1. Tips to Scoring the ELA Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments
This training is intended for educators setting up access to and using the English Language Arts Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments through the WCAP portal.
Comprehensive and Block
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction

2. Navigating Interim Support – WCAP Portal
The Washington Comprehensive Assessment Program (WCAP) portal houses the:
Interim assessments
Teacher Hand Scoring System (THSS)
Training Materials for hand scoring (TIDE)
Online Reporting System (ORS)
Administration Manual Online - Interim
The WCAP portal is your access point for the Washington assessment system tools and resources. This is where the Smarter Balanced Interim and hand scoring resources are housed along with sign-in access for the Summative assessments. Other resources and tools on the portal include access to the digital library and administrative and teaching supports for schools and classrooms.

3. Start Here http://wa.portal.airast.org/
The first page of the portal displays recent announcements and display tabs to access all support materials. There are four access points: Students and Families, Test Administrators (TA), Test Coordinators, and Technology Coordinators. Some materials are available in multiple locations, but classroom educators will find what they need under the Test Administrators tab.

4. Manuals Interim Tests Reports
ELA hand scoring training documents are also located here.
Hand Scoring
Interim Tests
Classroom Activities for Interim
Once you’ve entered the Test Administrators (TA) interface, more options appear.
The Test Administration Resources icon houses all manuals and non-secure resources.
The TIDE icon, depending on your role, includes: managing user accounts, managing student information, assessment eligibilities and test settings, managing orders for testing materials, managing rosters of students, and managing appeals. Notice the lock in the bottom right corner indicating access is secure and will need a secure login to access. Secure material related to the assessments are also located here, including the summative Performance Task Classroom Activities and ELA Interim Scoring Training materials.
The Test Administration icon is where educators assign, approve, and activate assessments their students are taking, both interim and summative.
The Interim Assessment Classroom Activities icon houses the Classroom Activity that needs to preface the Interim Performance Tasks.
Once students have completed the interim, educators access the Interim Teacher Hand Scoring System (THSS) icon to score student constructed responses and essays.
Once all scores have been submitted, educators access the Online Reporting System icon to view scores for their assigned students.
Reports

5. Administrator Roles within WCAP Portal Depending on your district size and configuration, these roles may be somewhat varied.
District Coordinator
Classroom Teacher
Confirm that student information has been rolled over into TIDE
Assign educator roles
Decide which interim assessment to use
Via the Test Administration Tab, select the test and activate the session
Approve students so they may begin
Once all students are finished, stop session
District Coordinators confirm that all student information rolls over into TIDE and assigns educator roles. Classroom Teaches will assign the specific assessment, activate the session ones students are logged in and will stop the session when all students are finished.

6. Interim Assessments
Now that the location of materials, access to tests, and user roles have been discussed, let’s take a look at the actual interim assessments.

7. Interim Assessment ICA and IAB Options
There are two Interim Assessment Options available in the Test Administration icon.

8. Overview of Interim Process
Decide which assessment your students should take
Interim Comprehensive Assessment (ICA)
Interim Assessment Block (IAB)
Check to be sure student rosters are loaded in TIDE
Set up the test using the Test Administration tab
Train for scoring using the Training Guide and Exemplar materials
Administer the test with students
Score student answers in THSS
For a successful interim administration, follow these four steps. Administering the interim is the classroom teacher’s opportunity to interact with students and the testing interface as they take the assessment.

9. Administration Characteristics
ICAs and IABs can be administered multiple times during the year
Tests draw from the same interim pool.
Students may encounter some of the same items on the ICA as they will on the IAB.
Decisions about test choice and frequency of use are determined by district or school plans.
Currently both are fixed-form, online tests. Both will become adaptive over time as item bank allows.
All Smarter Balanced assessment items come from the same pool. Because of the newness of the assessment, there are a limited number of test questions available. Students may encounter the same item in an ICA as they will in an IAB. Performance tasks in both interim pools (the ICAs and the IABs) are the same within a grade level. Due to the newness of the item bank, all students currently accessing a specific grade level interim will see the same assessment. This is called a fixed-form. As the item bank grows, these test will become adaptive.

10. Interim Assessment Similarities
August 7, 2014
Interim Assessment Similarities
Both ICA and IAB options are:
Available at grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and high school
Administered at teacher’s discretion, including using off grade-level
Teacher Scored Constructed Response
Majority of items are automatically scored
Short-Text, brief writes, and full writes are hand-scored by teachers; requires scoring training using a rubric through provided materials
Administering or offering two different types of assessments provide flexibility.
This slide highlights the characteristics that are the same for both types of interim assessments.

