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Creating an Item Bank Assessment

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The Item Bank is a repository of prebuilt and user-built assessment questions that can be accessed, used, and added to by users across the district, providing a flexible tool where users can mix and match items to create assessments. Item Bank assessments can be created by filtering existing items by linked standards, item type, grade level, subject, etc., adding the desired items, and creating new items from scratch to fill any gaps. This article walks through how to create an Item Bank assessment.

Where to Start

The Assessments navigation tile.
  1. Select Assessments.
  2. Select Create Assessment.
The Create A New Assessment popup window, with the Item Bank tile labeled as step 3.
  1. Select the Item Bank assessment tile.

Create a New Assessment

The Create a New Assessment name popup window, with the name textbox labeled as step 4, and the Create button labeled as step 5.
  1. Enter an Assessment Name into the text box.
  2. Select Create.

Until published, this assessment is considered unpublished, or a draft. If you return to your DnA account before publishing the assessment, you can find this assessment in View Assessments, under Draft Item Bank Assessments.

Browse Items

An example create assessment page, with the Browse Items tab labeled as step 6, the Filters options labeled as step 7, the filter checkboxes labeled as step 8, Edit Base Standards labeled as step 9, the Add Item button labeled as step 10, the Item Added indicator labeled as step 11, and the Assessment Summary menu labeled as step 12.
  1. Select Browse to search and find items or questions available from a variety of banks.
  2. Use Filters to refine the search of items.
    • To edit what filters are available and what order they appear in, select the Gear icon.
    • Some available filters are Standard, Bank, Item Type, Contains Passage, Depth of Knowledge, Item in Use, and more.
  3. Use the checkboxes to select content from the filters to filter by.
  4. Select Edit Base Standards to update standard selections.
  5. Select + Add Item to add the item to the assessment.
  6. Item Added will appear for all items that have been added to the assessment.
  7. The Assessment Summary will display the number of items added to the assessment. Select Assessment Summary to view a breakdown of items on the assessment by Filters.

Any standards that need to be passed from Browse Items to Build Items on the assessment need to be in the Base Standards list. The Item Bank will only copy standards from items to assessments for standards that are listed in the Base Standards list. Otherwise, the standards will need to be re-added to the item on the assessment.

Make sure to select standards when looking for items rather than clusters or domains. For example search by 8.EE.A.1 instead of 8.EE.A or 8.EE.

Build Mode

An example assessment Build Assessment mode, with the Build Assessment tab labeled as step 13, the View options labeled as step 14, Standards labeled as step 15, Question Groups labeled as step 16, the Lock toggle labeled as step 17, Weight labeled as step 18, Scoring labeled as step 19, and the 3 dot menu labeled as step 20.
  1. Select the Build Assessment tab.
  2. Select the different View icons to adjust the item layout.
  3. Select + Standards to view and add linked standards to that item.
  4. Select + Question Groups (Optional) to add items to a premade grouping.
  5. Use the slider to lock (Optional).
    • When an item is locked, it is only accessible to users with the permission Itembank - Lock, Unlock, and Use Locked items.
  6. Enter an item Weight into the textbox (Optional).
    • Item weight should only be adjusted before an administration window is open for the assessment. Altering the item weight while an administration window is open does not adjust the item weight in reports for that administration.
  7. If the item type supports Partial Credit, select the Scoring icon to adjust to scoring type.
    • Partial Scoring is OFF by default and would need to be enabled for each item.
    • This cannot be altered after the assessment is Published.
    • This does NOT retroactively affect any previously published or administered assessments.
    • Take a look at Items Types: Overview and Best Practices for Using to view supported item types.
  8. Use the 3 dot menu to Edit, Duplicate, or Delete the item, or add Extra Credit.

Assessment Settings (Optional)

The Assessment Settings menu popup, with the Settings gear icon labeled as step 1, the General and Qeustion Groups tabs labeled as step 2, the Tags dropdown menus labeled as step 3, the First Date Administered calendar button labeled as step 4, and the Lock All Items toggle labeled as step 5.
  1. Select the Gear Icon.
  2. By default, the General tab will be open.
  3. Use the dropdown menus to select tags for the following categories:
    • Assessment Year
    • Scope
    • Subject
    • Grade Levels
  4. Use the calendar icon to select the First Date Administered.
  5. Use the slider to Lock All Items.

To add Question Groups, take a look at Enabling Question Groups on Item Bank Assessments.

Publishing Assessments

The Done menu, with the Done button labeled as step 1, Publish labeled as step 2, Save Draft labeled as step 3, and Discard labeled as step 4.
  1. Select Done when all items have been added.
  2. Select Publish to make the assessment available for testing.
  3. Select Save Draft to continue working on the assessment later.
  4. Select Discard to delete the assessment.

Once an assessment is published, the Partial Scoring setting cannot be altered. An assessment must be duplicated and Partial Scoring changed there.

Next Steps

Want to learn more about the Question Types? Visit Create Item Bank Items to explore!

Ready to see what's next? Visit Item Bank Assessment Landing Page Overview to get started.

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