Creating Items That You Can Add to Tests

You can create individual items in Authoring’s item builder by filling out a variety of item templates. Your original items can be added to the tests that you create in the test builder.

1.To create a new item, select Create New Item from the Dashboard, or select Create New Item from the Items tab. The item builder appears, displaying a list of available item templates. You can sort this list by alphabetical order or by the default order of common item types.

2.Select an item template to create an item based on that template. Templates with a pencil icon in the corner will need to be scored by a user in Centralized Reporting.

• After selecting an item type, the item template appears, along with an item toolbar and on-screen instructions you can expand by clicking More Info. Item templates display sample content in each field, including the answer key. You will need to replace this content when you create the new content for the item.

3.Fill out the item template. You can click Tutorial in the item toolbar to watch a video illustrating the steps for completing the template. More detailed instructions for filling out each item template are also provided in the section Filling Out Item Templates. In general, most item templates involve three main steps.

• Step 1: Compose the Item Prompt: The prompt is the question or the directions that students respond to in an item. You can enter the prompt in a text box at the top of the template. You can use the text box toolbar to format the text and insert media elements, such as images, videos, and tables.
• Step 2: Create the Response Area: The response area is the part of the item that students interact with in order to answer the question. The steps for creating the response area are different for each type of item template.
• Step 3: Construct the Answer Keys: The answer key determines how many points an item is worth and how a student’s response will be scored. Students do not see this information, but it is used by the Authoring system (for machine-scored items) and educators (for hand-scored items).
  • For machine-scored items, the answer key shows a preview of the item’s response area, where you should enter a valid response and select how many points that response is worth. You can click to create more answer keys if the item has multiple correct or partially correct answers.
    • Optional: In the Explanation field, you can explain why each valid response is worth the number of points you selected.
    • Optional: The Include Scoring Description checkbox lets you add a reader-friendly description of the rubric and an example of a valid response, which will be available in the Centralized Reporting system for this item.
  • For hand-scored items, the answer key displays a Description field for entering a rubric and an Exemplar field for entering reader-friendly examples of valid responses for each score a student may earn. This information will be used in the Centralized Reporting system, where student responses for the item will be scored by hand. For more information, see the Centralized Reporting User Guide.

4. At any point when you’re building an item, you can align the item to standards and enter other item details (such as its name, grade, and subject) from the Item Property menu in the toolbar above the template.

5.Optional: To see what the item will look like to students, click Preview in the item toolbar.

6.To save the item, click Save Item in the toolbar. Once you save an item, it is added to your items library with a Draft status. Your library items can be added to tests or shared with other users.

• You cannot save an item if its answer key has an invalid response. Answer keys with invalid responses will display an error message explaining why the answer is invalid.
• Items automatically save your changes at a regular interval. When an item is saved, this button will be grayed out.

7.Optional: To leave a comment for the item, click in the lower-left corner of the Editing panel. Enter your comment in the provided field, and click Submit Comment. Comments will be available to any educators you share the item with but not to students taking tests with this item.

8.Optional: Authorized users can submit the item to a shared items library. To do this, click Submit for Review in the item toolbar. The item will be removed from your personal library, and you will not be able to add it to tests until it is approved for the shared library