STAAR: You can't just look at the paragraph, people.

I'm geeking out over item analysis reports again. Once again, there is a pattern in why kids are missing answers. If we are going to help kids pass STAAR...If we are going to help kids understand the whole point of what people are trying to say...

We MUST analyze why they are making the decisions they are making with their incorrect choices. This analysis provides a window into how students are thinking about the text. The analysis reveals their thinking process. When we know the mistakes they are making in their thinking processes, we can accurately pinpoint instructional remedies and guide students to more effective reading processes. 

Here's a classic example of what many of our students are thinking: 

29: Analyze informational texts, author’s thesis/idea: The answer choices on this one are spread pretty evenly. It looks like the ones that did not know the answer were guessing with a slight preference for one : 10%, 21%, 15%

The stem asked kids to look at paragraph 14 to make an inference. If kids were only using paragraph 14, this question is confusing. There is not enough context in just that paragraph to answer correctly.

Though they owe their spread largely to the Internet, Little Free Libraries often serve as an antidote to a world of Kindle downloads and data-driven algorithms. The little wooden boxes are refreshingly physical—and human. When you open the door, serendipity (and your neighbors’ taste) dictates what you’ll find. The selection of 20 or so books could contain a Russian novel, a motorcycle repair manual, a Scandinavian cookbook, or a field guide to birds

29 From paragraph 14, the reader can infer that the author —

10% chose this one: A enjoys reading books by international authors  - this comes from shallow reading and skimming. If you scan the text, you can see Russian and Scandinavian references. But that is not a correct inference about the author’s reading preferences. The author never discusses his reading preferences.

54% chose this answer: B appreciates the opportunity for discovery provided by Little Free Libraries Students who got this correct attended to the focus of the entire passage as well as the cues in the language indicated by the contrast of /though/ and /antidote/. These students combined the information in the first sentence of the paragraph with the rest of the supporting details in the rest of the passage. In addition, they considered how this paragraph was seated contextually inside the passage as a whole - they considered the author’s purpose and main message.

21% chose this answer C thinks e-books fail to offer the same variety of topics as printed books do Yes. The paragraph does mention a variety of books - /Russian novel/, /motorcycle repair manual/, /Scandinavian cookbook/, and /field guide to birds/. BUT, that was not the author’s main idea for including those examples. Students that chose this answer are not connecting their ideas to the main message of the entire text. They are not thinking about why those details are included in the passage. They are not reading for meaning.

D understands the limitations of Little Free Libraries There is data here in the passage that the little libraries have choices limited by the contributions of people who donate to the box. Students who chose this answer are not focusing on the purpose of including the the details about what is in the box. The purpose is not to focus on the limitations of the choices there but on the delight in such variety. The students who chose this answer missed the entire point of the passage. They did not understand the main idea/ thesis.