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English Language Arts Assessment

Overview

Oregon's Statewide English Language Arts Assessments include:

  • The Oregon Statewide Assessment System (OSAS) English Language Arts Summative Test which is required to be administered annually in grades 3 – 8 and 11.  
  • Local performance assessments annually administered in both speaking and writing for students in grades 3 through 8 and administered at least once in high school as required by OAR 581-022-2100.
  • Optional: Oregon interim assessments available statewide at no cost. These tests are designed to be used throughout the process of teaching and learning for gathering evidence of student learning in alignment with Oregon state standards.
  • The Assessment of Essential Skills graduation policy remains suspended through 2027 – 2028. For more information visit the Assessment of Essential Skills website.

OSAS Statewide English Language Arts Summative Test

Oregon districts and schools are required to administer the OSAS ELA Summative Test in Grades 3rd – 8th and 11th. This test requires students to engage in different questions and tasks that align with the multiple skills included in the Oregon English Language Arts and Literacy Standards (i.e. reading, writing, etc.) For additional information please utilize the resources in the following accordions. The OSAS ELA Summative Test Infographic, available in both English and Spanish, also provides a quick overview. 

ODE provides additional technical information, administration manuals, and resources on the OSAS Test Administration, OSAS Educator Assessment Training, and OSAS Accessibility Supports websites.
 

    • Oregon's ELA Assessment Blueprint: Provides information about the number of items in the Oregon ELA Summative Assessment and corresponding claims: Reading, Writing, Listening, and Research.

    • Oregon’s ELA Assessment Development and Design: ODE has partnered with Smarter Balanced to develop high quality test items aligned to the Oregon English Language Arts and Literacy Standards. This page includes links to Content Specifications and Item/Task Specifications related to the OSAS ELA Summative Tests.

    • OSAS ELA Achievement Level Standards and Scale Scores: This reference document shows the achievement standards for Oregon’s Statewide Assessments by content area and grade/benchmark level.

    • Oregon ELA Assessment Claim, Target, and Standards Crosswalk: These documents align the Oregon ELA Assessment claims and targets with the Oregon ELA standards. The claims and targets can be used to design classroom lessons and district assessments. In addition, the document provides Claim Achievement Level Descriptors and serves as a guide in understanding the Oregon ELA Assessment reports.
      Grade 3, Grade 4, Gra​de 5​​, Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8, High School​

    • OSAS ELA Technical Reports: ODE has partnered with Smarter Balanced to provide comprehensive and detailed evidence in support of the validity of the OSAS ELA Summative Test (i.e., validity, reliability, fairness, etc.)


    ​OSAS ELA Test Result Interpretation Resources

    • OSAS ELA Summative Test Student, Family, and Educator Infographic - English / Spanish​: The following document provides information on what ELA Standards and Skills are assessed and an overview of the OSAS ELA Summative Test including a helpful FAQ

    • OSAS ELA Achievement Level Standards and Scale Scores: This reference document shows the achievement standards for Oregon’s Statewide Assessments by content area and grade/benchmark level.

    • Oregon Starting Smarter Parent Resource Website: This Interactive site helps describe achievement levels, content assessed, and claims based on a student’s overall scores.

    • Educators - Accessing OSAS Test Results and Target Reports:
      • ODE has partnered with Southern Oregon ESD to create a free on-demand asynchronous professional learning course to help educators use their OSAS results effectively. The course, Effectively Using OSAS Results, consists of five one-hour modules delivered through Canvas.
      • OSAS Target Report Infographic: Resource document explaining how OSAS Target Reports show the performance of groups of students on grade-level learning targets compared to proficiency, as well as which of these learning target standards are relative strengths and opportunities for growth.
      • Accessing Test Results in the OSAS Portal Reference Guide: In addition to district reporting systems, educators, using their OSAS Test Administrator accounts, can access additional detailed reports that align with specific grade-level standards and skills.
    ​OSAS Accountability Reporting​
    • OSAS Test Accountability Reports and Data: The reports linked from this page contain test results for Oregon public school students, aggregated (grouped) to school, district, and state levels.