11. Interim Comprehensive Assessment (ICA)
Same design as summative assessment
Assess the same claims and standards
Reports give the overall scale score, performance level designation, and claim score information
Timing of administration to mirror summative
Approximately 4 hours + 30 minute classroom activity
Is arranged in two sections
Computer Adaptive Test (CAT)
Performance Task (PT)
Teachers will need to hand-score short-text items, brief writes and a full write
Once teachers submit the hand scores, reports are available
Reports provides teachers with information on a student’s
General areas of strength or need
Readiness for the end-of-year summative assessment
Because the ICA mirrors the summative test, it is divided into two sections, the Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) [Currently this portion of the assessment is non-adaptive, but it is equivalent to the CAT blueprint of the summative assessment] and Performance Task (PT). These can be given in one day, or students can log-in over multiple days to complete to complete the entire assessment.

12. A Closer Look at the ICA Reading Brief Writes Listening Research
Computer Adaptive Test (CAT)*
Performance Task (PT)
Reading
Brief Writes
Listening
Research
Classroom Activity
Located in Portal
Administered prior to students accessing the PT
Part 1: Access Sources and answer Research questions
Part 2: Full Write
The ICAs have both the CAT portion and a Performance Task.
CAT (sections 1 & 2)
Reading, stand-alone Research, stand-alone Writing, and Brief Writes (section 1)
Listening (section 2)
Performance Task (section 3)
A Classroom Activity is administered prior to students taking the PT section of the test.
The PT is broken into two sections:
Part 1: Read 2-5 sources and answer 2-3 Research questions related to the sources.
Part 2: Students will be prompted to write a full essay (i.e. full write) using sources in Part 1 as evidence in their writing.
The PT articles (or sources) are available during both parts of the PT. Students can take Global Notes during Part 1 and access and use their Global Notes in Part 2.
*Currently this portion of the assessment is non-adaptive, but it is equivalent to the CAT portion on the summative assessment

13. ELA Comprehensive Interim - Estimated Time
Content
Response Type
Estimated Time*
**Computer Adaptive Test (CAT)
Reading Lit
Mostly machine scored, a few hand scored
2 hours
Reading Info
Brief Write
All hand scored
Edit/Revise
All machine scored
Listening
Research
Performance Task (PT)
***Classroom Activity
30 min
Part 1: Research
Part 2: Full Write
Hand scored
1 1/2 –2 hours
*Estimated time is based on 1–2 minutes to answer a MC question and up to 5 minutes to answer a constructed response. Plus time to read stimulus/sources.
**Currently this portion of the assessment is non-adaptive, but it is equivalent to the CAT portion on the summative assessment
***Located in TIDE- Administered prior to students taking the PT
Please note, these are estimated times.

14. Interim Assessment Blocks (IAB)
Short, focused sets or “blocks” of items that measure similar content
6-8 blocks per grade level, including ELA Performance Task blocks
Offers a smaller set of targets and more flexibility for administration
Reports state “Below Standard, “At/Near Standard,” and “Above Standard”
Provides teacher with
Information about a student’s strengths or needs
More detailed content information for instructional purposes
Teacher hand scoring, dependent on the block
See next slide
Blocks are shorter, more focused assessments. Educators can access a particular topic based on the block focus. Teachers can administer more than one in a day, or access them individually over a period of time. Reports are not as specific as the comprehensive since they are broken down into distinct blocks and no longer cover a range of ELA items.

15. ELA Blocks- Estimated time
Number of Items
Response Type
Estimated Time*
Reading Lit
13–15
Mostly machine scored, a few hand scored
45 min–1 hour
Reading Info
14–16
Brief Write
6 brief writing tasks
All hand scored
1 hour
Edit/Revise
13–16
All machine scored
30 min
Listening
Research
17–18
All Performance Tasks
2–3 research items and 1 full write
Mostly hand-scored
1–2 hours, including 30 minutes for the classroom activity.
*Estimated time is based on 1–2 minutes to answer a MC question and up to 5 to answer a constructed response. Plus time to read stimulus/sources.
Note: Some blocks require hand scoring while others will be scored completely by machine. While the summative items are professionally scored, interim hand scoring is done by local educators.

16. Interim Block Assessments
Grade 3 PT = Opinion
Grade 4 & 5 PT = Narrative
Grade 6-8 and high school PT = Argumentative
Currently, only 1 Performance Task is available per grade level.

17. Scoring the Assessments
Once students have completed the comprehensive and/or block assessments, educators will have an active role in scoring students’ reading, writing, and research constructed responses plus the full write.

18. Accessing hand-scoring training materials.
The training materials are in two locations. Educators may access the hand scoring training materials prior to students testing by locating them in TIDE under the THSS Materials tab. This location allows educators to access the Exemplars and Training Guides prior to scoring and therefore allows more time to become familiar with the scoring process and criteria. The same hand scoring training materials are located in the Teacher Hand Scoring System (THSS) and can be accessed as each item is scored, but is not available until students have completed testing. Remember, the ICA requires hand scoring. Not all IABs require hand-scoring (see slide 15).
Prior to testing, log in to TIDE and select the THSS Materials tab which houses PDFs of each scoring set for every hand-scored item. These same scoring sets are also located in the THSS but cannot be accessed there until students are done testing and teachers actively start scoring.

