NYSED Next Generation Anchor Standards for Literacy

Unlike grade-specific standards, which detail exactly what students should do at each grade level, the Anchor Standards are broad, consistent expectations that define literacy goals for all students by the time they graduate high school. They serve as the foundation upon which the grade-specific standards are built. The Anchor Standards are organized into four key strands: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language.

Reading for Information and Understanding

The Reading standards establish a staircase of increasing complexity in what students must be able to read, ensuring they grasp the nuances and craft of texts. These standards require students to read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

Key Ideas and Details

• Read closely: Students must read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it. They must cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
• Determine central ideas: Students are expected to determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development. The goal is to summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
• Analyze development: This involves analyzing how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Craft and Structure

• Interpret words and phrases: Students must interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings. They must analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
• Analyze structure: This standard requires analyzing the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text relate to each other or the whole.
• Assess point of view: Students must assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

• Synthesize information: Students should integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
• Delineate arguments: This involves delineating and evaluating the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
• Analyze texts: Students must analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Writing

The Writing standards emphasize the need for students to be able to write logically and coherently for a variety of purposes and audiences. The standards recognize that writing is a means of communication and a tool for thinking.

Text Types and Purposes

• Write arguments: Students must write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
• Write informative/explanatory texts: This involves writing informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
• Write narratives: Students should write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

Production and Distribution of Writing

• Produce clear writing: Students must produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• Develop writing: This involves developing and strengthening writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
• Technology: Students are expected to use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

• Conduct research: Students must conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
• Gather information: This involves gathering relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assessing the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrating the citation while avoiding plagiarism.
• Draw evidence: Students must draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Speaking and Listening

Literacy includes the ability to communicate effectively orally and through listening. These standards prepare students to adapt their communication to a variety of contexts and tasks.

Comprehension and Collaboration

• Prepare for discussions: Students must prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
• Integrate information: This involves integrating and evaluating information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
• Evaluate a speaker: Students must evaluate a speakers point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

• Present information: Students must present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning. The organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• Make strategic use of media: This involves making strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
• Adapt speech: Students must adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

Language

The Language standards include the rules of standard written and spoken English, as well as the knowledge of vocabulary. These standards are meant to be applied to the other three strandsReading, Writing, Speaking and Listening.

Conventions of Standard English

• Grammar and usage: Students must demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
• Capitalization and punctuation: This involves demonstrating command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Knowledge of Language

• Apply knowledge: Students must apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.

Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

• Determine meaning: Students must determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials.
• Understand relationships: This involves demonstrating understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
• Acquire vocabulary: Students must acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level.

By adhering to these Next Generation Anchor Standards, educators across New York State ensure that every student, from Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12, develops the critical literacy skills necessary to navigate a complex world. These standards provide a cohesive vision for literacy that goes beyond the mechanics of reading and writing to foster deep thinking, effective communication, and lifelong learning.