GLA Evaluation Format 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary difference between the GLA's literary and informational text passages?
- Literary texts are always shorter than informational texts
- Literary texts use narrative elements like plot and character; informational texts convey facts or arguments (Correct answer)
- Informational texts are fictional; literary texts are factual
- Both text types use identical question formats with no difference in skill focus
Correct answer: Literary texts use narrative elements like plot and character; informational texts convey facts or arguments
Literary texts engage narrative elements such as character, theme, and plot, while informational texts present factual content, arguments, or explanations.
Question 2: When the GLA writing rubric references 'coherence,' what is being evaluated?
- The number of paragraphs in the response
- How logically and smoothly ideas connect and flow throughout the writing (Correct answer)
- The total word count of the response
- Whether the student used bullet points
Correct answer: How logically and smoothly ideas connect and flow throughout the writing
Coherence refers to how well a piece of writing flows logically, with ideas connecting clearly from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph.
Question 3: In the GLA reading section, what skill is tested when students must determine the central idea of a passage?
- Identifying the author's biographical background
- Finding the main point the text develops and supports overall (Correct answer)
- Counting the number of details in a passage
- Locating the first sentence of each paragraph
Correct answer: Finding the main point the text develops and supports overall
Determining the central idea requires students to identify the overarching point or message that the entire text develops and supports.
Question 4: How does the GLA typically present multi-source performance tasks to students?
- Students receive one long passage and write a summary
- Students access multiple texts on a shared topic and use them to write an analytical or argumentative response (Correct answer)
- Students listen to an audio recording and answer oral questions
- Students solve a problem and explain their math process in writing
Correct answer: Students access multiple texts on a shared topic and use them to write an analytical or argumentative response
Multi-source performance tasks present several related texts and require students to synthesize information across sources in a written response.
Question 5: Which writing mode is most commonly assessed in the GLA's extended response section?
- Purely descriptive writing about personal memories
- Argumentative or analytical writing using textual evidence (Correct answer)
- Creative fiction with invented characters and plot
- Copying directly from the provided passages
Correct answer: Argumentative or analytical writing using textual evidence
The GLA's extended response emphasizes argumentative and analytical writing, where students must develop a claim and support it with evidence from texts.
Question 6: What does it mean when a GLA rubric criterion is labeled 'development of ideas'?
- How many different topics the student mentioned
- The depth and quality of elaboration and support provided for the main point (Correct answer)
- Whether the student wrote an introduction and conclusion
- The physical length of the student's response
Correct answer: The depth and quality of elaboration and support provided for the main point
Development of ideas evaluates how thoroughly a student elaborates, explains, and supports the central claim or analysis with specific evidence and reasoning.
Question 7: Which of the following question types on the GLA would require a student to make an inference?
- Recalling a date directly stated in the passage
- Identifying a bolded vocabulary word's definition provided in a glossary
- Concluding why a character made a decision based on indirect clues in the text (Correct answer)
- Counting the number of paragraphs in the passage
Correct answer: Concluding why a character made a decision based on indirect clues in the text
Inference questions require students to draw logical conclusions from information implied in the text rather than information directly stated.
GLA Evaluation Format 3
What is the primary difference between the GLA's literary and informational text passages?