Constructed-Response Supplement

Purpose
The purpose of these assessments is to measure important learning outcomes drawn from the content specifications for the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) and the Iowa Tests of Educational Development (ITED), with an emphasis on knowledge and skills best measured with an open-ended format. The Constructed-Response Supplement (CRS) is available for levels 9-18 (that is, grades 3-12). Although the assessments are untimed, most students will be able to finish each assessment in 30 minutes. The CRS can be used in conjunction with the ITBS or ITED multiple-choice test batteries, locally developed tests, and classroom assessments. Therefore, the CRS can serve effectively as a multiple measure of the attainment of content standards and benchmarks. In particular, the CRS provides a somewhat different assessment format than multiple-choice tests because students construct answers rather than select them, a variety of approaches can be used to correctly solve problems or respond to situations, many of the questions have more than one acceptable answer, multiple modes of written communication can be used to answer questions (for example, words, diagrams, symbols, and calculations), and partial credit scoring is used.

Content Description
Thinking about Reading. The reading assessments are designed to measure students' ability to understand and interpret what they read, and to communicate their analyses and conclusions in writing. At each test level, the reading assessment consists of an extended reading selection followed by 6 to 11 constructed-response questions. Students provide their answers in a few words or in a sentence or two. All passages for the reading assessments are excerpts from previously published works of fiction and nonfiction in the content areas of science, social studies, or literature.

Thinking about Language. The language assessments are designed to assess students' written language skills. The assessments reflect the editing and revision stages of the writing process and the generation of ideas. The language assessments require students to demonstrate their proficiency in using the conventions of standard written English and their ability to apply generally accepted guidelines of effective writing. The assessments measure students' written communication skills, with a particular focus on the development and organization of ideas and the application of the conventions of grammar, usage, and expression in contextual situations. Specifically, the language assessments present students with stories, reports, and letters, and allow them to demonstrate the following communication skills in context: identifying writing problems and rewriting clauses and sentences to improve clarity, writing original sentences appropriate to a function, and identifying and/or correcting spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and usage errors commonly made at a particular level of development.

Thinking about Mathematics. The mathematics assessments are designed to assess students' understanding of mathematical concepts and procedures; their ability to apply and integrate conceptual understanding and procedural knowledge in diverse contexts; and their ability to reason, solve problems, and communicate mathematically. The mathematics assessments consist of 10 to 17 open-ended exercises. Most exercises require students to explain their reasoning or justify their conclusions, with ample space provided for them to show their work. Each exercise is presented individually or in a cluster that relates to a common data source presented in graphs, tables, or short paragraphs. The mathematics assessments require students to analyze and solve relevant problems, and to describe their thoughts and results using words, diagrams, graphs, symbols, calculations, and equations. The assessments also provide students with opportunities to: employ a variety of solution strategies to yield valid results, generate responses to problems that have more than one answer, establish and evaluate connections among mathematical concepts and procedures, and reason inductively, proportionally, spatially, and deductively. The specific mathematical content that provides the foundation for assessing these skills and abilities varies from grade to grade. Across grade levels, this content includes: number relationships, number systems and number theory, computation, estimation, patterns, functions, algebra, statistics, probability, geometry, measurement, and discrete mathematics.

Scoring, Reporting, and Interpretation
Although centralized scoring services are not available, Iowa Testing Programs will provide assistance and consultation in the implementation of local scoring. For each test level, a Manual for Scoring and Interpretation is available to help implement a local scoring program. One potential benefit of local scoring by teachers is the opportunity this activity affords for professional development. Iowa Testing Programs is committed to supporting Iowa schools in local scoring, to ensuring high technical quality of the scores, and to providing a rewarding professional development experience to all who participate in scoring sessions.

Whether used with the ITBS, ITED, or other assessment instruments, the Constructed-Response Supplement can serve as a multiple measure of important learning outcomes. CRS scores can be used for the following purposes:

• annual reporting to the school board, community, AEA, or state
• individual and group instructional decision making
• monitoring progress on locally developed performance standards, benchmarks, or achievement level indicators

Neither national nor Iowa norms are available for the CRS. Therefore, local norms (that is, comparisons within districts) are necessary for using CRS scores to determine the relative strengths and weaknesses of students across content areas or the status of individual students relative to their peers. Iowa Testing Programs can assist districts in developing local norms for these purposes. CRS score reporting services, nationally normed scores for combined CRS/multiple-choice reporting, and reports of student achievement in terms of performance standards are not available to Iowa schools from Iowa Testing Programs. However, such services may be provided in the future depending on the need expressed for them by Iowa educators.

Materials and Support
Specimen sets, consumable test booklets, directions for administration, and manuals for scoring and interpretation may be ordered directly from Iowa Testing Programs using a separate order form, which indicates pricing. Exact quantities may be ordered, but once materials are delivered they cannot be returned. A school should order sufficient copies for each administration of the assessment because all CRS materials are copyrighted and should not be photocopied.

Iowa Testing Programs can assist schools and districts in using the Constructed-Response Supplement. Schools can call ITP for additional information, or to discuss the need for consultation concerning potential uses of the CRS, guidance in developing and implementing local scoring services, assistance with the development of achievement level indicators that are aligned with local performance or curriculum standards, and the interpretation and use of CRS scores.

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