EOG Reading Grades 3-8 Test Specifications

End-of-Grade Reading Tests at Grades 3–8 North Carolina Test Specifications

Purpose of the Tests

The Grades 3–8 End-of-Grade (EOG) Reading Tests measure students’ reading proficiency on the North Carolina Standard Course of Study (NCSCOS) for English Language Arts, adopted by the North Carolina State Board of Education in June 2017.

Test results are used for school accountability under the accountability model and for federal reporting purposes.

Curriculum Cycle

April 2017: North Carolina Board of Education adoption of the NCSCOS for English Language Arts

2017–18: Item development for the EOG Reading Tests

2018–19: Administration of embedded field test items for the EOG Reading Tests

2020–21: First operational administration of the EOG Reading Tests (Edition 5)

Developing Tests

North Carolina educators were recruited and trained to write new items. The diversity among item writers and their knowledge of the current standards was addressed during recruitment. Trained North Carolina educators also review items and suggest improvements, if necessary. The use of North Carolina educators to write and review items strengthens evidence of content validity of EOG assessments.

For an in-depth explanation of the test development process, see North Carolina State Board Policy TEST-013: Multiple Choice Test Development or reference the Test Development Process: Item, Selection, and Form Development document.

Prioritization of Standards

Members of the North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI)’s Test Development Section invited North Carolina educators to collaborate and develop recommendations for a prioritization of the standards, indicating the relative importance of each standard, the anticipated instructional time, and the appropriateness of the standard for test design.

Subsequently, Academic Standards and Test Development staff from the NCDPI met to review these recommendations from teacher panels and adopt final weight distributions across the domains for each grade level.

Tables 1 and 2 describe the range of total items by domain and Depth of Knowledge (DOK) that will appear on the EOG Reading Tests. The EOG only assesses reading standards. Table 3 shows the standards that are assessed on the EOG Reading Test at each grade.

Table 1. EOG Reading grades 3–8 domain weight distributions.

Table 2. EOG Reading grades 3–8 item by DOK distribution.

Table 3. EOG Reading grades 3–8 standards assessed by grade.

Cognitive Rigor and Item Complexity

Test items for the EOG Reading Tests have been designed, developed, and classified to ensure that the cognitive rigor of the operational test forms align to the cognitive complexity and demands of Webb’s Depth of Knowledge and the NCSCOS for English Language Arts reading standards. Items on the EOG assessments cover the full breadth and depth of grade-level cognitive expectation that can be assessed using the current test format.

Testing Structure and Test Administration

Table 4 provides the number of selections, items by selection, and number of operational and field test items for EOG Reading Tests. Included in the total item counts are embedded field test items that will not be included as part of students’ final scores but will be used for purposes of developing items for future test forms.

To balance between complexity and the reading load for grade 3 students, each selection within the Grade 3 EOG Reading Test is divided into two separate parts. Items within each selection have also been divided and presented at the end of each subsequent part.

Table 4. EOG Reading grades 3–8 total number of selections and items.

The EOG Reading Tests will consist of four-response-option multiple-choice and technology-enhanced item types. All items will be worth one point each.

Based on analysis of item-completion timing data, the NCDPI estimates it will take 2 hours (120 minutes) for most students to complete the EOG Reading Tests. The NCDPI requires all students be allowed ample opportunity to complete the test. The maximum amount of time allowed is 3 hours (180 minutes) except for students with documented special needs requiring accommodations, such as Scheduled Extended Time. Refer to the North Carolina Test Coordinators’ Policies and Procedures Handbook on the Testing Policy and Operations webpage for additional information.

Test Cycle and Delivery Mode

The EOG Reading Tests must be administered during the last ten days of the instructional year (traditional yearlong schedule).

The EOG Reading Tests are provided only in English. Native language translation versions are not available. North Carolina G.S.§115C-81.45(a) requires all teachers and principals to conduct all classes other than foreign language classes in English.

The EOG Reading Tests at grades 3–8 will be required to be administered in online administrations.

Online tests are provided through NCTest, the NCDPI’s online testing platform. Schools must ensure every student participating in an online test for the North Carolina Testing Program completes the Online Assessment Tutorial for the associated test at least once at the school before test day. The tutorial provides students the opportunity to practice the mechanics of navigating through the testing platform, to become familiar with the tools, and to respond to the sample items. Refer to the North Carolina Test Coordinators’ Policies and Procedures Handbook on the Testing Policy and Operations webpage for additional information.

Paper versions of all online tests, including required online administrations, are available for students with disabilities who need to test in the paper mode for accessibility.

Supplemental Materials and Additional Resources

All students must be provided scratch paper and a writing utensil.

Released forms are available on the EOG webpage and to schools through NCTest, the NCDPI’s online testing platform. The released forms for the EOG Reading Tests are built using the same operational test specifications. A single released form may not reflect the full breadth and depth of grade-level assessed standards, but it reflects the range of difficulty found on any EOG operational test form. At this time, the released forms for the EOG Reading Tests may not include all reading selections for print due to copyright permissions. The NCDPI has obtained copyright permissions only of web viewing for some selections.

Released forms may be used by public school units to help acquaint students with items. These materials must not be used for personal or financial gain, are copyrighted to the NCDPI, and cannot be uploaded into third party applications. Released items may be accessed via NCTest by clicking on the released items icon.

Achievement Level Descriptors for the Edition 5 EOG Reading Tests were adopted by the NC State Board of Education in August 2021 and are available on the EOG webpage.

A sample Individual Student Report for the Edition 5 EOG Reading Test is available on the Individual Student Reports (ISRs) webpage.