Robin Skelley

FRITT 7236
Fall 2014
Key Assessment Step 1
Topic- The Constitution and American Government
I. Assessment Items
Multiple Choice
Objective: Students will identify the powers of the Three Branches of Government.
1) Which of the Branch of Government votes on Bills created by its members?
A) Executive Branch
B) Judicial Branch
C) Legislative Branch
Objective: Students will identify and describe the rights protected by the Amendments in the Bill
of Rights.
2) The Second Amendment gives a citizen the right to
A) keep and bear arms.
B) a speedy and public trial.
C) a trial by a jury of their peers.
D) practice the religion of their choice.
3) Which Amendment protects citizens from excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and
unusual punishments?
A) First Amendment
B) Fifth Amendment
C) Seventh Amendment
D) Ninth Amendment
Short Answer
Objective: Students will be able to explain the differences between the New Jersey Plan and the
Virginia Plan presented at the Constitutional Convention.

1) Explain the differences between the New Jersey Plan and the Virginia Plan.
Objective: Students will understand why the first ten amendments (Bill of Rights) was added to
the Constitution.
2) Explain why the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution.
Objective: Students will be able to explain how the Constitution provides a system of checks and
balances that prevent one branch of government from become more powerful than the others.
3) Explain how the Constitution provides a system of checks and balances that prevents one
branch of government from becoming more powerful than the other branches.
Essay
Objective: Student will identify and explain the powers and functions of each of the three
branches of the United States government.
1) The United States government is divided into three different branches. Explain the functions
and powers of each of the branches.
Objective: Student will describe the weakness of the Articles of Confederation and how they lead
to the Constitutional Convention.
2) The Articles of Confederation was the bases of the system of government for the United States
after the Civil War. However, the system was weak and was eventually replaced by the
Constitution of the United States. Describe the weakness of the Articles of Confederation and
explain how those weakness lead to the development of the Constitution.
Objective: Students will research and explain how federal laws are created.
3) Julie believes that testing products, like drugs and make-up, on animals is wrong. She believes
that the United States government should make a law against animal testing. Explain the steps of
how a proposal can become a law, by using Julies idea as an example.
Higher Order Thinking
Objective: Compare and discuss the differences between the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey
plan.
1) You are a member of the Constitutional Convention and have just heard two different plans for
creating the Governing body of the United States. One is the Virginia Plan, presented by James
Madison. He believes that a states representation in legislative branch should be based on
population of the state. The other is the New Jersey Plan presented by William Paterson. He
believes that each state should get equal votes in the legislative branch.

Now it is your turn to speak. Do you support the Virginia or the New Jersey Plan? Justify your
reasoning.
1
Students answer is off
topic/ the question is
not answered

Students justification
does not make sense/
follow a logical order.

Parts of the students

justification does not
make sense/follow a
logical order

3
Answer is on topic
and all parts of the
question are
addressed.
The justification is
clear, makes sense,
and follows a logical
order.

Comments

Objective: Students will analyze the steps of development of a federal law and describe each step
in the process.
2) You are very upset to discover that millions of pounds of plastic are thrown away each year
and not recycled. There is no law in place that requiring public venues (stadiums, convention
halls) to have recycle bins for the public. You believe there should be a law, how would you
request a federal law be created?
1
Students answer is off
topic, the question is
not answered.
The steps of creating a
law are completely
out of order.

2
3
Students answers part Students answers
of the question.
question completely.
Some of the steps for
creating a law are out
of order or forgotten.

Comments

Steps for creating a

law are all included
are in order.

Objective: Student will analyze and support the importance of the Constitution and the inclusion
of the Bill of Rights.
3) You and you team are returning delegates from the Constitutional Convention. You now have
to convince you state legislature to ratify the Constitution. Many people in the legislature are not
sure why we need the Constitution and how it will help our new country.
Working together as a team, you will create a presentation to convince the legislature to ratify the
Constitution. You may use primary source documents and your textbook to help you create your
argument. You must justify you reasoning and you arguments need to be logical.
1
Students answer is off

2
3
Students answers part Students answers

Comments

topic, the question is

not answered.
Arguments provided
do not make sense or
are not logical
(off topic)

of the question.

question completely.