    • OSAS District and School Profiles and Report Cards: 
      • The At-A-Glance School and District Profiles were designed by and for parents and community members to be an understandable and easy to read overview of how schools and districts serve their students. 
      • The Accountability Detail Sheets​ are more technical documents that provide information on school and district performance, improvement, and each school’s level of support

    • ​OSAS ELA Assessment Resources Use Chart: This document provides a side-by-side comparison of training tests, sample tests, and interim assessments to help teachers decide which tool best fits their needs.

    • OSAS ELA Sample and Training Tests: Sample and Training Tests provide students and teachers with a preview of test questions.

    • OSAS ELA Sample Items​: This site provides examples of test questions used on the OSAS ELA Summative Test. Teachers, parents, students, administrators, and policymakers can experience these test items just as students encounter them.
      • These sample items can be used as part of instructional tasks in alignment with curriculum maps.

    • ​Sm​arter Annotated Response Tool (SmART). This website is helpful to better understand how student writing is scored on OSAS ELA PT assessments and support writing instruction in your school or classroom. 
      • Users can browse a range of response types, explore interactive scoring rationales and rubrics, and practice scoring on their own or with colleagues.
    • OSAS ELA Sample Items: This site provides sample items which can be used as part of instructional tasks in alignment with curriculum maps. 
    • Smarter Content Explorer: The following website provides interactive connections between Oregon’s ELA and Literacy Standards and the OSAS ELA Summative Test Claims (Reading and Writing) and Learning Targets (Key Details, Analysis of Text, Writing, and Editing). 
      • Additional resources are located within the website: accessibility guidelines, scoring rubrics, and more. For more information on navigating and using the website, please refer to the following Smarter Content Explorer video.
    • Oregon ELA Assessment Claim, Target, and Standards Crosswalk: These documents align the Oregon ELA Assessment claims and targets with the Oregon ELA standards. The claims and targets can be used to design classroom lessons and district assessments. In addition, the document provides Claim Achievement Level Descriptors and serves as a guide in understanding the Oregon ELA Assessment reports.

    OSAS ELA Interims Assessments

    ODE offers a variety of optional ELA interim tests available statewide at no cost to Oregon educators that can be used across grades 3 – 12 and can easily be embedded into existing curriculum maps. These tests are aligned to the full range of cognitive complexity of Oregon’s reading, writing, listening, and research standards. 

    Interim tests are designed to support teaching and learning periodically throughout the year. Most OSAS Interim Assessment Blocks (IABs) are composed of 10 – 15 items and take approximately 45 – 55 minutes for most students to complete. Additionally, ODE allows for the ELA Performance Task to be used in meeting the Local Performance Assessment requirement. 





    For more information please visit the ODE Interim Assessment website or contact your District Test Coordinator about the training requirements for accessing OSAS Interim Assessments.

    Assessment of Essential Skills

    The Nine Essential Skills are cross-disciplinary skills that students should be developing across grades K- 12. These skills cut across academic disciplines and are embedded in the content standards. The skills are not intended to be content-specific but rather to be applied in a variety of courses, subjects, and settings.


    All remaining Oregon graduation requirements are still in effect, including: challenging course credit requirements

    ELA: Local Performance Assessment Requirements

    Oregon is one of only a few states that requires ELA performance assessments in both speaking and writing be administered locally each academic year. 

    This two-page Practice Brief is designed to help educators and leaders take a student-centered approach to meeting the requirements of the policy by understanding the benefits of performance-based assessments, how to use district-adopted instructional materials as a source of LPAs, and how to use a single task across multiple content areas.





    For additional information and content specific resources, please visit the Local Performance Assessment site.

    OSAS ELA Instructional, Communication, and Professional Development Resources

    The following section offers valuable resources for educators, districts, families, and community members to delve into ELA assessment resources and more. Discover a range of instruction and standards resource links, along with communication links to stay connected to OSAS and ELA updates, as well as, professional development opportunities designed to enrich your instruction and assessment practices in language arts and literacy education.

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    Communication
    • Oregon English Language Arts Update: The Oregon English Language Arts Teacher Update provides information about promising practices, professional development opportunities, useful links and ELA assessment information.
    • Assessment and Accountability Newsletter: The weekly Assessment and Accountability Newsletter highlights news, updates and changes to the state's assessment and accountability efforts.
    Professional Development

    For more information about Oregon's English Language Arts Assessment, please contact Tony Bertrand.