1. Teacher Hand Scoring System (THSS) for Interim Assessments
Training Module
Welcome to the Teacher Hand Scoring System (THSS) training module. This presentation will introduce you to the Teacher Hand Scoring System (THSS) for the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments.
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2. Teacher Hand Scoring System Overview
Test Administered (TDS)
Test Submitted
Hand Scoring (THSS)
Score Reported
The Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments have some items that require human scoring. THSS allows authorized users to score these item responses.
When a student takes a test in the Test Delivery System (TDS) and submits it, TDS forwards hand-scored responses to THSS for scoring, where authorized users can view student responses to each item, enter scores, and mark them with condition codes as necessary. After hand scoring is complete, the student’s scores are forwarded to the Online Reporting System (ORS) and/or AIR Ways, where they become available for authorized users to view, download, and print.

3. Teacher Hand Scoring Roles
Scorer
Score items assigned to them
Reassign items assigned to them
Score Manager
Reassign any items
There are two types of roles that authorized users can have in THSS. These roles are Scorer and Score Manager. Users’ roles are assigned in TIDE. In Vermont, only the following roles can function as Score Managers in THSS: District Administrator, District Test Coordinator and School Test Coordinator.
If you do not have the correct role, please contact your test coordinator.
The primary difference between a Scorer and a Score Manager has to do with reassigning items for scoring. Scorers may only reassign items that are currently assigned to them. Score Managers may reassign any item in their school or district.

4. Logging in to THSS
To log in to THSS, go to your portal. Click the appropriate user role or assessment card. On the next page, click the system card used for the THSS. Enter your user name and password, and then click Secure Login to continue. 4

5. Home Page
Once you have logged in, you will see the Response List page.
For Scorers, this page will automatically show all responses assigned to them for scoring. Responses are assigned by default to the TA who proctored the session in which the student submitted the test.
Score Managers will see all responses in their jurisdiction.

6. Response List Table Column Description Name Name of the student. Item
Name of the hand-scored item.
Session
ID of the session in which the student completed the test containing this response.
Status
“Not Scored” indicates the response still needs to be scored.
“Tentatively Scored” indicates the response was scored but still needs to be marked as complete.
Assigned To
The Scorer to whom the response is currently assigned.
Score
Click the button in this column to enter a score for the response. If you are a Score Manager, you can only enter scores for responses that are assigned to you.
The response list table contains a number of columns. The Name column is the name of the student. Item is the name of the hand-scored item.
The Session column shows the session ID the student was in when the test was submitted.
Status indicates the current status of the item, either “not scored” indicating that the item has not yet been scored by a user, or “Tentatively Scored,” indicating that the item has been scored but not yet marked complete.
Score Managers will see an extra column, called Assigned To. This column shows the current Scorer to whom the item is assigned.
Click on the button in the Score column to enter a score for the selected item. 6

7. Filtering and Sorting
All users can filter the responses that appear in the response list table using the drop-down lists for Test, Session, and Items. Score Managers can additionally filter the table by grade, subject, and/or assigned Scorer.
When you open a drop-down list above the table, you can either select a response shown in the list, or type in your own keyword to use as a filter. The table will show only the items that match your filter.
You may also sort the items in the table by clicking on the header of the column you wish to sort by. For example, click “Status” to sort the items based on whether they have been scored.

8. Scoring Responses: Rubric Section
When you click the score button next to an item, the Score Response page for that item will appear. This page contains several sections. First, in the Rubric section, review the rubric description for the item to be scored.
To view the item’s passage and an example of a perfect response, you can click Exemplar.
To view instructions for scoring each item response, users can click on Training Guides.

9. Scoring Responses: Response Section
Next, in the Response section of the Score Response page, review the item stem and the student’s response.
While scoring, you may find it helpful to expand or collapse sections by clicking the plus or minus sign in the upper-left corner of that section.

10. Scoring Responses: Scoring Section
In the Scoring section, enter a score for the response by either manually entering a numeric score in the Score field or using the arrow button next to the field to enter the score in increments of one. The score cannot exceed the maximum value in the Points column.
If the response cannot be scored, you may assign a condition code to the response by selecting the appropriate option from the Condition Code drop-down list.
If a response contains information indicating a potentially troubled student or crisis—for example, extreme depression, abuse, neglect, or intent to harm self or others—the Scorer should print the response and contact their Test Coordinator immediately.

11. About Machine-Scored Responses
TDS automatically suggests scores for student responses on the full write of the ELA Performance Tasks. These responses display "Tentatively Scored" in the Response List table when they arrive in THSS, and the suggested scores in the Score and Condition Code drop-down lists on the Score Item page display (Machine Score) next to the suggested score.
It is strongly recommended that you review the suggested scores and condition codes assigned by the scoring machine along with the scoring rubrics, Exemplars, and Training Guides. If you agree with the score suggested by the machine, select Submit Score. Otherwise, you can use the drop-down lists in the Score column and adjust the score as appropriate.

12. Completing Item Responses
When you have finished scoring responses, be sure to complete and submit them.
To submit scored items, mark the checkbox next to each scored response on the Response page, and click the button labeled Mark Selected as Complete, which is located at the bottom of the page.
Once an item is marked complete, it is immediately submitted and can no longer be edited or viewed.
Once all of a student’s items for a specific test have been scored and marked complete, the student’s score for the entire test will become available in ORS. Interim assessments that have been scored and marked complete, will display in ORS, as well as in AIR Ways.

13. Reassigning Responses
By default THSS automatically assigns a response to be scored to the Test Administrator for the session in which the student completed testing.
Responses can be reassigned to other Scorers in the users’ jurisdiction. Scorers can reassign their items to other users in the same school. Score Managers can reassign any item in their jurisdiction to any other user in their jurisdiction. For example, school-level users can reassign responses in their school to any school personnel, and district-level users can reassign responses in their district to any district personnel.
To reassign one or more responses, select the responses you wish to reassign and click the Reassign All Selected button. A pop up window will appear with a drop-down list that contains users in your jurisdiction. Choose a new Scorer and click the Reassign button. The selected responses will be moved from the previous Scorer’s queue to the new Scorer and will no longer appear in the original Scorer’s Response List.

14. Further Information Vermont Comprehensive Assessment Program Portal
Vermont Comprehensive Assessment Program Help Desk
Thank you for taking the time to view this training module. If you have general questions or need further information, visit the Vermont Comprehensive Assessment Program Portal, or consult the Vermont Comprehensive Assessment Program Help Desk for assistance.