Some but not all of

the arguments make
sense and are logical

All arguments
provided make sense
and are logical

There is no reasoning
provided to back up
arguments

There is some
reasoning provided
for some, but not all
of the arguments
made

There is reasoning
provided for all
arguments

Performance
Objective: Analyze the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation and the government it created.
1) A political writer for a newspaper in the 1780s. You believe that the government created by the
Articles of Confederation is failure.
Write a persuasive newspaper article that will convince others of your view. Include facts to justify your
reasoning. Follow the format of a newspaper and include a catching introduction. Be sure to follow the
rubric.
Grammar/Spelling

Format
(Introduction,
Headline, Tagline)
Justification

1
Article contains
numerous grammar
and spelling errors
Article does not
follow the format of
a newspaper article.
There are no facts to
justify points made
in the article.

3
Article contains
many spelling and
grammar errors.
Article contains
some format of a
newspaper article.
There are few
facts to justify
points made in
article.

5
Article contains
no spelling or
grammar errors.
Article follows
the format of a
newspaper article.
There are facts to
justify points
made in the
article.

Comments

Objective: Compare the roles of the different branches of government and how the system of checks and
balances prevents one branch from becoming too powerful.
2) You will be creating a poster to explain the different branches of government, for people who have just
arrived in the United States. Your poster should include the duties of each branch, who is involved in the
branch, and how checks and balances prevents one branch from becoming too powerful.

Remember that this poster is meant for people who have just arrived in the United States. It should be
simple and include some visuals.
Branches

Visuals

1
Only one of the
branches is
described on the
poster.
No visuals are
included on the
poster.
Visuals do not
relate to the
subject.

3
Only two of the
branches are
described on the
poster.
There are few
visuals on the
poster.
Some visuals do
not relate to the
subject.

5
All three branches
are described on
the poster

Comments

There are many

visuals included
on the poster.
All visuals relate
to the subject.

Objective: Identify the amendments that make up the Bill of Rights and explain the freedoms they
protect.
3) You will be creating a short presentation using Powtoon or Powerpoint, about the Bill of Rights. You
and your partner will select 4 of the Amendments in the Bill of Rights. Then you will create a presentation
that:
1) Defines the Amendment in your own words
2) Explains why the Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights
3) Includes a picture the represents that amendment (example: a picture of a newspaper for the First
amendment) and explains why that image was chosen.
Each amendment will be graded using checklist- Total possible points- 60
Definition

Explanation
Image

1
No definition was
included
Or
Definition came
out of textbook
No explanation
was included
No image was
included

3
A definition was
included, but
definition does not
make sense, not
clear.
Explanation does
not make sense
Image was
included, but no
explanation was
included

5
A definition,
written in the
students own
words was
included.
Explanation makes
sense
Both an image and
an explanation was
included

Comments

II. Assessment Plan

a Improving item reliability
Reliability is the degree to which students results remain consistent of replications of an
assessment procedure (Brookhart, 2015, pp. 67). In order to improve the reliability of the
questions, I could administer them to several groups of students. I could then give the same
students an assessment written by another teacher that covers the same objectives. Comparing
the scores would let me see if my questions are reliable.
Multiple Choice
If the students score do not reflect their abilities, the students may be guessing or choosing
random answers. If this is the case, I need to make sure the student understand the importance of
the assessment and how it will help them if they try to do their best on the assessment. I may also
need to review the questions to make sure they are word correctly and are not too difficult or too
easy.
Short Answer/ Essay
In order to improve the reliability of these questions, it is important that I am grading the items
fairly. To do this, I should score the items anonymously and use a rubric to make sure I am
scoring the items fairly
Higher Order Thinking
In order to improve the item reliability, I need to make sure that students are earning scores that
are consistent with their abilities. I will need to use a rubric or a checklist to make sure that the
evaluation of the assessment is fair. If I am struggling with this, I may need to improve the
checklists or reevaluate the expectations.
Performance
It is important that I follow the guidelines of the rubrics or checklists. I need to grade the
assessment without bias. I might also ask another teacher to review the rubric before assigning
the project, to make sure the requirements are clear and are aligned with the learning objectives.
b Improving item validity
Validity is the soundness of your interpretations and uses of students assessment results
(Brookhart, 2015, pp. 38). In order to improve the validity of these questions, I should consider
if the questions reflect what I have taught in my lessons. I should also consider if the questions
are too easy or too difficult.
Multiple Choice

