December 2023
In this issue:
The Oklahoma State Department of Education and Cognia will convene a committee of educators to participate in a passage review and bias meeting to prepare for the 2025 Oklahoma School Testing Program (OSTP) assessment. The purpose of this meeting is to review the new passages being developed for the upcoming assessment year and ensure they meet the standards and expectations of the OSTP.
Your input is valued, and we hope you will apply to participate in this step in the development of the ELA Assessment. If you are interested in applying to attend this meeting, please complete the application in the Google form linked below. Spots are limited.
Selected committee members not on contract will receive an honorarium of $150 per day. Selected committee members on contract will receive substitute reimbursement. Details on how to submit your information for either of these options will be emailed to all selected committee members.
The meeting dates are scheduled for February 5, 2024, for grades 3-5 and February 6, 2024, for grades 6-8. Meetings will be held virtually from approximately 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (You can join in your pajamas!)
Passage Review and Bias Meeting application
This spring, the Grades 3-8 Oklahoma School Testing Program (OSTP) assessments will align fully to the 2021 Oklahoma Academic Standards for English Language Arts.
The newly updated Test and Items Specifications (TIS) documents define the content and format of the assessment and the assessment items and indicate the alignment of items with the Oklahoma Academic Standards. The documents also include sample passages and test items. The Grade 8 TIS has a new passage about the Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Oklahoma, and all grades now include examples of technology-enhanced items (TEI), which will debut in spring 2024.
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 The above TEI item is from the Grade 6 TIS.
 The above TEI item is from the Grade 7 TIS.
 The above TEI item is from the Grade 8 TIS.
Download the Test & Items Specifications:
Direct your assessment questions to Alyssa Tyra, Project Manager of ELA Assessment.
Through public libraries across the state, the Oklahoma Department of Libraries (ODL) provides access to Brainfuse’s HelpNow which is made possible with a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. HelpNow provides live tutoring help, writing assistance, and more for K-12 and college students and is designed as a student-initiated service, not as part of a school or class-wide mandated assignment. HelpNow is accessible through public libraries across the state, so students might need a public library card in order to access this free tutoring service.
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If your students have success using HelpNow, please let me know about their experience.
The 2024 Write To Win Contest, sponsored by the Oklahoma Writing Project, is open to all Oklahoma students and their teachers. Genres include poetry, sentence, descriptive paragraph, flash fiction, personal narrative, short story, essay, writing across the curriculum, and comic. The contest deadline is January 16, 2024. There is no entry fee. Winners will be honored at a conference and celebration in April, and their writing will be published in the 2024 Anthology of Winning Writing by Oklahoma Students and Teachers. See more details, including word limits and submission guidelines, on the contest webpage.
Contact owpwritingcontest@gmail.com for more information.
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The Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute (OSAI) is an intensive 2-week residential school that provides professional training to artistically advanced Oklahoma high school students, including graduating seniors, in the visual, literary, and performing arts. They offer training in the disciplines of acting, chorus, creative writing, dance, drawing and painting, film and video, orchestra, and photography. OSAI faculty artists include winners of the Pulitzer Prize and the Academy, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Awards. Students will join over 250 students from across the state as they study their chosen field and attend or participate in performances, gallery openings, film screenings, poetry readings, and more. Optional activities include nature hikes, karaoke night, a talent show, and a dance. Students will make lifelong friends and study with amazing teachers for a summer experience they will never forget.
The institute will take place from June 8-23, 2024, at the beautiful Quartz Mountain State Park & Lodge in southwestern Oklahoma.
Students are selected through a competitive blind audition process. Auditions are held online and throughout the state in January and February. All selected students automatically receive a full scholarship to the program.
To apply to the creative writing program, applicants will submit a sample of previously written work and a new work created for this audition. Writing submissions may be any combination of poetry, fiction, personal essay, and/or an excerpt from a longer work. The sample of previously written material should not exceed 750 words and the new work should not exceed 500 words. The new work must include all of the following elements: an item of clothing, a sour taste, and a bridge.
Application Deadline: Monday, February 12, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.
Learn more about the creative writing program on this OSAI webpage.
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Writing Prompt
 This month's prompt comes from the creative writing application for the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, modified from above.
Write a piece of poetry or prose that includes one or more of the following elements: an item of clothing, a sour taste, and/or a bridge.
Reading Quote
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