain opportunities, like

college preparatory courses, college entrance exams,

and extracurricular learning opportunities” (Goodwin,

2000, p 3)

All students need to be motivated to perform well

academically, and they need informed guidance in

sorting out their educational/career aspirations

Teachers who challenge their students by providing a

curriculum that is rigorous and relevant to their world

and needs (Brewer, Rees, & Argys, 1995; Gay, 2000),

and who have a degree and certification in the area

in which they teach (Ingersoll, 1998) and ample

opportunities to collaborate with their peers

(McCollum, 2000), are more likely to engender

students’ success in school

MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE

Using assessment information, such as ACT’s

Educational Planning and Assessment System

(EPAS), can help bring into view factors that may

affect—either positively or negatively—student

performance Reviewing and interpreting assessment

information can encourage conversations between

parents and teachers about what is best for students

Using data is one way of making the assumptions you

have about your students and school, or the needs of

students, visible

Collecting assessment information in a systematic

way can help teachers in various ways It can help

teachers see more clearly what is happening in their

classrooms, provide evidence that the method of

teaching they’re using really works, and determine

what is most important to do next As teachers

become active teacher-researchers, they can gain a

sense of control and efficacy that contributes to theirsense of accomplishment about what they do eachday

There are many different types of assessmentinformation that a school or school district can collect.Some types yield quantitative data (performancedescribed in numerical terms), others qualitative data(performance described in nonnumerical terms, such

as text, audio, video, or photographs, etc.) All types,when properly analyzed, can yield useful insights intostudent learning For example, schools and teacherscan collect information from

■ standardized tests (norm- or criterion-referencedtests);

■ performance assessments (such as portfolios,projects, artifacts, presentations);

■ peer assessments;

■ progress reports (qualitative, quantitative, or both)

on student skills and outcomes;

■ self-reports, logs, journals; and

■ rubrics and rating scales

Reviewing student learning information in the context of demographic data may also provide insightand information about specific groups of students, likelow-scoring students Schools therefore would benefit

by collecting data about

■ enrollment, mobility, and housing trends;

■ staff and student attendance rates and tardinessrates;

■ dropout, retention, and graduation rates;

■ gender, race, ethnicity, and health;

■ percent of free/reduced lunch and/or public assistance;

■ level of language proficiency;

■ staff/student ratios;

■ number of courses taught by teachers outsidetheir endorsed content area;

■ retirement projections and turnover rates; and

■ teaching and student awards

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A LOW

-SCORING STUDENT?

Low-achieving students tend to be those students

who score low on standardized tests Students who

slip behind are the likeliest to drop out and least likely

to overcome social and personal disadvantages

According to Judson Hixson, a researcher at the

North Central Regional Educational Laboratory

(NCREL), students who are at risk should be

considered in a new light:

Students are placed “at risk” when they

experience a significant mismatch between

their circumstances and needs, and the

capacity or willingness of the school to accept,

accommodate, and respond to them in a

manner that supports and enables their

maximum social, emotional, and intellectual

growth and development

As the degree of mismatch increases, so does

the likelihood that they will fail to either

complete their elementary and secondary

education, or more importantly, to benefit from

it in a manner that ensures they have the

knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary

to be successful in the next stage of their

lives—that is, to successfully pursue

post-secondary education, training, or

meaningful employment and to participate in,

and contribute to, the social, economic, and

political life of their community and society as

a whole

The focus of our efforts, therefore, should be

on enhancing our institutional and professional

capacity and responsiveness, rather than

categorizing and penalizing students for simply

being who they are (Hixson, 1993, p 2)

Hixson’s views reveal the necessity of looking at all

the variables that could affect students’ performance,

not just focusing on the students themselves

Low-achieving students may demonstrate some of

the following characteristics:

■ difficulty with the volume of work to be completed;

■ low reading and writing skills;

Many of these characteristics are interconnected

A low-scoring student cannot do the volume of work asuccessful student can do if it takes a much longertime to decipher text passages because of low reading skills There is also the issue of intrinsic motivation in that students have little desire to keeptrying to succeed if they habitually do not experiencesuccess

But again, we must not focus only on the studentsthemselves, but also consider other variables thatcould affect their academic performance, such as

■ job or home responsibilities that take time awayfrom school responsibilities;

■ parental attitude toward and involvement in students’ school success;

■ students’ relationships with their peers;

■ lack of opportunities to engage in complex problems that are meaningful to students; and

■ lack of adequate support and resources

For example, some students who score low ontests are never introduced to a curriculum that challenges them or that addresses their particularneeds: “Much of the student stratification within academic courses reflects the social and economicstratification of society Schools using tracking systems or other methods that ultimately place low-income and marginal students in lower-level academic courses are not adequately preparing them

to plan for postsecondary education, succeed in college, and prepare for lifelong learning” (Noeth &Wimberly, 2002, p 18)

