This article walks through beginning the Answer Key Only (AKO) assessment creation process, and completing the first step in assessment creation, the Assessment Info page.
Where to Start
- From the top navigation menu, select the Assessments tile.
- Select Create Assessment.
- From the dropdown menu, select Answer Key Only (AKO).
Assessment Info Screen
Note the breadcrumb arrow links for the different assessment setup screens. As each step is completed, it will be denoted in the breadcrumb with a green check, which serves as a visual cue of progress. The current step will be highlighted in green.
An assessment cannot be published until all steps in the breadcrumb are checked. If you do not plan to include Performance Levels for your assessment, you can do so, but you must cycle through all the Setup steps and select the Next button on the Performance Level screen to register the breadcrumb green check prior to publishing your assessment.
- The new assessment defaults to the school Year as set in My Preferences. To change the year, select the current year and select the desired year from the dropdown.
- (Optional) Select Tag Assessments to attach tags to the assessment for easier search capability within the Manage Assessments module.
- Enter the Assessment Name.
- The assessment name must be unique, and should be clear to you and other users who you may choose to share your assessment with.
- Select the Subject from the dropdown menu.
- (Optional) Select an Existing Collection to add the assessment to, if desired.
- (Optional) Select a PLC to filter the student population. If a PLC is selected, Student Selection is based on the students rostered to the collective PLC.
- Use the toggle to enable or disable Setup for Multiple Assessment Grade(s).
- Choose the Student Selection to schedule the assessment to.
The Setup for Multiple Assessment Grades feature allows users to combine unique grade level assessments (i.e., grade level tests with a variance in the number of items or total points possible) into a single, multi-grade assessment. Note, this selection is not necessary for course-based assessments. If this option is selected, each grade level will require its own answer key, answer sheets will need to be printed separately for each grade level, and students will not be able to take the assessment online.
- Toggle Setup for Multiple Assessment Grade(s) to Yes.
- Two confirmations will appear stating the assessment cannot be given online, and giving details on what this function is. Select OK on both to continue.
- Select the Assessment Grade(s) for the assessment.
- A Student Selection generates for each grade selected in the previous step. Make a scheduling selection for each grade.
Student Selection Options
This option schedules the assessment to all students within the purview of the assessment author user. If you are a teacher-level user, then "all students" encompasses all the students on your roster(s). If you are a school-level user, then "all students" encompasses all rostered students at your school site. If you are a district-level user, then "all students" encompasses all students across the district.
This option schedules the assessment to all students within a specific grade or grades. Select the checkboxes for the desired grades to be scheduled.
This option schedules the assessment to all students within a specific Course Group, as created in the Group Manager, or rostered to a specific Course. Select the desired Course Group or Course from the appropriate dropdown to schedule.
Include All Rostered Students' Teachers for Assessment Administration
When students are scheduled by Course Group or Course, by default, only users who teach the selected Course have the ability to administer the assessment to the included students. Selecting Include all rostered students' teachers for assessment administration allows any of a selected students' teachers to administer the assessment, even those not teaching the selected Course.
Note that:
- Only students rostered under the selected Course can take the assessment.
- Only teachers rostered with students under the selected Course can administer the assessment.
- Teachers outside of the selected Course cannot administer to any scheduled student, only their rostered students.
- Teachers outside of the selected Course administering the assessment do not appear on related reports; only the selected Course teachers appear on reports.
- This option is only available for School, Network, and District level assessments.
This feature can be useful in multiple scenarios. For example:
- Student Jordan missed school on the Monday of their Science test. Tuesday morning, their Homeroom teacher administers that Science test for Jordan to make up.
- Student Ari receives pull-out instruction for SPED, and needs to take a short, weekly evaluation related to that instruction. His History teacher administers this evaluation every Thursday afternoon during in-class homework time.
- Student Kylie has been out sick, and the SAT deadline is approaching fast. To ensure that she can begin applying to colleges, her Physical Education teacher administers the reading portion of the SAT, and her Physics teacher administers the math portion of the SAT during the next period.
This option schedules the assessment to all students within a specific Student Group, as created in the Group Manager. Select the desired Student Group from the appropriate dropdown to schedule.
Save/Next
- Select Save if you are done with your selections on the Assessment Info screen, and wish to exit the system to return later. Or, select Next to proceed to the next step, and your work will automatically be saved.
Next Steps
Take a look at the AKO Assessment - Standards article to learn more about the next step in creating an AKO assessment.