401 CHAPTER 7
Presented below are four item-writing rules. Which one is a guideline often recommended for the construction of short-answer items? A. Typically employ direct questions rather than incomplete statements, especially for young students. B. Structure an item, both verbally and in format, so that students can decide how lengthy their response should be. C. For incomplete statements, use at least three blanks, preferably more. D. Be certain that the length of a blank coincides roughly with the correct answer's likely length.
A
This illustrative essay item was written for sixth graders. Thinking back over the mathematics lessons and homework assignments that you received during the past 12 weeks, what mathematical conclusions can you draw? Describe those conclusions in no more than 300 words, written by hand on the test-booklets provided or as a printed copy of your conclusions composed on one of our classroom computers. Select the statement that most accurately appraises this essay item for sixth-grade students. A. The item displays clear evidence that the individual who created the item must have composed a student's possible response as a way of sharpening the item. B. Despite its adherence to one of the chapter's item-writing guidelines for essay items, the depiction of a student's task renders the item dysfunctional. C. The assessment significance of the chapter item-writing guidelines adhered to more than compensates for the chapter item-writing guidelines violated. D. This essay item definitely satisfies three of the chapter's item-writing guidelines for essay items, but violates two other guidelines for such items
B
This illustrative item is intended for use in a middle-school American history course. Directions: Remembering the class discussions of America's current immigration issues, please provide a brief essay on each of the issues cited below. You will have a full 50-minute class period to complete this examination, and you should divide your essay-writing efforts equally between the two topics. In grading your twin essays, equal weight will be given to each essay. Remember, compose two clear essays - one for each issue. Your Two Essay Topics 1. Why would some form of "amnesty" for illegal aliens be a helpful solution to at least part of today's U.S. immigration problems? 2. Why would some form of "amnesty" for illegal aliens be a disastrous solution to today's U.S. immigration problems? Which of the following statements most accurately describes the match between the illustrative item and the Chapter 7 guidelines for creating essay items? A. None of the chapter's guidelines have been followed in the illustrative item. B. At least three of the chapter's guidelines have been explicitly followed in the illustrative item. C. All of the chapter's guidelines have been decisively followed in the illustrative item. D. At least one of the chapter's guidelines has been explicitly followed in the illustrative item.
D
Select the one accurate guideline below for teachers who are scoring students' responses to essay items. A. Early on during the scoring process, depending on students' responses, decide how much weight you should give to the mechanics of writing. B. Prepare at least a tentative scoring key in advance of judging students' responses to any item. C. Score every student's response using two approaches: first holistically, then analytically. D. Be sure your students identify their own essay responses clearly so you can take students' aptitudes into consideration.
B
These illustrative short-answer items were created for use in a 12th-grade English course and are intended to be used in the course's midterm exam. Please complete the short-answer items below by filling in the blank you will find in each item. o __________ is the case to be employed with all modifiers of gerunds definitely including pronouns. o A __________ infinitive that, in former times, was regarded as a grammatical error is now acceptably encountered in all kinds of writing. Which of the following assertions best reflects how these two short-answer items conform to the chapter's item-writing guidelines for such items. A. When the two items are viewed in concert, every one of the chapter's item-writing guidelines for short-answer items has been violated at least once. B. Although several of the chapter's item-writing guidelines have been properly followed, there is the same violation of an item-writing guideline in both items. C. The first item has fewer inadvertent correct-answer clues present than will be found in the second item. D. All of the chapter's item-writing guidelines for short-answer items have definitely been followed in this pair of items.
