An Invitation to Review and Comment:

The Rhode Island Office of Higher Education (RIOHE) invites stakeholders and interested others in the public to review and comment upon public higher education’s entry-level reading and writing expectations, which appear below. Comments should be directed in writing to the Rhode Island Office of Higher Education (RIOHE) at the following e-mail address: Deanna@etal.uri.edu. To be considered, comments must be received in writing no later than Wednesday, October 12, 2005. If you are commenting as a member of the public, please provide your name and address. If you are representing an organization, please provide your title and the organization.

Development of the Reading and Writing Expectations:

The PK-16 Language Arts Advisory Committee is a working committee of the PK-16 Council chaired by Governor Donald Carcieri. During a series of meetings held in 2004-2005, the PK-16 committee developed a set of public higher education entry-level expectations for reading and for writing. (The committee’s higher education members were nominated by their institutions, and high school faculty members were nominated by the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (RIDE). The committee is chaired by URI’s Dr. Nedra Reynolds. Co-chairs are RIDE’s Jackie Bourassa, reading, and Betsey Hyman, writing. A full list of committee members appears at the bottom of this page.)

Prior to their release on the RIOHE Web site (www.ribghe.org/entry_level_expectations.htm), the expectations were also vetted with others at URI, RIC and CCRI such as assessment coordinators, developmental educators, and the academic leadership. In addition, Achieve, Inc. is reviewing the expectations for college entrance as well as the expectations for high school exit to determine any gaps in alignment.

Mathematics Expectations:

Mathematics expectations are also under development by the PK-16 Mathematics Advisory Committee, chaired by URI’s Dr. Lew Pakula and co-chaired by RIDE’s Judi Keeley. The mathematics expectations for entrance to Rhode Island’s institutions of public higher education will be available on RIOHE’s Web site (www.ribghe.org) early in November 2005.

Student Outcomes Assessment:

The identification of reading, writing and mathematics expectations for students entering public higher education is part of a larger assessment effort. The Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education (RIBGHE) has required URI, RIC and CCRI to develop a system for student outcomes assessment of all programs by 2008. Dr. Peggy Maki, an internationally known assessment expert, has been assisting the faculty and their academic leadership in undertaking this work.

College-Ready Reading Expectations

I. Outcomes that Identify Language Strategies for a Variety of Information, Literary, and Disciplinary-Specific Texts

• Employs word-analysis strategies to unlock meaning of vocabulary: word structure, base words, common roots, word origin, context cues, dictionaries or electronic resources, glossaries, thesauruses, and prior knowledge;
• Employs a variety of strategies such as phonetic analysis to acquire and enhance vocabulary; and
• Demonstrates a breadth of vocabulary in various content areas

II. Outcomes that Identify Comprehension of a Variety of Informational, Literary, and Disciplinary-Specific Texts

• Selects and uses reading strategies appropriate to the reading purpose and text demands (Adjusts reading rate to accommodate the talk and level of comprehension required, monitors comprehension for different types of text and purpose, transfers reading skills to various disciplines and content areas, annotates or takes separate notes when reading, and selects and uses a reading study system to complete assignments);
• Summarizes;
• Paraphrases;
• Outlines;
• Maps;
• Draws Inferences;
• Evaluates;
• Analyzes, synthesizes, evaluates and presents written information from a variety of sources;
• Distinguishes between the authorial point of view and the views of those used for comparison, contrast, or argument;
• Identifies speaker’s attitude and tone;
• Distinguishes between the evidentiary support for the authorial position and examples used to illustrate or clarify that position;
• Recognizes common patterns of organization in paragraphs and essays;
• Identifies controlling ideas/themes/stated main idea/ topic/ implied main idea, supporting details, and transitions;
• Identifies argumentation, counter argumentation, and logical fallacies;
• Distinguishes between fact and opinion;
• Expresses affective responses to a text using one's own experiences;
• Makes connections across texts and lived experiences;
• Extends substance of a text to conditions, circumstances and situations not specifically addressed by the author; and
• Interprets simple graphs, charts, and maps

Expectations for Beginning College-Level Writers

I. Before beginning a first-year composition course or any introductory college course that emphasizes writing, students should be able to

• Recognize differences in writing to inform, persuade or narrate;
• Identify readers’ needs and write different pieces for different audiences and purposes and/or in a number of content areas;
• Identify the kinds of writing they have practiced and some of their strengths and weaknesses as writers;
• Perform adequately in on-demand writing situations;
• Use evidence (from a text or from observation) to prove a point or demonstrate a pattern;
• Draw upon a number of invention or planning strategies;
• Use word processing and format texts for academic audiences;
• Use a handbook or reference book to locate rules or examples of conventions;
• Correct nearly all surface features by the final draft;
• Apply rules of standard English usage to correct grammatical errors;
• Apply appropriate punctuation to various sentence patterns to enhance meaning; and
• Through proper documentation, acknowledge the thoughts, words, or contributions of external sources.

 

II. Students should also have had rich and diverse experiences with language as preparation for college-level writing. Students should have:

• Developed a habit of writing that will enable them to tackle any writing task with some confidence;
• Written different pieces for different audiences and purposes and/or in a number of content areas;
• Written at least occasionally on a topic of their own choosing, so that the writing is personally meaningful;
• Used planning, drafting, revising, editing and critiquing to produce final drafts of written products;
• Learned to move from planning to drafting and back again;
• Shared drafts with readers and asked specific questions of readers about drafts in progress; and
• Learned about plagiarism and its consequences.

PK-16 Language Arts Advisory Committee

Name	Institution/Agency
Anne Arvidson	Exeter-West Greenwich High School
Jackie Bourassa, co-chair	RI Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education
Frank Duffin	Alan Shawn Feinstein School
Diane Girard	RI Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education
Jim Glickman	Community College of Rhode Island
Sandy Jean Hicks	University of Rhode Island
Jill Holloway	Year Up
Betsey Hyman, co-chair	RI Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education
Mary Ann	Liberati East Greenwich High School
Patsi Meyer	Portsmouth High School
Jeff Miner	Warwick Veterans Memorial High School
CB Peters	University of Rhode Island
Susan Poor	Ponaganset High School
Nedra Reynolds, chair	University of Rhode Island
Marjorie Roemer	Rhode Island College
Holly Susi	Community College of Rhode Island
Pat Tarpy W. M. Davies Jr.	Career and Technical High School
Lillian Turnipseed	Providence School Department
Sharon Webster	Narragansett High School

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated September 9, 2005