Grading Constructed Response Items from an Online Test in Item Bank Assessments – DnA & ISE

This lesson guides users through grading a Constructed Response item on an Item Bank assessment administered online. This means that students typed in a response, which is stored but is not automatically graded by the system. Users must manually enter these scores. The three ways to see these scores for grading are by Question, by Student, or by Grid.

Before You Begin

Before you begin this lesson, make sure to:

Have administered an Item Bank assessment online to students.
Have items or questions to enter scores for, such as Constructed Response or questions with a rubric value.
Permission to Enter/Edit scores in the accessed assessment.

1. Access the Enter/Edit Page

An example Item Bank assessment with the Administer button labeled as step 1, and the Enter/Edit option labeled as step 2.

Select Administer.
Select Enter / Edit.

2. Find Students

The assessment student filters, with the main filters labeled as step 3, the View dropdown labeled as step 4, and the Find Students button labeled as step 5.

Use the search filters to find students to enter/edit grades for. Depending on the user's role, filters may need to be selected for school, teacher, course, and/or section.
Use the View dropdown to view all students, or students with or without data.
Select Find Students.

3. Enter Student Scores by Question (Recommended for Simple Rubric)

Users must manually enter Constructed Response scores. There are three ways to see these scores for grading: by Question, by Student, or by Grid. Each option has unique abilities based on your needs to review and grade student scores. The By Question view is recommended for grading Constructed Response items with a Simple Rubric, as it offers a multitude of tasks and review options in one screen.

Select by Question at the top of the page. This view will show written responses one student and one question at a time.
Use the question dropdown to jump to the questions that need scoring.
Select a student's name to see their written response.
Select Question Info to display the question/rubric in a separate window.
Text annotations (Optional): Select a word or phrase and use the pop-up box tools to leave quick corrective notes, or select Write (red Write will display as a negative comment, green Write is a positive comment) to write a custom comment.
Enter the student's score in the scoring column to the right of the student's name. Use the dropdown or type the score directly into the box.
Enter Comments (Optional): These comments will display to students when they are reviewing the assessment in the Student Portal.
Autosave: Once Enter/Edit scores have been entered, the page will Autosave if the Autosave box is checked. If this is unchecked, scores can be manually saved by selecting the blue Save button.

3.1. What Do Students See?

An example of how students will see annotations on their Constructed Response text answer.

If annotations are being used, they will appear when the student reviews their work in the Student Portal. Comments will appear at the top of the page.

4. Enter Student Scores by Student (Recommended for Multi Trait Rubric)

Users must manually enter Constructed Response scores. There are three ways to see these scores for grading: by Question, by Student, or by Grid. Each option has unique abilities based on your needs to review and grade student scores. Constructed Response items with a Multi Trait Rubric will appear on the Enter/Edit screen as a multi-part question, with each Trait on the rubric displaying as a letter part of the Constructed Response item, allowing each Trait to receive an individual score. The By Student view is recommended for grading these Constructed Response items, as it provides the easiest workflow to use when assigning multiple scores to one student response.

To learn more about how Multi Trait Rubrics work, take a look at Using Multi Trait Rubrics.

Select by Student at the top of the page. This view will show written responses one student at a time.
Use the student dropdown to navigate between students that need scoring.
Select a question that corresponds to a Constructed Response item to see the student's written response.
- Constructed Response items with a Multi Trait Rubric will appear as a multi-part question in the left-hand menu. Each Trait is represented by a letter, allowing for each Trait to be scored independently.
Enter the student's score in the Result column to the right of the corresponding Question. Use the dropdown or type the score directly into the box.
Text annotations (Optional): Select a word or phrase and use the pop-up box tools to leave quick corrective notes, or select Write (red Write will display as a negative comment, green Write is a positive comment) to write a custom comment.
Enter Comments (Optional): These comments will display to students when they are reviewing the assessment in the Student Portal.
Autosave: Once Enter/Edit scores have been entered, the page will Autosave if the Autosave box is checked. If this is unchecked, scores can be manually saved by selecting the blue Save button.
Select Question Info to display the question/rubric in a separate window.

An example Constructed Response assessment in the Enter/Edit screen, with the Question Info tab opened, and the Show Rubric option labeled as step 9.

The Question Info tab expands to display the item content. Select Show Rubric to view Multi Trait Rubric details.

An example Constructed Response assessment in the Enter/Edit screen with the Question Info tab opened, and the rubric displayed, with the list of Traits labeled as step 10, and the Question Info tab labeled as step 11.

The information included in the rubric will display, including Traits, Point Score Labels, and Descriptors. Each of the listed Traits corresponds to a letter part of the question to be scored. The available options under the Result dropdown reflect the range of Point Scores that were enabled in the Multi Trait Rubric for each Trait.
Select Question Info again to minimize the pop-out screen.

4.1. What Do Students See?

If annotations are being used, they will appear when the student reviews their work in the Student Portal. Comments will appear at the top of the page.

5. Enter Student Scores by Grid

An example scoring page by Grid, with the by Grid option labeled as step 1, the Constructed Responses button labeled as step 2, the question arrow buttons labeled as step 3, the Show Question button labeled as step 4, the question score column labeled as step 5, and the Save button labeled as step 6.

Select by Grid at the top of the page. This view displays written responses for an entire list of students at once.
Select Constructed Responses to jump to constructed response questions and see students' written responses.
Use the arrow buttons to move between questions.
Select Show Question to view the question and rubric in a separate window.
Enter the student scores in the scoring column to the right of the student's name. Use the dropdown or type the score directly into the box.
Autosave: Once Enter/Edit scores have been entered, the page will Autosave if the Autosave box is checked. If this is unchecked, scores can be manually saved by selecting the blue Save button.

6. Review Your Results

Scores will be instantly rescored and updated within the assessment's Overview page and Reports, in addition to the student's portal information, if using the Home Connection Parent/Student Portal.

Next Steps

Visit the guide Reviewing My Test Results to learn how students can access the Student Portal to review their assessment results.