Best Practices for Creating Assessments From an Item Bank

[CandicePedersen]

Best Practices for Creating Assessments From an Item Bank

One of the Mastery Connect Back to School Updates we are most excited about is the new assessment creation experience, which makes creating assessments from a purchased item bank even easier to build for teachers. Also don't forget to watch the Video Blog about this post as well!

Creating Assessments From an Item Bank

How do I create a draft assessment?

To create a draft assessment from the tracker: 

• Click Add Assessment from the Students or Assessment list.
• You can also select the “+” button from any standard group or the draft group if assessments currently exist. *This will open the assessment creation modal/experience.

How do I add items to an assessment from a purchased item bank?

To add items from a purchased item bank:

• Click Add from Item Bank
• Creators will be able to add questions from any available item banks.
• *These items could be added from purchased item banks, a district item bank, or previously authored questions.

How do I use the filter when creating an item-bank assessment?

When adding an item from an item bank, initially all items (from all banks) will be visible. To narrow that down, choose the filter option at the top. This will open a window to the right of the screen with all the different filter options available.

• Standard: Determine the standard(s) to filter items (can choose more than one).
• Item Bank: Determine the item bank(s) to filter items (can choose more than one).
• Item Type: Determining the item type(s) to filter items (can choose more than one).
• Passages: Choose from one of the following: All, Items without passages, or Items with passages.
• When Items with passages is selected, choose all passages or a specific passage.
• Difficulty: Determine the difficulty level(s) to filter items (can choose more than one).
• DOK: Determine the DOK level(s) to filter (can choose more than one).
• Blooms: Determine the Blooms level(s) to filter items (can choose more than one)
• Language: Choose from the following: All, English, or Spanish.
• Other Features: Select from the following: GradeCam, Printable, Multi-part.
• Reserved (Admin Only - Not pictured): Choose one of the following: All, Reserved, or Unreserved.

What are my editing options when creating an item-bank assessment?

Once items have been selected, there are a few editing options available:

• Batch Select Menu: Allows you to select all questions, deselect any selected items, or select draft items.
• Select Multiple Questions: Use the checkboxes on the left to select the question(s) you would like to remove, delete, or change standard.
• Standard: Change the standard for any selected question(s).
• Delete: Removes draft questions from the assessment.
• Remove: Removes selected published questions from the assessment.

New Draft Assessments 

How Draft Assessments Work

• All NEW Mastery Connect assessments will now start as a draft regardless of the type of assessment. 
• Assessments in draft will automatically save changes so users can easily return later to complete their work, and can be worked on over time.
• Drafts are only visible to the user that created them.
• When a draft assessment is complete and created by the user, all items will be added to the chosen item banks, and the assessment can be shared with other teachers in the district

Where can I find draft assessments?

• An assessment created in the new tracker assessment list will be located in the drafts group and in the assessment index. 
• Draft assessments created in the assessment index or via a curriculum map will show only in the assessment index and cannot be added to a tracker or CMAP until they are published. 

PRO TIP:

There is no time limit on the draft status of an assessment. A user can start an assessment, leave it, and come back over time to finish it. 

PRO TIP:

No changes will be made to any assessments already published in Mastery Connect unless the assessment is cloned or edited. When an assessment is cloned or edited, it will be shown in the new assessment experience.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The new assessment creation experience in Mastery Connect now makes creating an assessment from a purchased item bank even faster and easier than before, creating more time for teachers and admins to focus on how assessments, and the data from them, can be used to inform instructional practices to support student learning!

Please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!

Our Mastery Services team provides expert professional development, strategic consulting, and alternative options designed to support the vision, goals, and adoption of Mastery products. If you would like to learn more about our services check out our Professional Development Options and contact your CSM for more information!