1. Reading and Writing to Succeed on the EAS (Educating All Students) Exam: The “Constructed Response” or Short Essay
A Student Workshop by
Writing Across the Curriculum
Jane Boyton, CUNY Writing Fellow

2. What to expect:
The EAS Exam asks you to answer: 42 “selected-response” questions (multiple choice with four possible answers) and 3 “focused response” questions (Short essay answers of words each based on 3 “exhibits”) You have 135 minutes (2 hours and 15 minutes) TOTAL. The exam suggests using 10 minutes for each short essay and 105 minutes on the multiple choice questions (2-3 minutes per question).

3. Understanding the short essay questions:
All three written assignments have the same instructions:
Use the exhibits to complete the task that follows.
After analyzing the information provided, write a response of approximately 150–200 words in which you:
( specific task is listed here)
The final version of your response should conform to the conventions of edited American English.
The specific task for each question uses the same language:
Identify (an issue, need, aspect . . .) Describe (a strategy or modification) Explain (why that strategy or modification will work)

4. How You'll be Evaluated

5. Constructed Response Sample Question
Review the exhibits, and then write a brief response in which you
describe a unique learning issue that Ms. Daley has in this class;
present a strategy that would address this unique learning issue; and
support your decision to use the strategy and explain why it would be successful.

6. Constructed Response Example Essay
The unique learning issue I see is the competition in the class, and that 80 percent of longer- term resident students in the class seem to be at a competitive disadvantage to the newer group of advanced second language students. This kind of competition can cause significant conflicts as the school year progresses. There is nothing to be done about gaps in ability. How ever, there is something to be done to have an effective classroom environment. As a whole, the students are self-motivated. Ms. Daley should take advantage of that ability to act independently and make more use of cooperative learning groups. Each group could be crafted to represent the full range of students in the class. The cooperative groups would have specific directions with specific desired outcomes, and groups should benefit as a whole from the results of the groups’ work. I choose this strategy because it emphasizes group and not individual responsibility. The emphasis on cooperation removes some, but not all, of the competition noted in the class. The approach emphasizes the contribution of each individual to the larger whole and gives an opportunity for students to learn from each other. I believe the strategy will be successful because of the ability of the students in this class to work without a lot of close scrutiny, and because, as a whole, they may be able to learn more from each other than from Ms. Daley.

7. Outlining and Checklists
Step 1. Generate a checklist to see what the response needs to include
Step 2. Outline using topic sentences (answer each part of the question in a separate paragraph)
Step 3. Fill in with evidence and details
Step 4. Edit, refine, and check each sentence for relevance

8. Practice Exam Tips
You will have 15 minutes to read through the exhibits and construct a short essay response of words.
Make sure your word counter is on but spell checker is off to replicate the exam conditions.
Remember: Start with an outline, and then fill in with details and evidence. You can use the language of the exam to make it easy for your reader to line up each section. Make it obvious! Each sentence should answer some part of the question
Answer all parts of the question!

9. Practice Exam 1 Review the information in the scenario.
Identify an additional approach related to the diverse students described in this scenario that Ms. Anderson should incorporate in the lesson.
Describe the approach you recommend.
Detail why the approach you suggest is likely to be effective.

10. Peer Review: What are we looking for?
Does the essay answer each part of the question? Can you identify each specific task in the essay?
Identify (an issue, need, aspect . . .) Describe (a strategy or modification) Explain (why that strategy or modification will work)
Let’s translate the rubric: what do they mean by?
Content
Analysis, Synthesis, and Application of Pedagogical Principles
Command of Evidence

11. Peer Review: Scoring the Essay
1. Read through the essay once, making no notes or comments.
2. Read the essay a second time and underline each sentence that best accomplishes the specific tasks from the question. Identify each underlined section with the keyword from the question (“Identify, Describe, Detail”).
3. Score the essay to the best of your ability using the rubric and our ‘translation’. Type the score for each section at the bottom of the essay, and include any notes to justify that score or explain what is missing or needed.

12. Peer Review: Scoring the Practice Exam
Ms. Anderson identified the primary “intelligence” for the five identified students in the class. It is unlikely that these are the sole "intelligences" present in these students. Ms. Anderson should identify other "intelllgences” present in these students.
Ms. Anderson should include appropriate adaptations for these other intelligences in the lesson. For example, if she recognized that Frances also possessed visual-spatial intelligence, she should incorporate Frances’s facility with words and languages with visual-spatial approaches.
There are many benefits to this adaptation, but let me discuss the students identified as bodily- kinesthetic learners. It is fine for them to put on a skit or play, but this does not match well with what might be expected of them in the workplace. There is certainly one other intelligence that applies to these two students, and Ms. Anderson could bring the activities more into the mainstream and strengthen the students' preparedness for the world of work.
There are many reasons why this approach would be effective. It broadens the range of learning activities available to students based on a more inclusive and comprehensive
assessment of students’ intelligences. It helps Ms. Anderson account for any errors she may have made in her initial assessment and avoids tying students to a single range of
learning.

13. More Practice
Check the official NYSTCE website for all testing policies:
It also has links to computer-based test tutorials (if you want to get familiar with the way the test will look),
EAS Prep Materials, and a $20 Practice exam
An EAS Sample Study Guide from CCNY