IEOC English Language Arts Content Coverage

The Iowa End-of-Course assessments are designed to assess student knowledge and skills in a variety of subject areas. The assessments should be administered during a single class period.

In English Language Arts, the End-of-Course assessment consists of several thematically-related texts from different genres. The 28 multiple-choice test items, which are aligned to Common Core State Standards, reflect educator input and a rigorous quality-control process to ensure appropriateness, clarity, and accuracy.

A summary of the content and skills covered within the English Language Arts test is presented below.

Key Ideas and Details

Items may ask students to examine how individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact; to discern central ideas or themes and their development in a variety of literary texts; and to demonstrate that they can summarize key ideas and supporting details; draw conclusions, make logical inferences and predictions; and understand explicit meaning.

Craft and Structure

Items may ask students to interpret aspects of text structure and author’s craft, including the use of literary devices (e.g., simile, personification, alliteration) and literary elements (e.g., setting, theme, tone); assess how point of view and purpose shape the content and style of the text; analyze how specific portions of text relate to each other and the text as a whole; and to demonstrate that they understand the meaning of specific words and phrases in the text, including connotative and figurative language; and how language and word choices affect overall meaning.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

Items may ask students to demonstrate that they can synthesize ideas from multiple texts; analyze how these texts address similar topics and themes; evaluate specific claims, the author’s reasoning, and the validity of the author’s arguments; judge the relevance and sufficiency of evidence provided; and make connections that integrate texts with external ideas.