READING
Essential Skill Assessment

Read and comprehend a variety of text

Reading Essential Skill Description

Read and comprehend a variety of text,* means that students:

• Demonstrate the ability to read and understand text.*
• Summarize and critically analyze key points of text,* events, issues, phenomena or problems, distinguishing factual from non-factual and literal from inferential elements.
• Interpret significant ideas and themes, including those conveyed through figurative language and use of symbols.
• Follow instructions from informational or technical text* to perform a task, answer questions, and solve problems.

* Text includes but is not limited to all forms of written material, communications, media, and other representations in words, numbers, and graphics and visual displays using traditional and technological formats.

Reading Essential Skill Graduation Requirement

Students first enrolled in Grade 9 in the 2008-2009 school year and beyond are required to show that they are able to read and comprehend text in order to graduate. This graduation requirement may be met by earning at, or above, a specific score (the achievement standard) on one of the approved assessment options.

• Overview of the Essential Skill of Reading
  Description of the Reading Essential Skill graduation requirement
• Overview of the Essential Skill of Reading (Spanish)
  Spanish translation of description of the Reading Essential Skill graduation requirement

Assessment Planning Resources

To support Essential Skills across K-12 curricula, links to instructional planning resources, including Common Core links, and data resources are available at the bottom of this page.

Approved Assessment Options

Assessment Category	Specific Assessment Option	Achievement Standard
OAKS	Reading/Literature Assessment	236
OTHER ASSESSMENTS	Other Assessment List List of all assessment options and achievement standards
WORK SAMPLES	Two Work Samples:  •   One must be informational;  •   One may either be informational or literary	For each Work Sample, Composite Score of 12, with no Trait lower than 3 Traits:  •   Demonstrate General Understanding  •   Develop an Interpretation  •   Analyze Text

Work Sample Resources

Professional Development Materials

• Workshop Materials for Reading Scoring Guide and Work Sample Development
  Materials for facilitators to use in leading local trainings or for individual use
• On-demand Reading (Literary Text) Scoring Training
  Webpage with scoring tool for use in calibrating to the Reading (Literary Text) scoring guide
• On-demand Reading (Informational Text) Scoring Training
  Webpage with scoring tool for use in calibrating to the Reading (Informational Text) scoring guide

Guidelines and Resources

• Work Samples Case Study
  Description of district planning, developing, administering, and scoring Work Sample prompts
• Work Sample Frequently Asked Questions
  Answers to frequently asked questions about Work Sample administration and policy

Scoring for Reading Work Samples

• Guidelines for Scoring and Raters
  Description of requirements for scoring Work Samples, including eligibility for raters



• Work Sample Scoring Guides
  • Literary Text
    High School State Scoring Guide for Reading - Literary Text
  • Literary Text (Spanish)
    Spanish Translation of High School State Scoring Guide for Reading - Literary Text
  • Informational Text
    High School State Scoring Guide for Reading - Informational Text
  • Informational Text (Spanish)
    Spanish Translation of High School State Scoring Guide - Informational Text
  • Portrait Orientation of Literary Text and Informational Text
    High School State Scoring Guide for Reading - Informational Text and Reading - Literary Text in portrait orientation
• Scored Reading Student Work
  Scored student work illustrating varying levels of performance

Development of Reading Work Samples

• Guidelines for Developing Reading Work Samples
  Description of requirements for developing Work Samples
• Templates for Reading Work Samples
  Template for use in developing Work Samples
• Work Sample Resource Sharing
  Webpage with table showing Work Sample resources available from districts or ESDs and contact information

Administration of Reading Work Samples

PURPOSE	To Practice	To Fulfill Graduation Requirement
RESOURCES	Practice Work Samples Webpage with Work Samples for use in class assignments or practice tests	Guidelines for Administering Reading Work Samples Description of requirements for administering Work Samples Reading Feedback Form Feedback form for use as the only acceptable means to communicate feedback

Assessment Planning Resources

• Assessment Chapter of the Oregon K-12 Literacy Framework
  Webpage with resources to plan assessment as a part of effective Reading instruction
• Using Essential Skills Data within Instructional Planning
  Webpage with Essential Skills Report and resources for data-based decision making



• Standards-Based Instructional Planning:
  • Implementing English Language Arts and Literacy Common Core
    • Resources Specific for Claim 1: Reading
      Webpage with resources to help in understanding and implementing Claim 1: Reading
    • Resources Specific for Claim 4: Research
      Webpage with resources to help in understanding and implementing Claim 4: Research
  • Assessing Common Core
    Webpage with information about Oregon's statewide assessment for the Common Core
    • Literacy Task Shells
      Fill-in-the-blank shells that teachers use to create powerful Common Core tasks developed by the Literacy Design Collaborative
  • Communicating about Common Core
    Webpage with resources to help in communicating about the Common Core