In order to understand the text dependent analysis construct and its implications on instruction,
the Center for Assessment and the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) began an
initiative to study this construct. During the 2011-12 school year, a proof of concept study was
developed to determine whether responding to a text dependent analysis (TDA) prompt draws
solely on reading comprehension and writing skills, or if it is a new construct that combines
those two skills with a third analytic skill. Analysis is defined as “a detailed examination of the
elements or structure of text, by breaking it into its component parts to uncover interrelationships
in order to draw a conclusion.”