In order to improve item validity on multiple choice items, I need to make sure that the question
on the assessment are aligned with what has been taught in class. I also need to make sure that
the questions worded correctly and that the choices do not give away the correct answer.
Short Answer/ Essay
I should review the questions and decide if they reflect what I expect my students to understand.
I also should be sure that I am grading the items fairly. To do this, I should score the items
anonymously and use a rubric to make sure I am scoring the items fairly.
Higher Order Thinking
In order to improve item validity, I need to make sure that my assessment and instructional
objectives are aligned. If they are not aligned, then the assessment is not valid and the results are
not useful. For example, if I am assessing the students ability to research and use critical
thinking skills, then I need to assign an assessment that evaluates those skills.
Performance
To improve item validity, need to make sure that I am following the criteria and grading
parameters that are written in the rubric. I need to makes sure that I am giving the students the
grade they have earned, and not be too lenient. I also need to make sure that the assessment
guidelines meet the learning objective.
c Differentiation of instruction
In order to differentiate the instruction, I need to address the abilities and needs of all students. I
will present the material in different formats (verbal, visual, written) in order to cover different
learning styles. I should also consider the different levels of understanding student may have and
prepare different ways to explain the same topic.
Multiple Choice
In order to differentiate the instruction for multiple choice items, I may need to provide
accommodations for students who have physical or learning disabilities, such as letting them use
a computer to answer the questions or have the questions and answers read aloud.
Short Answer/ Essay
I should also be careful when grading short answer and essay items to judge the answers on the
content only, unless grammar and spelling count toward the final score. I need to make sure that
poor writing skills do not influence the score.
Higher Order Thinking

I might need to simplify some of the words in the assessments and in the lessons, for those who
may have difficulty in the beginning with the vocabulary. To reach all different types of learners
will need to present the information in multiple ways (orally, visually) and more than one time. I
will also need to model the type of thinking that these questions assess.
Performance
In order to differentiate the instruction, I need to address the abilities and needs of all students. I
will present the material in different formats (verbal, visual, written) in order to cover different
learning styles. I also may need to make accommodations for learning disabilities, such as letting
the student use a computer instead of paper and pencil.
d Improving student learning
To improve student learning, I need to take into account the different learning styles, needs, and
abilities of the students. I will present the material in different formats (verbal, visual, written) in
order to cover different learning styles. I will also need to preform different formative assessment
during instruction to gage student understanding.
Multiple Choice
To improve student learning through multiple choice questions, I need to make sure that the
student understand the facts that are being taught, so they will feel confident answering questions
on the test. I may also need to teach some students who have test anxiety techniques to make test
taking less stressful.
Short Answer/ Essay
If students are not able to answer these questions, I know that my lessons are not effective and I
should reconsider how I am teaching. I also need to teach my students the type of writing that I
expect from them. If I expect their essays to well developed and logically arranged, then I need
to teach them the skills and steps to do so.
Higher Order Thinking
I need to model the higher-level reasoning, critical thinking, and problem solving skills that I
expect my student to use to answer the assessment questions. For example, if I expect students to
be able to compare and contrast different ideas, then I need to model ways to this. I may need to
demonstrate doing research and recoding information in a graphic organizer. If students do not
understand what is required to answer the question fully, they will be frustrated with the
assessment.
Performance
I need to be sure that all students understand the requirements of the assessment. If needed, I
may need to explain the assessment in different words or with visual examples. Students need to

understand why the assessment is important and how these skills could be used in the real
world.
e Improving future assessments
In order to improve future assessment, I will need to study the results of the current assessment. I
should consider if the questions asked on the assessment reflect my instruction and what I expect
the student to know.
Multiple Choice
To improve these questions, I should review the test results to see how much the distractors
influence students answers. I may need to change the distractors or change to wording of the
questions in order to get more accurate results.
Short Answer/ Essay
Reviewing the results of the current assessment will allow me to judge if the essay questions are
clear and the expectations are easily understood by all students. I may need to use different
wording or shorter sentences in the prompt that will be more easily understood.
Higher Order Thinking
I need to consider if the assessments and objectives are in line with what I expect the student to
know and the skills I expect them to demonstrate.
I should also consider if I am evaluating the assessments fairly and accurately. If I find that I am
not evaluating fairly, I may need to create a better checklist or rubric to follow.
Performance
I may need to reword the rubrics or the description of the assignment to make the requirements
clearer. I also need to make sure that the assessment is completely aligned with the learning
objectives, so that the assessment is meaningful.