PARCC Research Simulation Task
Grade 9 Reading
Lesson 1: Introducing the EBSR and TECR
Rationale
The format of the test items for PARCC’s Research Simulation Task (RST) is a
significant change from previous standardized tests. This lesson will present
students with an overview of the selected response and constructed response items
of the assessment.
Goal
To familiarize students with the format of PARCC’s RST evidence-based selected
response (EBSR) and technology-enhanced constructed response (TECR) questions.
Task Foci
CCSS RI.9-10.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what
the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS RI.9-10.2: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the
course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details;
provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS RI.9-10.3: Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events,
including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed,
and the connections that are drawn between them.
CCSS RI.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact
of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion
differs from that of a newspaper).
Objectives
Students will know what to expect from the evidence-based selected response and
technology-enhanced constructed response items.
Materials
Informational Text
EBSR/TECR questions
Procedures
Tell students that today they will explore the types of questions they will encounter on
PARCC’s assessments.
Distribute the text. Read it as a class or have students read it independently.
RST Reading Lesson 1: Introducing the Research Simulation Task
© 2014 Standards Solution, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Page 1
Distribute the sample EBSR.
Explain to students, “There are two formats that the questions on PARCC’s
assessments take. One is the evidence-based selected response. This type is similar to
the multiple-choice questions you’re used to seeing on tests. However, the difference
is that these are two-part questions. The first part resembles the traditional
multiple-choice question. The second part will often ask you to select the best
evidence to support your answer to the first part.”
Direct students to look at the EBSR question. Discuss Part A.
Ask students what is similar and what is different between Part A and traditional
multiple-choice questions.
Discuss Part B.
Distribute the sample TECR. Introduce the technology-enhanced constructed responses:
“These questions are probably very different from what you are used to seeing on a
test. The layout for these questions will vary. Some may ask you to drag and drop
quotations from the text, rearrange plot points into a summary list, identify causes
and effects...”
Discuss the TECR question with the class. Make sure students understand what the
question is asking them and what they need to do.
Work through the sample TECR as a class.
RST Reading Lesson 1: Introducing the Research Simulation Task
© 2014 Standards Solution, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Page 2
An Excerpt from President John Kennedy’s Inaugural Address
Ourdocuments.gov
We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end as
well as a beginning--signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and
Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbearers prescribed nearly a century and threequarters ago.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all
forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for
which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man
come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from
this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of
Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud
of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human
rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at
home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any
burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the
success of liberty.
This much we pledge--and more.
To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful
friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is
little we can do--for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one
form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron
tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope
to find them strongly supporting their own freedom--and to remember that, in the past, those who
foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.
To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass
misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required-not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is
right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
1. Part A: What is the meaning of the word tempered as it is used in the text?
A. renewed
B. reflected
C. hardened
D. noticed
Part B: Which phrase from the text best supports the answer to Part A?
A.
B.
C.
D.
“disciplined by a hard and bitter peace”
“oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty”
“born in this century”
‘the torch has been passed”
2. Part A: What is John F. Kennedy’s central message in this section of his speech?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The differences between east and west can be overcome through diplomacy.
The powerful must seek and work to ensure complete equality for all citizens.
The nation will do anything to assure the survival of freedom around the world.
The main goal of his administration will be to abolish poverty around the globe.
Part B: Which line from the passage supports the answer to Part A?
A. “We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing
an end as well as a beginning--signifying renewal as well as change.”
B. “To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the
loyalty of faithful friends.”
C. “But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom--and
to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of
the tiger ended up inside.”
D. “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price,
bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the
survival and the success of liberty.”
3. Kennedy speaks of a “new generation of Americans” in this section of his speech. Find three
details from the speech that describe this new generation and write them in the boxes below.
There are more than three correct answers.
The New
Generation
of
Americans
Answer Key
1A. C
1B. A
2A. C
2B. D






born in this century
tempered by war
disciplined by a hard and bitter peace
proud of our ancient heritage
unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this
nation has
always been committed