Information about PSSA Open-ended Questions for all subjects Hollidaysburg Area Junior High School

1. Information about PSSA Open-ended Questions for all subjects Hollidaysburg Area Junior High School

2. What is an open-ended question? An open-ended question is a text-based question that requires a student to make connections to the reading. In order to be successful on an open-ended item, a student must respond to all parts of the question.

3. Facts about Open-ended Questions • According to data, girls perform better than boys. • By 6th grade, students’ scores start to decline. • They continue to decline in 7th grade. There are possibly two reasons for these statistics. First, the passages become longer and the poorer readers give up. Also, boys, traditionally the poorer readers, don’t try very hard to answer open-ended questions because they are “only worth three points.” • Open-ended items account for at least 20-25% of the test. Students who ignore them put themselves at a disadvantage. • Open-ended questions do NOT have “yes” or “no” answers. • Open-ended questions do NOT have only one answer. • For most open-ended items, students are given a number of points to include. For example, a students may be asked to “Give two examples of how the . . .”

4. How can teachers help? Teach that open-ended questions use specific language to tell students what they are to answer. Therefore, it would be helpful if your students knew the meanings of these words: • Analyze - break the topic into parts and explain • Explain – describe the topic with details • Compare – show how two things are alike • Contrast – show how two things are different • Define – tell the meaning of a word with details • Demonstrate – show, give an example, or give evidence • Describe – tell about or give details about something • Justify – give good reasons that support a decision • List – name or number items or details • Prove – show that something is true by giving facts • Summarize – briefly cover the main points in paragraph form

5. English Example After reading the essay titled “The Eternal Frontier” by Louis L’Amour, state the author’s purpose for writing. Use two facts from the text to support your answer.

6. Math Example Joe sells small and large cakes. He sells large cakes for $12 and small cakes for $8. If you buy two large cakes and four small cakes, how much money would you spend? Show and explain all work.

7. Science Example State whether or not you believe viruses to be living, and give at least two reasons that would support your position.

8. Social Studies Example After reading the chapter on the American Revolution, identify and explain two advantages the Patriots had over the British to win the war.

9. Teachers can help students succeed in writing open-ended responses by teaching theRAT STRATEGY • Restate the main question or the main idea from the text. • Answer every question that is asked. Cite evidence from the selection to support your restatement. • Tie your answers to the text in however many ways you’re asked!

10. Scoring for Open-ended Items • 0 = insufficient • 1 = partially sufficient • 2 = sufficient • 3 = exemplary • 0 and 1 = not passing • 2 and 3 = passing

11. PSSA Scoring Guidelines for Open-ended Items

12. Review • No matter what subject you teach, you can create and practice open-ended questions. • More practice in responding to open-ended questions = better student scores and improvement in critical thinking skills.