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Response Frequency

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Description: This is an abstract for the assessment report Response Frequency, which tells you how students answered each question on a test.

Purpose: Identifies which questions students missed most, what distractors may have deterred them, and how many chose each answer choice. It also breaks down standard and question group performance.

Navigation: Assessments > General > View Assessments > Title of Assessment > Response Frequency

Summary

An example Response Frequency report.

Who is the intended audience?

Teachers

What data is reported?

The number or percentage of students who answered each way for each question, standard, and/or question group; the number of correct, partially correct, and incorrect responses; the percentage of total points earned; and the points possible. There is also a response distribution chart above the table breakdowns.

Users also have the ability to select the question number or any number in the distribution chart to populate a list of students that answered the question or selected a specific answer.

How is the data reported?

The report can be run to reflect performance of a district, site, teacher, or class period. Then users can chose to run by a specific assessment Version, grouped by Question, Standard, or Question Group, with Response Counts shown by Number of Students or Percentage.

Group By Question

The Response Frequency report is available to access directly from many assessment overview pages. By default, the report displays student response data for Version 1 of the assessment, grouped by questions, and displaying student response counts by number of students.

An example Response Frequency report, with the Response Frequency tab labeled as step 1, Version labeled as step 2, Group By labeled as step 3, Show Response Count as labeled as step 4, the x-axis of the graph labeled as step 5, an orange bar on the bar graph labeled as step 6, and a blue bar on the graph labeled as step 7.
  1. Select the Response Frequency tab to view the report.
  2. If there is more than one version of the assessment, use the Version dropdown to view the data for each version.
  3. Use the Group By dropdown to view data grouped by Question, Standard, or Question Group.
    • The default Group By view is by Question.
  4. Use the Show Response Count as dropdown to view the response count as Number of Students or as Percentage.
    • The default Response Count view is as Number of Students.
  5. When set to the default view, the first graph displays the distribution of correct answers to each question, from lowest to highest. The x-axis of the graph lists the relevant question number.
    • Any question scored with a rubric will appear with (r) next to the question number.
  6. Orange bars represent the percentage of students that received partial points for the question.
  7. Blue bars represent the percentage of students that received full points for the question.
    • Hover over any of the graph bars to view the exact percentage of students that answered Correct, Partially Correct, or Incorrect for any question.
An example Non Rubric table on the Response Frequency report, with the Question column labeled as step 8, % Points Earned labeled as step 9, # Correct, # Partial, and # Incorrect labeled as step 10, Points Possible labeled as step 11, the response columns labeled as step 12, and an example cell labeled as step 13.
  1. The next two tables included under the Group By Question view display further response data, split into Non Rubric and Rubric questions. Under the Non Rubric table, the Question column lists each question on the assessment that doesn't include a rubric in scoring.
    • Questions are default ordered according to the % Points Earned, but any column header can be selected to order the rows in ascending or descending order according to the selected heading.
    • Select a question number to view further information about the question.

In the context of the Response Frequency report, Non Rubric items include item types with student responses that are easy to portray in a table format, such as Multiple Choice, Multiple Select, and Evidence-Based Selected Response. Items in the Rubric table include those item types which require a more complicated student response, including Constructed Response items, but also including Explicit Constructed Response, Hot Text, Inline Choice, Drag in the Blank, etc.

  1. The % Points Earned column displays the percentage of possible points that was earned by students for each question.
    • Points earned by students that got the question fully correct display in blue.
    • Points earned by students that got partial credit for the question display in orange.

Note that % Points Earned does not display the percentage of students that answered the question correctly, but rather the percentage of the total points earned by students out of the total points available. Select the ? symbol next to % Points Earned to view the calculation logic for this statistic, which is also included in the section below.

Percent Points Earned Calculation

The % Points Earned shows the percentage of total points earned by students out of the total points available for an individual question.

Each question has a different total points possible value depending on how much the question is worth.

Questions worth 1 point have a total possible point value that matches the number of students. For example, if there are 400 students, the total possible points for a question worth 1 point is 400 (400 students x 1 point = 400 total points).

For a question worth 2 points, the total possible points is 800 (400 students x 2 points = 800 total points).

To calculate the percentage of points earned, we need to calculate the correct and partial values.

This is best illustrated with an example. Let's use the numbers above and calculate this for a question worth 2 points with responses from 400 students. Let's also assume that 50 students got the question correct (2 points earned). 200 students got the question partially correct (1 point earned). 150 students got the question incorrect (0 points earned).

An example Response Frequency question breakdown, including the % Points Earned, with 50 correct responses, 200 partially correct responses, and 150 incorrect responses.

Correct: 50 students x 2 points = 100 total points earned

100 total points earned ÷ 800 possible points = 12.5% (blue bar)

Partial: 200 students x 1 point = 200 total points earned

200 total points earned ÷ 800 possible points = 25% (orange bar)

Incorrect: 100 correct + 200 partial = 300 points earned

800 possible points - 300 points earned = 500 points not earned

500 points not earned ÷ 800 possible points = 62.5% (grey bar)

