Content Specifications for the Summative Assessment of the ...

oxes can be optional drop-down boxes, accessed only if a student needs them. Hint boxes are
only used if they do not change constructs assessed.
Reduce language load/simplify language in the question stems and/or the response options.
Substitute more familiar words in question stems and response options if that is not the
vocabulary /construct being assessed. Additionally, innovative (electronic) items might include
hover boxes over certain vocabulary/terms so that students can click to find definitions or brief
explanations of terms.
Provide consistent icons and phrasing of question stems throughout the test.
Use bulleted lists and increased white space in place of longer dense texts.
Color-coding to help students to organize information.
Provide sub-questions to break up multi-step tasks.
Place inferential and analysis questions after literal questions have been asked.
Provide graphic organizers to help students organize information before answering more
complex questions.
Other item enhancements to be explored may include (but need not be limited to):
Reduce the number of response options (number of distractors) in SR and some technologyenhanced
(TE) items.
Provide e-highlighter option so students can mark the passage while reading.
Developing a range of items for the CAT item bank and performance tasks
Test developers will apply an approach to item and task development with two key ideas in mind – (1)
how to make test items accessible to all learners and (2) how to design items for the same constructs that
engage novice-to-expert performers.
In 2006, ACT, Inc., released a report called Reading Between the Lines showing that what chiefly
distinguished the performance of those students who had earned the benchmark score or better from
those who had not was not their relative ability to make inferences while reading or to answer questions
related to particular cognitive processes, such as determining main ideas or determining the meaning of
words and phrases in context. Instead, the clearest differentiator was what students could read, in terms
of its complexity. These findings held for male and female students, students from all racial/ethnic
groups, and students from families with widely varying incomes. The results of the ACT study have
been borne out in years of results on other state assessments.
Therefore, a key aspect of the continuum of difficulty represented on the SBAC adaptive test will be
based on the complexity of the texts students are able to comprehend. For example, students could be
provided with short chunks of texts from least-to-more complex to build a profile of the students’
expertise. Then, the assessment will adapt to the level of text complexity that students show they can
handle. In addition, item scaffolding and enhancements, detailed above, can be used to support
struggling learners at all grade levels.
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