B
This illustrative item is destined for use in a high-school speech course that, in recent weeks, has been focused on debate preparation. Directions: To conclude our unit on how to prepare successfully for a debate, please consider carefully the following preparation-focused topics. After doing so, choose one that you regard as most important - to you - and then write a 300-400 word essay describing how best to prepare for whatever topic you chose. Be sure to identify which of the potential topics you have selected. You will have 40 minutes to prepare your essay. Potential Essay Topics Introducing your position and defending it Use of evidence during the body of the debate Preparing for your opponents' rebuttal Please choose the statement that most accurately reflects the illustrative item's congruence with Chapter 7's guidelines for writing essay items. A. The illustrative item runs counter to all five of the chapter's guidelines for writing essay items. B. The illustrative item is structured in direct opposition to one of the chapter's guidelines for writing essay items. C.Because of the student's choice regarding an essay topic on which to write, the illustrative item need not adhere to the chapter's item-writing guidelines. D. The illustrative item is completely consonant with the chapter's guidelines for writing essay items.
B
This illustrative short-answer item was constructed for 10th-grade students. Following World War II, an international organization intended to maintain world peace was established, namely, the United Nations. Similarly, after World War I a peace-oriented international organization was established. What was the name of that earlier organization? Which of the following statements best mirrors the degree to which the illustrative item is in accord with Chapter 7's guidelines for writing short-answer items? A. The illustrative item violates three of the chapter's guidelines for writing short-answer items. B. The illustrative item violates none of the chapter's guidelines for writing short-answer items. C. The illustrative item violates all of the chapter's guidelines for writing short-answer items. D. The illustrative item violates four of the chapter's guidelines for writing short-answer items.
B
This illustrative short-answer item was written for a third-grade class. The purpose is to help both the teacher and the students determine how well those students had achieved mastery of a recent state-approved language arts curriculum goal. Please write your answer legibly. _____________ is a good one-word description for commas, periods, question marks, and colons. Which statement most accurately describes the illustrative item? A. This illustrative item violates the item-writing guideline that responses to short-answer items should be concise. B. For young students such as these third graders, direct questions should be used instead of incomplete statements so the illustrative item violates an item-writing guideline for short-answer items. C. At least two blanks should be employed in any short-answer items, particularly for very young students. D. The illustrative item utilizes a blank-space for this short-answer item, which is appropriate for young students.
B
Here's an illustrative short-response item intended for use with ninth-graders in a high-school government course: Please accurately fill in the blanks you find in the statement given below regarding "Western Exploration and Expansion." In _______, _______ and _______ explored what ultimately became the _______ section of the northwestern United States with the assistance of a native-American guide known as _______. Select the most accurate of the following statements regarding this illustrative short-answer item. A. The item blatantly violates three of the guidelines provided for writing this type of item. B. The item, because it deals with social studies content, is permitted to incorporate up to five blanks per sentence. C.The item satisfies the guideline regarding linear equality, yet violates the number-of-blanks guideline. D. The item violates none of the guidelines associated with the creation of short-answer items.
C
Which of the following is an item-writing guideline for the construction of multiple-choice items? A. Generally, especially with young children, the stem should consist of an incomplete statement rather than direct question. B. Supply clues to the correct answer by using alternatives of dissimilar lengths. C. Typically, make the later answer options, such as "C" and "D," the correct answers. D. Don't ever use "all-of-the-above" alternatives, but use a "none-of-the-above" alternative to increase an item's difficulty.
D
Here is an illustrative response-scoring plan devised by a high-school Latin teacher. Please review how the teacher plans to evaluate students' Latin compositions, then select the option that most accurately describes the teacher's scoring intentions. A Latin teacher in an urban high school (that has a long and oft-honored history of preparing students for college) frequently expresses during faculty meetings her complete disdain for what she calls "multiple-guess exams." As part of her annual teacher-evaluation evidence, she has been asked by her school's principal to present a written description of how she plans to evaluate students' responses to her constructed-response items. Please consider the following description supplied by the teacher, then select from four alternatives the most accurate comment regarding this teacher's scoring plans. "I plan to score my students' essay responses holistically, not analytically, because I invariably ask students to generate brief essays in which they must incorporate at least half of the new vocabulary terms encountered during the previous week. I supply students with a set of explicit evaluative criteria that I will incorporate in arriving at a single, overall judgment of an essay's quality. Actually, I always pre-weight each of these evaluative criteria and post those weights for students in advance of their tackling this task. Because this is a course emphasizing the writing of Latin (rather than oral Latin), I make it clear to my studentswell in advancethat grammar and the other mechanics of writing are very important. When I score students' essays, if there is more than one essay per test, I score all of Essay One before moving on to Essay Two. Because I want these students to become, in a sense, Latin "journalists," I require that they clearly identify themselves with a byline at the outset of each essay. This scoring system, based on nearly 20 years of my teaching Latin to hundreds of our school's students, really works." Select the statement that most accurately depicts this teacher's scoring plans. A. The teacher's approach violates one of the chapter's essay-scoring guidelines. B. The teacher's approach violates four of the chapter's essay-scoring guidelines. C. The teacher's approach violates two of the chapter's essay-scoring guidelines. D. The teacher's approach violates none of the chapter's essay-scoring guidelines.
