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How Will the High School Assessments Be Scored?

All Maryland State High School Assessments will consist of three different types of test items: selected response questions, which will be presented in a traditional multiple-choice format; brief constructed response items, consisting of short answer responses using evidence from students' reading and knowledge base; and extended constructed responses, consisting of complex essay items. All items will be field tested to ensure their reliability, validity, and freedom from bias.

Selected response items will be machine scored. In contrast, brief and extended constructed response items will most likely be hand scored using a process known as modified holistic scoring. Like the scoring process used for the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP), the amount of credit awarded to a response depends upon the outcomes being measured by that particular activity. Moreover, unlike selected response items, constructed response items allow for a greater range of acceptable responses on the part of students. While some content areas may elect to only use rubrics to score constructed response items, others may use one of three kinds of scoring tools to assign scores to student responses to brief and extended constructed responses:

Rubrics: A score scale (the number of points that can be given) and a description of response characteristics for each score point. A scoring rubric is generic -- that is, the scale and descriptors do not change to fit a particular activity.
Rule: A narrower score scale with fewer score points and a brief description of the response characteristics for each score point. A rule is a bit like a condensed rubric. Like a rubric, a rule does not change to fit a particular activity.
Scoring Key: An activity-specific score point scale and descriptions of the response characteristics at each score point. A scoring key is designed specifically for a particular activity.

Information You Should Know About the Rubrics

In all content areas, constructed response answers will be scored using generic rubrics. In most content areas, BCRs and ECRs will both be scored on a 0 - 4 scale, in which a score of 4 represents an opportunity to show excellence. ECR items in mathematics will be scored on a 0 - 4 scale, while BCRs will use a 0 - 3 scale. In English, all constructed response items dealing with literature will be scored on a 0 - 4 scale, while those dealing with writing will be scored on a 0 - 6 scale.
The generic rubrics for each test are unique in that they have been written specifically for the content area for which they will be used. On the other hand, there are important similarities between them. For example, each rubric incorporates many criteria to evaluate student responses. Each criterion is developed progressively from score point to score point. A question may not be cued for all criteria: in that event, the score will be determined by using the other criteria that are found in the rubric.
The following table attempts to summarize briefly the criteria in each rubric; however, the process of scoring is not trivial, nor can it be reduced to a few words on a sheet of paper. In all cases, a rubric cannot stand alone as a scoring tool. It must always be accompanied by student responses that illustrate the application of the strengths or weaknesses of the criteria to any given score point for each BCR or ECR.

SUMMARY OF RUBRIC CRITERIA FOR THE HSA EXAMS

Content Area Rubrics	Rubric Criteria
English 1 Literature (0-4)	Level of Understanding of the Text Effective Use of Textual Support Relationship of Textual Support to the Demands of the Question
English 1 Writing (0-6)	Development Organization Conventions of Language Attention to Audience/Purpose Word Choice Voice/Tone
Mathematics (0-3; 0-4)	Application Representation Explanation Justification Analysis
Biology (0-4)	Level of Understanding Correctness of Response Use of Supporting Evidence Use and Accuracy of Scientific Terminology Application
Government (0-4)	Adequacy/Thoroughness of Response Use of Support or Documentation Knowledge of vs. Understanding of Concepts Integration of Knowledge Application

Use of rubrics in instruction will familiarize students with the process that will be employed to score their exams, and will also help them to internalize the criteria, factors that can only serve to improve their performance.
The rubrics in each content area along with sample, annotated student responses from the prototypes illustrating each score point, are available on the www.mdkl2.org web-site. (The prototype test forms are also available on this same web-site.)