GUIDELINES for the Writing Assessment Project H ow to Write T est I tems

1. GUIDELINES for the Writing Assessment Project How to Write Test Items Professor Norland, 2013 ED 342

2. ED342 Assessment project: • You are going to create an assessment for your content area. • The assessment will be based on 2 REAL OBJECTIVES from the Common Core/Standards. • These 2 objectives that you pick will reinforce each other, or go together sensibly.

3. ED342 Assessment project: • Your assessment will be a combination of multiple-choice, true-false, matching items, fill-in-the-blank, short questions and essays. • The specific requirements will be reviewed throughout this power point and at the end. The type of assessment you will create is a CRITERION-REFERENCED and SUMMATIVE.

4. Criterion-Referenced tests • Teacher-made tests that have the objectives, or standards as the goals, can be called criterion-referenced tests. In other words, the test items are written to assess if the students have met the ‘criteria’ for the unit or lesson. • Clearly stated objectives or criterion for what you want your students to learn.

5. SUMMATIVE Assessment • “Summary” of students’ demonstrated understanding of the objectives. • Usually this assessment is given at the end of a unit or chapter of study. Shows the final results of students’ success or failure of what they’ve learned. • Usually the grade is not modifiable, and the students move on to the next topic of study.

6. While we’re here, what is the difference between a SUMMATIVE assessment and a FORMATIVE assessment?

7. FORMATIVE Assessment • Helps to “form” the instruction of students before and during the learning process. • Teachers use these to determine a student’s level of knowledge or skill or attitude. • Teachers can make decisions about their instruction and adjustments to what and how they’re teaching.

8. FORMATIVE Assessment • Helps to “form” the instruction of students before and duringthe learning process. FORMAL and INFORMAL Paper-pencil test Notes on students Pre-test ; surveys Teacher observations Question-answers Teacher checklists Pop-practice quizzes Teacher feedback Re-testing, re-teaching Student Journals Portfolios Student self-assessment

9. Your written assessment will be a formal SUMMATIVE as if the students just completed a unit, and you are testing them on what they learned. • “Summary” of students’ demonstrated understanding of the two objectives (your criterion) according how successful they are on your test items.

10. ED342 Assessment project: • You are going to create an assessment for your content area. • The assessment will be based on 2 REAL OBJECTIVES from the Common Core/Standards. • These 2 objectives that you pick will reinforce each other, or go together sensibly.

11. The test will be divided into 3 Parts with these titles: PART 1: Selected-Response PART 2: Closed-Constructed Response PART 3: Open-Constructed Response •There are clear and specific directions for each set of test items. ED342 Assessment project:

12. Make sure your test-taking directions are clear. Do not assume it is obvious what to do.

13. Don’t write test items that have unintended clues that help students guess the correct answer. The bird in the story was an ___? (eagle, hawk, robin) • Choose to use simple sentences instead of complicated sentences. • Make sure the vocabulary you use in the test is suitable to your students. • Pay attention to the words you start questions with (what, who, when, where),which assess Knowledge, or (how, why), which require higher-levels of thinking.

14. Selected-response requires that the students choose one correct answer per item. Students do not have to come up with their own answers; they instead are given options to select. • •True/False, Multiple choice, and Matching items are selected-response items. Part 1 of your assessment will be SELECTED-RESPONSE ITEMS

15. These may also be called BINARY-CHOICE because there are (2)options: • TRUE-FALSE • YES-NO • RIGHT-WRONG • FACT-OPINION

16. Part 1: (Selected Response) TRUE-FALSE • Phrase items thoughtfully, so that none are obviously true or false. • Avoid using negative words in true-false items. King Tut was NOT a pharaoh of Egypt. Alligators are NEVER found in salt-water. Avoid using qualifiers such as “always”, “usually”, “often”, “seldom”, “sometimes”, “every”, “never”. Alligators OFTEN live in fresh-water. Boys USUALLY excel in math and engineering.

17. TRUE-FALSE • Focus on only one idea in each statement so that students do not have to deal with the possible truth or falsity of two parts at once . • The highest level of Bloom’s is evaluation and the lowest level is comprehension. • Have a fairly equal amount of true-false answers in all. (OR use more false than true statements because students tend to mark true more often than they mark false when guessing.) • Randomize the sequence of true and false statements.

18. TRUE-FALSE • If a statement expresses a relationship, such as cause and effect, present the correct part of the statement first and vary the truth or falsity of the second part. • Mixing bleach and vinegar will produce a toxic gas. (T) • (1ST PART CORRECT ………..2ND PART FALSE) • Lincoln’s election was the key to the North seceding. (F)

19. TRUE-FALSE • Make true and false statements of • approximately equal and average length • throughout the test. • (Longer statements are more likely to be true). •Write items with the important test objectives in mind; not simply a focus on memorization: recalling of specific details, numbers, dates, etc.

20. PRACTICE on True/False items

21. A typhoon is the same thing as a hurricane. The typhoon took place in China. A typhoon is different than a hurricane. This is the 3rd time a typhoon has hit the Philippines. No hurricane in the Atlantic has ever been this strong as typhoon Haiyan.

22. 6. Wind gusts reached speeds up to 235 mph. 7. The storm was over 300 miles wide. 8. A typhoon happens west of the International Dateline. 9. A typhoon has a clockwise rotation.