A
One of the following rules for the construction of essay items is accurate. The other three rules are not. Which is the correct rule? A. Construct all essay items so the student's task for each item is unambiguously described. B. Force students to allocate their time judiciously by never indicating how much time should be expended on a particular item. C. Give students an opportunity to match their achievement levels with the essay test by allowing them to choose, from optional items, those they will answer. D. Judge the quality of a given set of essay items by seeing how accurately a tryout group of students can comprehend what responses are sought
A
This excerpt from a teacher's memo includes faculty-created rules for scoring their students' responses to essay items. The following rules for scoring students' responses to essay items were created last year by our faculty and were approved by a near unanimous vote of the faculty. Please review what those rules recommend prior to our taking this year's "confirmatory" faculty vote on these rules. RULES FOR SCORING RESPONSES TO ESSAY ITEMS When teachers in this school score their students' responses to essay items, those teachers should always (1) make a preliminary judgment about how much importance should be assigned to the conventions of writing, such as spelling, (2) decide whether to score holistically or analytically, (3) prepare a tentative scoring key prior to actually scoring students' responses, (4) try to score students' responses anonymously without knowing which student supplied which response, and (5) score a given student's responses to all essay items on a test and then move on to the next student's responses. Please select the most accurate assertion regarding these rules. A. Only one of the faculty-approved rules is basically opposed to the Chapter 7 guidelines for scoring students' responses to essay items. B. The faculty-approved rules are fundamentally in disagreement with the Chapter 7 guidelines for scoring students' responses to essay items. C. Three of the five recommendations in the faculty-approved rules are in substantial disagreement with the Chapter 7 guidelines for scoring students' responses to essay items. D. Other than minor variations in the wording, the faculty-approved rules are essentially identical to the Chapter 7 guidelines for scoring students' responses to essay items.
A
This illustrative essay item was written for 11th-grade students taking an English course. In the space provided in your test booklet, please compose a brief editorial (of 250 words or less) in favor of the school district's after-school tutorial program. The intended audience for your position statement consists of those people who routinely read this town's weekly newspaper. Because you will have the entire class period to complete this task, you may wish to write a draft editorial using the scratch paper provided so that you can then revise the draft before copying your final version into the test booklet. Your grade on this task will contribute 40 percent toward the grade for the six-week persuasive writing unit. Which statement best characterizes this item? A.This illustrative item contains no serious violation of any of the chapter's guidelines for writing essay items. B. This item clearly violates two of the chapter's item-writing guidelines for essay items. C. Although only one of the chapter's item-writing guidelines for essay items is violated in the illustrative item, that violation renders the item ineffectual. D. The available time allowed for students' responses to the illustrative item is inadequately specified.
A
Which of the rules given below accurately reflects one of the guidelines generally given to classroom teachers who must score students' responses to essay items? A. Prepare a tentative scoring key prior to judging any student's response-being ready to modify it if this seems warranted during the scoring. B. Attempt to apply Bloom's Cognitive Taxonomy to the scoring process. C. Score an entire test, that is, the student's responses to all items, before going on to the next student's test. D. After all answers to all essay items have been scored, decide how much weight you should give-if any-to such factors as spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
A
