An Analysis of the Higher-Order Thinking Requirements of an End-of-Course ELA Assessment

Higher-order thinking has been promoted in the American classroom for several decades. Summative assessments have the dual role of ascertaining the student's proficiency and also providing them with opportunities to employ various cognitive behaviors and to offer them with opportunities to demonstrate their ability to think in complex ways. The creators of one such summative assessment, the North Carolina End-of-Course English II Test, claim that their test provides up to 40% of its items at the higher-order of thinking. The purpose of this convergent mixed-methods study was to investigate how the language found in the released items on the North Carolina End-of-Course English II (Grade 10) Assessment compares with the language that promotes higher-order thinking found in the research literature. The qualitative component of this study focused on analyzing the language found in the questions and items on the NCEOC English II Assessment and how that language compared with the language used in the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix and the Webb Alignment Tool. The quantitative component of this student involved determining the frequency and percentage of assessment items that promote higher-order thinking. Four consultant coders, employing a double-rater read-behind consensus model to ensure inter-rater reliability, coded each of the 53 released items from the assessment according to its cognitive behavior and its thinking complexity. The study found that an overwhelming majority of the items on the NCEOC English II Assessment did not promote higher-order thinking. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]