As Barbara Means and Michael Knapp have suggested, many schools need to reconstruct theircurricula, employing instructional strategies that helpstudents to understand how experts think throughproblems or tasks, to discover multiple ways to solve

a problem, to complete complex tasks by receivingsupport (e.g., cues, modifications), and to engageactively in classroom discussions (1991)

Student Achievement (NESA), a group of large urban

school systems, and the Minority Student

Achievement Network (MSAN), a group of school

districts in diverse suburban areas and small cities,

are organizations that are dedicated to initiating

strategies that will close the achievement gap among

groups of students Many schools and districts have

found participation in such consortia to be helpful

According to Michael Sadowski, editor of the

Harvard Education Letter,administrators and teachers

who are frustrated by persistent achievement gaps

within their school districts “have started to look for

answers within the walls of their own schools They’re

studying school records, disaggregating test score

and grade data, interviewing students and teachers,

administrating questionnaires—essentially becoming

researchers—to identify exactly where problems exist

and to design solutions” (Sadowski, 2001, p 1)

A student may get a low score on a standardized

test for any of a number of reasons To reduce the

probability of that outcome, the following pages

provide some suggestions about what educators and

students can do before students’ achievement is

assessed on standardized tests like the ACT

STUDENTS DO BEFORE STUDENTS

Integrate assessment and instruction.Because

the ACT is curriculum based, the most important

prerequisite for optimum performance on the test is a

sound, comprehensive educational program This

“preparation” begins long before any test date Judith

Langer, the director of the National Research Center

on English Learning and Achievement, conducted a

five-year study that compared the English programs

of typical schools to those that get outstanding results

Schools with economically disadvantaged and

diverse student populations in California, Florida, New

York, and Texas predominated the study Langer’s

study revealed that in higher performing schools “test

preparation has been integrated into the class time,

as part of the ongoing English language arts learning

goals.” This means that teachers discuss the

demands of high-stakes tests and how they “relate to

district and state standards and expectations as well

as to their curriculum” (Langer, Close, Angelis, &

Preller, 2000, p 6)

Emphasize core courses.ACT research conducted in urban schools both in 1998 and 1999shows that urban school students can substantiallyimprove their readiness for college by taking atougher sequence of core academic courses in highschool Urban students taking a more rigoroussequence of courses in mathematics and science andfinding success in those courses score at or abovenational averages on the ACT Regardless of gender,ethnicity, or family income, those students who elect totake four or more years of rigorous English coursesand three or more years of rigorous course work inmathematics, science, and social studies earn higherACT scores and are more successful in college thanthose who have not taken those courses (ACT &Council of Great City Schools, 1999) Subsequentresearch has substantiated these findings and confirmed the value of rigor in the core courses (ACT,2004; ACT & The Education Trust, 2004)

Teach test-taking strategies.Students may behelped by being taught specific test-taking strategies,such as the following:

■ Learn to pace yourself

■ Know the directions and understand the answersheet

■ Read carefully and thoroughly

■ Answer easier questions first; skip harder questions and return to them later

■ Review answers and check work, if time allows

■ Mark the answer sheet quickly and neatly; avoiderasure marks on the answer sheet

■ Answer every question (you are not penalized forguessing on the ACT)

■ Become familiar with test administration procedures

■ Read all the answer choices before you decidewhich is the best answer

Students are more likely to perform at their best

on a test if they are comfortable with the test format,know appropriate test-taking strategies, and areaware of the test administration procedures Testpreparation activities that help students perform better

in the short term will be helpful to those students whohave little experience taking standardized tests or whoare unfamiliar with the format of the ACT

Search out other sources of help.School

personnel in urban or high-poverty middle schools

can investigate programs such as GEAR UP, which

“provides federal funds for schools to prepare

low-income middle school students for high school

and college preparation through multiple school

reform efforts School districts, colleges, community

organizations, and businesses often form partnerships

to provide teachers with enhanced professional

development opportunities to ensure they have the

necessary tools and strategies to teach middle

school and high school effectively” (Noeth &

Wimberly, 2002, p 18)

WHAT DO THE ACT READING TEST

RESULTS INDICATE ABOUT LOW

-SCORING STUDENTS?