19. Within TIDE, the ELA scoring materials are located in the THSS Materials tab.

20. Teacher Hand Scoring System (THSS)
Read and score student responses
Access, download/print the Training Guide and Exemplar Sets to train on scoring as you are scoring*
Access scores in the ORS
ELA IABs for Edit/Revise, Listening and Research do not require hand scoring.
Once inside the THSS portal, educators will be able to select, read, and score students’ constructed responses.
* To access materials prior to testing, log in to TIDE and select the THSS Materials tab. These are the same scoring materials located in the THSS but can be accessed in TIDE prior to students testing.

21. Where are the constructed response items?
ICA or IAB
Number of Hand Scored Items
Response Type
Estimated Teacher Training Time*
Reading Lit
1–2
Short-text
45 min–1 hour
Reading Info
Brief Write 6
Brief write tasks
All Performance Tasks
2–4 research items and 1 full write
2-3 short-text and 1 full-write essay
1–2 hours
*Estimated time is based on teachers reading through the materials, practicing scoring the Prep set, and scoring the Check set on their own. This can be done in a PLC or individually.
ICA
This slide identifies where and about how many hand-scored items are located in both the ICA and the IABs and shows estimates of how long it may take to train on an item for the first time.

22. Scoring Overview: Things to Consider
August 7, 2014
Scoring Overview: Things to Consider
Interim assessments have the same item types as the summative assessment
Most items are machine scored
Short-text, Brief Writes, and Full Write are hand scored locally for interims
Educators use the Teacher Hand Scoring System (THSS) to score student responses
The THSS cannot be accessed until testing is complete
ELA Rubrics and training materials are provided within TIDE and THSS
After hand-scoring is complete, student scores will be available in the Online Reporting System (ORS)
An overview of the scoring process

23. After students have completed the assigned test, you are ready to begin scoring.
Each constructed response item has its own set of scoring materials.
Reminder: materials can be found in TIDE prior to testing, or in the Exemplar and Training Guide tabs in the Teacher Hand Scoring System as tests are being scored.
When you log in to the THSS, you will be taken to the Student Response List page (see next slide)
Locate the student and the item you want to score.
Click the Score tab
Training to score is something educators are encouraged to do prior to scoring actual student responses. To access materials prior to scoring students’ responses, locate the materials in TIDE. The same materials are available in the THSS and can be reviewed and used during scoring.

24. This is the first page of the THSS
This is the first page of the THSS. Use the drop down menu to select the test and or session. You may also sort by student name, item number, session, or status. Once you are ready, click on the “Score” tab.

25. Student Response Page
Each student’s response is on its own page (see next slide).
Information on the page includes
A rubric
A Training Guide tab
An Exemplar Set tab
A place to enter the score
The question or task
The student’s response

26. Exemplar and Training Guide Tabs
Student Response Page
Rubric
Once you click on “Score”, you will be directed to the individual student response page. This is where you can access the Exemplar and Training Guides (the same ones you will find in TIDE), a rubric, a drop down to enter the score, a condition code (information about the condition code can be found in the Training Guide), the item stem, and the student’s response. This particular screenshot does not show the item stem or the student response, however the response will be where this screenshot is cut-off.
Student’s Response

27. What will I find in the ELA Training and Exemplar Tabs?
Training Guide
Exemplars
Instructions
Stimulus
Item stem
Rubric
Condition Codes
Claim and Target Sheet
Prep Set
Sample student responses with scores
Scoring comments
Train using the rubric
Check Set
Sample student responses without scores
Scores and comments located on a key
Practice scoring using the rubric
Reminder: these are the same materials also located in TIDE.

28. Reporting Results

29. Online Reporting System
To view student scores, back on the portal page, access the Online Reporting System.

30. Online Reporting System - ORS
ICA
One overall ELA score
Claim information also reported
Both CAT and PT portions must be completed by student and all hand-scoring completed by teacher/proctor
IAB
Scores generated per block
If the block includes constructed response items, hand-scoring must be completed to generate a score
Reminder – machine scoring happens immediately. Hand-scoring connected to either the ICA or IAB must be completed to generate the student’s score.

31. ICA Score Report
Home Example State Bay View School District Bay View Central High Grade 11
For the ICA, each student’s score will be displayed with an overall number, and as a point on a scale of 1-4.
Level 1- Below Basic (red)
Level 2- Basic (yellow)
Level 3- Proficient (green)
Level 4- Advanced (blue)
Within the Smarter Balanced Digital Library- there are score report modules available that explain how to read score reports based on the user: parents, teachers and administrators.

32. IAB Score Report
For the IAB, students will be given one of three descriptions since the blocks do not cover a range of ELA standards:
Below Standard
At or Near Standard (falls within 1 standard error of the Level 2-to-3 cut score for that block)
Above Standard
*This screenshot shows what scores will look like for Washington state. Individual teachers will see this by student depending on which blocks have been completed.

33. Final Thoughts The interim assessments are a valuable tool to:
Prepare teachers and students for successful testing.
Guide instruction aligned to standards based on student needs.