  1. The # Correct, # Partial, and # Incorrect columns display the number of students that answered each question fully correct, earning all possible points; partially correct, earning some of the possible points; or incorrect, earning none of the possible points.
  2. The Points Possible column displays how many points were possible for students to earn on each question.
  3. The remainder of the table displays columns for every response a student gave for any of the Non Rubric questions, including a column of students that gave No Response. Under the default Show Response Count as Number of Students view, each response column displays the number of students that answered a question with that response.
    • Questions with multiple parts display the response to each part with a slash; e.g., A/B.
    • Multiple select questions display student responses with no punctuation; e.g., AB or ABD.
    • The number of students that responded with the correct response to the question is displayed in blue, while all other responses are displayed in grey.
  4. Select a number within any cell under the Question, # Correct, # Partial, # Incorrect, No Response, or student response column to view information regarding the relevant question and student responses.
An example drilldown pop-up window, with the title labeled as step 14, the item preview labeled as step 15, an example response rationale labeled as step 16, and the Students tab labeled as step 17.
  1. Selecting a number within the table opens a pop-up window. The window header indicates what question the drilldown data pertains to, as well as the student response, if relevant.
  2. If the assessment is an Item Bank assessment, a preview of the item displays, along with all relevant item details, such as linked passages, standards, tags, and rubrics, and the correct answer. If the assessment is not an Item Bank assessment, this question information will not be available.
  3. Items from the Inspect item bank will also display with response rationale, indicating why an answer is considered correct, or why a student might have chosen an incorrect distractor response option.
  4. Select the Students tab to view a list of the students relevant to the chosen statistic.
An example drilldown pop-up menu, with the list of students labeled as step 18, and the Create Student Group and Close buttons labeled as step 19.
  1. The Students tab displays a list of the students that answered the question with the relevant selected response. In this example, the given list of students all responded to question 3 with the response AB.
    • Any student name under the list can be selected to access their Student Profile page.
    • The Taken Last column displays when the student was last assessed.
  2. Select Create Student Group to create a new student group based on the list of students. This may be useful for instructors looking to create student groups based on students that may need remedial instruction. Select Close to return to the Response Frequency report.
An example Rubric table on the Response Frequency report, with the Question column labeled as step 20, % Points Earned labeled as step 21, Points Possible labeled as step 22, and the response and points earned columns labeled as step 23.
  1. The last table in the default view of the Response Report displays the questions that include a Rubric. The Question column lists each question on the assessment that includes a rubric in scoring, and is denoted with (r).
    • Questions are default ordered according to the % Points Earned, but any column header can be selected to order the rows in ascending or descending order according to the selected heading.
    • Select a question number to view further information about the question.
  2. The % Points Earned column displays the percentage of possible points that was earned by students for each question.
    • Points earned by students that got the question fully correct, or earned all points possible, display in blue.
    • Points earned by students that got partial credit for the question display in orange.
  3. The Points Possible column displays the maximum number of students could earn for each rubric question.
  4. The remainder of the table displays columns for each rubric point level a student could earn for each question, including a column of students that gave No Response. Under the default Show Response Count as Number of Students view, each point score column displays the number of students that earned that score.
    • Similarly to the Non Rubric table, users can select a number within any cell under the Question, No Response, or student score column to view information regarding the relevant question and student scores.
    • Cells for scores that are not relevant for certain questions, such as a score of 4 for a question worth 2 points, will display with NA.
Group By Standard

The Response Frequency report can be filtered to determine how students responded to questions according to the linked standards. This view can help instructors to pinpoint patterns and determine the concepts and standards that students are struggling with most. This option will only be available if at least one standard was linked to at least one assessment question.

An example Response Frequency report grouped by Standard, with the Group By dropdown labeled as step 1, the x-axis of the bar graph labeled as step 2, one of the standard drilldown sections labeled as step 3, and the Non Rubric and Rubric tables under one standard labeled as step 4.
  1. Under the Group By dropdown, select Standard.
  2. The Response Distribution % Correct by Standard bar graph displays a bar for each standard linked to a question within the assessment, indicating what percentage of the relevant questions were answered correctly.
    • Hover over any of the graph bars to view the exact percentage of questions with that linked standard were answered correctly.
  3. Each relevant standard is broken down into further data tables underneath the bar graph.
  4. Each standard displays a Non Rubric and Rubric table, as applicable, according to the types of questions the standard was linked to. These tables function similarly to those described in the Group By Question section above, allowing users to view Question information, and drilldown data on how students responded to each question.
Group By Question Group

The Response Frequency report can be filtered to determine how students responded to questions according to the linked question groups. This view can help instructors to pinpoint patterns and determine the concepts and question groups that students are struggling with most. This option will only be available if at least one assessment question was linked to at least one question group.

An example Response Frequency report grouped by Question Group, with the Group By dropdown labeled as step 1, the bar graph x-axis labeled as step 2, one of the Question Group sections labeled as step 3, and the Non Rubric and Rubric tables under that Question Group labeled as step 4.
  1. Under the Group By dropdown, select Question Group.
  2. The Response Distribution % Correct by Question Group bar graph displays a bar for question group linked to a question within the assessment, indicating what percentage of the relevant questions were answered correctly.
    • Hover over any of the graph bars to view the exact percentage of questions with that question group were answered correctly.
  3. Each relevant question group is broken down into further data tables underneath the bar graph.
  4. Each question group displays a Non Rubric and Rubric table, as applicable, according to the types of questions that were linked to the question group. These tables function similarly to those described in the Group By Question section above, allowing users to view Question information, and drilldown data on how students responded to each question.
Show Response Count as Percentage

The Response Frequency report can be filtered to show response counts as percentages, rather than as the number of students. This view can be useful in viewing the distribution of specific responses at a glance, especially for assessments with many different response types, and/or with large numbers of students being assessed.

An example Response Frequency report displaying percentages, with the Show Response Count as Percentage option labeled as step 1, the Non Rubric response columns labeled as step 2, and the Rubric score columns labeled as step 3.
  1. Under the Show Response Count as dropdown, select Percentage.
    • This filter can be used while viewing any of the Group By options.
  2. The Non Rubric tables will display with the same setup and data as the Number of Students view, but will display the percentage of students that gave each response, rather than a number count, under the response columns.
  3. The Rubric tables will also display with the same setup and data as the Number of Students view, but will display the percentage of students that earned each points level, rather than a number count, under the score columns.
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