Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) - Grade 2 Assessment - English Language Arts Item Sampler 2016-2017

Oct 12, 2026

Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Grade 2 English Language Arts Item Sampler 2016–2017 outlines the optional assessment introduced for the 2016–17 school year. It describes a criterion-referenced approach aligned to Tennessee State Standards and explains how teachers, leaders, parents, and communities can use the results to monitor progress. The sampler details integrated ELA item design across reading comprehension, foundational literacy skills, language conventions, writing tasks, listening items with graphic or text choices, and fluency measures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages106

Reading Time4 h 27 min

AccessFree to download

Overview of the Grade 2 English Language Arts Assessment

Purpose and Uses of the English Language Arts Item Sampler

ELA Item Types

ELA Item Administration

Literary Reading Passage Set

Literary Reading/Writing Passage Set

Literary Listening Sentences

Literary Listening Passage Set with Graphic Answer Choices

Literary Listening Passage Set with Text Answer Choices

Informational Reading Passage Set

Informational Reading/Writing Passage Set

Informational Listening Sentences

Informational Listening Passage Set with Graphic Answer Choices

Informational Listening Passage Set with Text Answer Choices

Reading Fluency Set

Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) Grade 2 Assessment English Language Arts Item Sampler 2016–2017 Table of Contents Overview of the Grade 2 English Language Arts Assessment 3 Purpose and Uses of the English Language Arts Item Sampler 3 ELA Item Types 4 ELA Item Administration 5 Literary Reading Passage Set 6 Literary Reading/Writing Passage Set 19 Literary Listening Sentences 42 Literary Listening Passage Set with Graphic Answer Choices 45 Literary Listening Passage Set with Text Answer Choices 52 Informational Reading Passage Set 56 Informational Reading/Writing Passage Set 69 Informational Listening Sentences 91 Informational Listening Passage Set with Graphic Answer Choices 94 Informational Listening Passage Set with Text Answer Choices 101 Reading Fluency Set 105 TCAP Grade 2 Assessment Item Sampler, ELA | 2 Overview of the Grade 2 English Language Arts Assessment The Tennessee Department of Education is launching the new optional Grade 2 Assessment during the 2016–17 school year. The new assessment will be criterion referenced as opposed to norm referenced. Thus, it will only assess Tennessee State Standards, which will provide teachers, leaders, parents, and community members information on how students are performing at the end of their second grade year on Tennessee specific standards. Because it assesses the full breadth of the standards, the data will be highly beneficial in determining how students are progressing toward mastering the standards. The English Language Arts (ELA) test is designed to assess the standards in an integrated manner. All items (except for fluency) are associated with passages (Reading passage sets, Listening passage sets) or short stimuli (Listening sentences) . All stimuli and passages are either literature or informational. Students’ foundational literacy skills are also assessed using words taken directly from the given passages. The integrated format will assess students based upon questions derived from both literature and informational texts in order to determine their mastery of the standards in the following areas: • Reading Comprehension: Students’ comprehension is assessed based upon both literature passages and informational text. • Foundational Literacy Skills: Students’ phonics and word recognition skills are assessed using words taken directly from the given passages. • Language (Conventions/Grammar/Spelling): Students’ command of the conventions of standard English and vocabulary acquisition is assessed through words, phrases, and sentences found within or based on the given passages. • Writing: Students are asked to write 3–4 sentences per prompt (aligned to standard W8) based upon information from the passage/text. • Listening: Students are assessed on their listening comprehension skills through a series of sentences with picture-based questions and short passages with either picture-based or textbased items. • Foundational Literacy Fluency: Students’ reading fluency and comprehension will be assessed through the use of yes or no responses to sentences that are read independently and contain second-grade vocabulary. Purpose and Uses of the English Language Arts Item Sampler The English Language Arts Item Sampler contains the types of items that students will encounter on the new optional Grade 2 English Language Arts Assessment. All items in the sampler are aligned to Tennessee’s State English Language Arts Standards for Grade 2 and are representative of the formats used on the assessment. While the sampler is not intended to demonstrate the length of the actual test or to serve as a practice test, the items in the sampler may be used in a variety of ways to enhance instruction and assessment in the classroom. Teachers can use the sampler to help students become familiar with the types of passages, items , and response formats that are on the assessment. In order to cover a variety of standards an

FAQs

What is the purpose of the Grade 2 English Language Arts Item Sampler?

It presents the item types students will encounter on the optional Grade 2 ELA assessment and shows representative formats aligned to Tennessee State Standards. It also supports classroom instruction and assessment design, with answer keys, scoring guides, and rubrics provided separately.

How does the TCAP Grade 2 ELA test measure student learning?

The assessment is criterion-referenced to Tennessee State Standards and uses an integrated design. Items link questions to literature or informational reading passages, listening passages, or short listening sentences, covering reading comprehension, foundational literacy skills, language conventions, writing, and listening.

What item types are included in the ELA sampler?

The sampler includes multiple choice, multiple select, writing prompts, and fluency. Multiple-choice items may use text or graphic answer options, multiple-select items require selecting two correct responses, writing prompts ask for 3–4 sentences, and fluency is assessed through yes/no responses to independently read sentences.

Oct 12, 2026

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