Students who score below 16 on the ACT Reading

Test are likely to have some or all of the knowledge

and skills described in the ACT Reading College

Readiness Standards for the 13 –15 range In fact,

they may well have some of the skills listed in the

16 –19 range and a few students may have skills in the

20 – 23 range Low-scoring students may be able to

demonstrate skills in a classroom setting that they are

not able to demonstrate in a high-stakes testing

situation Therefore, these students need to develop

consistency in demonstrating these skills Practicing

these skills, literal and inferential, with various types

and levels of materials (both print and nonprint) will

likely engender transfer of these skills to various

academic contexts or situations

The Reading College Readiness Standards

indicate that students who score below 16 tend to

exhibit a basic understanding of uncomplicated

passages These students tend to be able to:

■ Recognize a clear intent of an author or

narrator in uncomplicated literary narratives

■ Locate basic facts (e.g., names, dates,

events) clearly stated in a passage

■ Determine when (e.g., first, last, before, after)

or if an event occurred in uncomplicated

passages

■ Recognize clear cause-effect relationships

described within a single sentence in a

passage

■ Understand the implication of a familiar word

or phrase and of simple descriptive language

■ Draw simple generalizations and conclusionsabout the main characters in uncomplicatedliterary narratives

In sum, these students tend to show some skill inreading uncomplicated passages They tend to readand comprehend at a literal level, understandingideas that are clearly stated or that are paraphrasedfor them in the text They are typically able to find simple facts in a text These students likely need additional assistance reading and interpreting textsthat are more challenging, especially texts in SocialScience and Natural Science, which are two of thefour content areas represented on the ACT ReadingTest

ACT Reading Passages.Prose Fiction and Humanities passages on the ACT Reading Test are

likely to be narratives.While not all of these passages(especially those in the Humanities) will have all of thecommon narrative elements, such as dialogue andplot, the passages typically have a strong personalvoice and clear point of view Technical explanations

of the elements of a jazz song or an Impressionistpainting, for example, would generally be avoided,while an essay by a jazz musician or a painter aboutwhat it is like to be an artist would be used on the test

Social Science and Natural Science passages are

primarily informational.These passages emphasizesuch elements of science as research methods,hypotheses, theories, experiments, data, analysis, andconclusions While first-person elements can be a part

of the passage (for example, a scientist talking abouthis or her research methods), the focus is on

information and research, not on personal reactions

or reflections

Students who score below 16 on the ACT ReadingTest can benefit from activities designed to help themdevelop critical thinking and reading skills Some students, especially those who have greater skill andcould score in the 20 – 23 range, are uncertain andlack confidence to respond analytically to inferentialquestions What these students need is practice making inferences—understanding characterization,drawing conclusions, forming generalizations, andreaching judgments about an author’s methods andgoals—in both narrative and informational contexts

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF

A PROFICIENT READER?

Although there are many definitions of a proficient

reader, within the various definitions are readily

identified commonalities One organization, the

Northwest Regional Education Laboratory (NWREL),

conducted a study in the mid-1990s to answer the

question “What do good readers know and what are

they able to do?” (Dwyer & Thompson, 1999, p 2)

After reviewing state standards documents and

making observations of student readers, NWREL

identified six interconnected traits of an effective

reader:

Reading the Lines

■ decoding conventions (conventions of texts),

■ establishing comprehension (creating

meaning from written texts),

Reading Between the Lines

■ realizing content (exploring layers of meaning),

■ developing interpretations (making inferences

about texts),

Reading Beyond the Lines

■ integrating for synthesis (synthesizing

information to compare and extend meaning),

and

■ critiquing for evaluation (evaluating the quality

and effectiveness of a text) (Dwyer &

Thompson, 1999, pp 3 – 4)

According to Kevin Dwyer and Leslie Thompson,

authors of The Journey of a Reader in the Classroom,

“the traits identify the six critical reading skills

necessary to develop readers who can process

knowledge from print material, make meaning of it,

and apply this meaning to other situations” (Dwyer &

Thompson, 1999, p 2)

The skills in the first two categories, Reading the

Lines and Reading Between the Lines, are measured

either directly or indirectly by the ACT Reading Test

Some of the skills in the third category, Reading

Beyond the Lines, are measured by the ACT Reading

Test, such as identifying how parts of the text work

together, and thinking metaphorically However, it’s

important to note that the passages in the Reading

Test are self-contained, which means that the questions corresponding to each passage can beanswered using only the text provided; prior knowledge of the topic is not required to answer the test questions

be considered generalizations that may not apply toall passages

Informational texts can be challenging for readers

to comprehend because of their organizational

structure, abstract or technical vocabulary,

complicated sentence structure, paragraph

structure, density of information, and lack of imagery In addition, informational texts are typically

not linked to readers’ life experiences Therefore,teachers need to find ways to build upon students’background knowledge beforea text is read so thatthe students will better understand the informationand ideas to be learned Students need time to thinkabout what they know about a topic or concept, tomake connections between their experiences and thenew information presented in a text, and to reevaluatetheir thinking and understanding in terms of what hasbeen learned This is equally true for reading and interpreting complex literary narratives

Generally speaking, the organization of ideas intexts does not follow a standardized structure or pattern In fact, texts typically use more than one type

of organizational structure and may blend structures

together within a paragraph Following is a list of themost common ways in which an author can organizehis or her ideas within a text (Piccolo, 1987):

■ Description:The author provides a mental pictureand at times conveys his or her mood or toneabout the topic

■ Sequence:The author presents information in asequential order