23. BETHANY COLLEGE T/F handout.

24. Focuses on important concepts. • (Consider test objectives!) • Start out with a longer statement or question, which is called the “STEM.” Part 1: (Selected Response) MULTIPLE-CHOICE ITEMS

25. STEM: The first part of the item preceding the response options/choices or “stimulus material.”

26. MULTIPLE-CHOICE • The STEM should have a self-contained question or problem, or statement: • A main cause leading up to the Civil War was this: • Which of the following (of the diagrams shown) is an isosceles triangle? • Identify the prepositional phrase in this sentence: • It was a very windy and stormy day in Kansas.

27. MULTIPLE-CHOICE • Avoid negative words ( “not”, “never”) and “always” in the stem. • It IScommon and appropriate for Multiple Choice stems to use ‘qualifiers’ such as “probably” and “most likely.” • One cause of the Civil War was most likely for this reason: Which is NOT the first step in simplifying a fraction?

28. MULTIPLE-CHOICE • There are typically 4 to 5 choice items for each stem; with 3 choices for younger students. • The written length of all the choices should be very similar. (They should be shorter than the length of the stem.)

29. MULTIPLE-CHOICE • Randomize the sequence of correct letter choices/answers. • Make sure that all 4 letter choices are equally used throughout the test. • Do not use an “ALL OF THE ABOVE” choice, but you can use “NONE OF THE ABOVE”which is more difficult.

30. The next to highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is which of the following? A. Comprehension B. Analysis C. Synthesis D. None of the above

31. MULTIPLE-CHOICE • Questions are written specifically to assess the objectives that are meant to be tested. • There is a fairly equal number of items asked about each one of the objectives. • All of the options seem realistic; none are ‘silly’, unreasonable, or clearly wrong.

32. PRACTICE on Multiple Choice items

33. How wide was Typhoon Haiyan? A. 1000 miles wide B. 300 miles wide C. 500 miles wide D. 1 mile wide

34. A cause that has been linked to the rising levels of the sea is probably: A. More marine life B. Global warming C. Erosion D. Dumping water into the oceans

35. Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from: A. April 1st – June 30th B. June 1st – Nov. 30th C. June 30th – Oct. 1st D. Oct. 1st –May 30th

36. How fast were the winds of typhoon Haiyan? A. 100 mph B. 200 mph C. 195 mph D. 300 mph

37. What is the meteorological name for typhoon Haiyan? A. Petrel B. Super typhoon Yolanda C. Yo, watch out I’m coming D. Leyte

38. Super Typhoon Haiyan slammed into what country? A. China B. Philippines C. Mexico D. Indonesia

39. Which article would most likely be considered a secondary resource? A. Newspaper article B. List of facts about Haiyan C. Fact sheet on what makes a typhoon, hurricane, cyclone. D. All of the above.

40. Which is not a reason for deaths in the Philippines? A. The archipelago was cut off by flooding and landslides B. Poverty stricken living conditions and collapsing buildings C. Lack of communication and no warning system in place.

41. Focuses on important concepts, and measures test objectives. • Two parallel lists of words or phrases requiring students to match entries on one list with entries on the other list. Part 1: (Selected Response) MATCHING ITEMS

42. MATCHING • Use lists that are homogeneous or in the same kind of group. • Lists should be brief, with the shorter words or phrases listed on the right. • Add extra responses, more than is actually needed, to the list on the right. • Alphabetize or arrange the responses on the right in a chronological sequence or numerical order from least to greatest.

43. Finally, place the matching items on the same page. Describe the directions clearly: •How the matches are to be made; •How many times the responses can be used.

44. NOTE how specific and clear the directions are: Directions: On the line to the left of each military conflict listed in Column A, write the letter of the U.S. president in Column B who was in office when that military conflict was concluded. Each name in Column Bmay be used no more than once. There are 3 extra choices in Column B that will not be used. Column B A. Bush B. Clinton C. Eisenhower D. Johnson E. Nixon F. Roosevelt G. Truman H. Wilson Column A ____1. World War I ____2. World War II ____3. Korea ____4. Vietnam ____5. First Persian Gulf

45. PRACTICE on MATCHING items

46. Hurricane 1. Spawns in tropical waters in the north Pacific Typhoon 2. Torrential rains in the rain forest C. Cyclone 3. Spawns in tropical waters in the western Pacific Monsoon 4. Forms in the Atlantic and northern Pacific

47. MATCHING • Use lists that are homogeneous or in the same kind of group. • Lists should be brief, with the shorter words or phrases listed on the right. • Add extra responses, more than is actually needed, to the list on the right. • Alphabetize or arrange the responses on the right in a chronological sequence or numerical order from least to greatest.

48. 10,000 1. The death toll has reached at least __________ people. 180 2. The highest recorded gust of wind was _______ mph. 235 3. The typhoon has inflicted damage on six of the ________ islands. 7000 4. A typhoon forms in the west Pacific between ______ degrees and 100 degrees east longitude.

49. MATCHING • Use lists that are homogeneous or in the same kind of group. • Lists should be brief, with the shorter words or phrases listed on the right. • Add extra responses, more than is actually needed, to the list on the right. • Alphabetize or arrange the responses on the right in a chronological sequence or numerical order from least to greatest.

50. The Philippino name of the typhoon A. Techcloban that affected the Philippines. 2. The city affected by the super typhoon B. Leteye Island 3. World meteorological organization’s C. Haiyan name for typhoon 4. Hardest hit island in the Philipines D. Yolanda