Developing Science and Social Studies Assessment Items
Developing assessment item sets can be more challenging than developing individual items. Good item set writing involves focusing on the alignment, clarity, and impact of the set as a whole, as well as the particulars of the individual items. By following the steps in the two presentations linked below, teachers and item writers will be able to build appropriate scaffolding that elicits evidence of student understanding.
A version of these materials was presented at the 2018 Louisiana Department of Education Leadership Summit.
Engineer Your Own Multi-Dimensional Science Assessments
This PowerPoint breaks down the steps in designing a task set for assessing multi-dimensional science standards. It defines task sets, items types, and phenomena, and incorporates a peer review step into the writing process.
Join the Revolution – Build Your Own Social Studies Assessments
This PowerPoint begins with the benefits of engagement in social studies and the purpose of set-based item design in measuring student progress. It lists the components of good item set writing and includes examples of prompts and responses for analysis.