Assessments Guide

With Assessments, faculty can create online tests, quizzes, and exams with several types of questions. They can set time limits for completing assessments, allow multiple attempts, and allow students to save their assessments for later, which is great for open-book evaluations.

In Faculty, previously created assessments appear in the Assignment Center and on class Assignments pages. In list view, select the context menu next to an assessment to edit, copy, print or delete it. You can also use Import assignments to copy assessments across courses and class sections, and to copy assessments from previous school years.

Note: Assessments created with the old assessment builder can be converted to the new assessment experience. For more information, see Convert Assessments.

Video: Check out this video series on the new Assessment Builder!

Note: Assessments created with the old assessment builder can be converted to the new assessment experience. For more information, see Convert Assessments.

  1. In Faculty,

    Select  My Day > Assignment Center.

    OR

    Select Classes, choose a class, then select Assignments.

  2. In list view of the Assignment Center or Assignments tab, select +Add > Assessment. In calendar view, select +Assessment.

  3. To create an assessment with the new builder, select Yes, use new assessment.

Assessment settings are broken into four areas: 

  • Details

  • Evaluation

  • Student results page

  • Publishing options

Details

In Details, configure the basic settings for your assessment.

  • Assessment name

  • Assignment type

  • Time to complete: Leave blank if there is no time limit for completing the assessment. If this is a timed assessment, enter a time (in minutes).

  • Adjust individual student times: After a Time to complete has been entered and a Section has been selected in the Publishing Options below, you can select Adjust individual student times to assign different times to individual students. This can be useful for students that have IEP or 504 plans that require them to have extra time on tests. Students with individual times assigned are listed under Time to complete.

  • Questions appear on screen: Select One at a time or Listed all together.

  • Attempts Allowed: Select the number of times students are allowed to take the assessment.

  • Randomize questions: Rearrange the questions instead of displaying them in the same order for all students.

  • Randomize multiple choice answers: Shuffle multiple choice answers instead of displaying them in the same order for all students. You also have the option to randomize the answers on specific multiple choice questions when building the assessment.

  • Allow students to resume independently: Enable if students should be able to resume the assessment without notifying faculty after exiting for any reason. If you do not enable this option, you can allow individual students to resume from the Assignment Center by selecting the assessment, select the student, then select Allow continue.

Tip: Want to create a quiz or an exam? To distinguish an assessments as a specific type of evaluation, use the Assignment Type, which may impact the gradebook and how an assignment is weighted.

Evaluation

Under Evaluation, set the grading and gradebook options for your assessment.

  • Maximum points: Total number of points possible for the assessment.

  • Divided equally by question: Maximum points are divided equally between questions.

  • Assigned per question: Point values vary by question. You will assign the point value to each question when you create it.

  • Add to gradebook

    • Factor: Defaults to 1. You can increase the factor to add weight to the assessment.

    • Publish grade: Enable if the assessment grade should be published to students.

    • Add to cumulative grade: Enable if the grade should be included in the student's cumulative grade for the course.

    • Mark as extra credit: Enable if the assignment should count as extra credit.

    • Abbreviation: Abbreviated name for the assessment in the gradebook.

Student Results Page

Under Student results page, determine what details students will see after submitting their assessment. To enable the results page, select Show results page to students once they have submitted the assessment. If you do not enable the results page, students see only a message confirming their assessment was submitted.

With the student results page enabled, you can select the following options:

  • Don't show results page until all students have submitted at least one attempt

  • Show amount of time used to complete the assessment

  • Show questions on results page

    • Prevent students from accessing the questions after

      • Always show: Students can always view questions on their results page.

      • Specific date: Students cannot view questions on their results page after a date of your choosing.

      • Marking period: Students cannot view questions on their results page once the marking period ends.

    • Show points earned for each question

    • Show correct answer for each question

Note: If an assessment includes essay questions, students cannot view their results until their essay questions are graded. Students will receive a message noting that their assessment was submitted successfully and that results will be displayed once they are ready.

Publishing options

In Publishing options, you'll select which class sections and students are assigned the assessment. You'll also determine when students can see the assessment in the Assignment Center and establish the Assigned and Due dates and times during which students can complete the assessment.

Tip: Previously created assessments can be added to additional classes. From Assignments, select the context menu next to the assessment > Edit. Select Edit details, then Select sections to choose additional classes.

  • Select sections: Select your class sections that will take the assessment. The selected sections will share the assessment, so changes made to the settings and content affect all of the class sections. Only the publishing options are specific to each section.

  • Bulk-edit selected: Select to edit the Assigned date, Assigned time, Due date, Due time, and Publish setting for sections selected in the Section grid.

  • Assigned: Date and time when students can take the assessment. If an assessment is published before the Assigned date, students can see the assessment is upcoming, but they cannot select Take to begin the assessment until the Assigned date and time.

Tip: If different class sections should take an assessment at different times, use the Assigned date and time settings to determine when students in each section will see the Take option for the assessment.

  • Due: Assessments must be completed before this date and time.

  • Assigned to: Assessments are assigned to the Full section by default. If only specific students need to take an assessment, select the Edit icon > Selected students. Select the students who will take the assessment and Save.

Tip: If a student needs to take an assessment at a different date or time than the rest of the class, you can assign the assessment to everyone except that student. Then make a copy of the assessment and assign the copy to the single student for a different date or time.

  • Publish: Choose one of the following options to determine if and when an assessment display in the Assignment Center for students.

    • Now: The assessment is immediately listed in the Assignment Center once you save. The assessment displays as Upcoming until the Assigned date, at which point students can select Take to begin the assessment as long as it is marked Ready for Taking.

    • Assigned Date: Students will not see the assessment in the Assignment Center until they are able to take it.

    • No: The assessment is not listed in the Assignment Center.

Note: The Publish setting, Assigned date and time, Due date and time, and Ready for taking settings work in conjunction with one another. In order for students to take an assessment, it must be published, marked Ready for taking, and the date and time must be within the Assigned and Due dates and times.
If you want students to see that they have an upcoming assessment before they can take it, set Publish to Now and mark the assessment Ready for taking. Set a future Assigned date and time for when students should complete the assessment.
Planning a pop quiz? Create your assessment and mark it Ready for taking. Set Publish to Assigned Date and set the Assigned date and time to the class period when students will take the pop quiz. Students will not see the assessment in their assignments until that class period when it is time to take the quiz.

When you are finished configuring your assessments settings, select Save and Add Questions to build your assessment.

Assessment content is comprised of the Introduction and Questions. From the builder view, you can select Preview assessment to see a student view of the assessment. You can also print as you build by selecting Print assessment.

Create a message or instructions that students see on the first page of the assessment before they begin taking it. You can also add an introduction image and select what information students can see for the assessment:

  • Show time to complete

  • Show points

  • Show question details: displays a breakdown of questions by question type.

Select Preview assessment to see the student view of the Introduction.

Five types of questions are available for assessments. Files or images can be added to all question types by selecting +Media.

Tip: Upload audio and download files by selecting +Media > Add file.

  • Essay: For open-ended questions. Faculty must manually score student responses to essay questions. Students cannot view their assessment results until their essay questions are graded.

  • Fill in the blank: Select this question type when students should provide a specific answer. If there is more than one acceptable answer, select Add answer choice to add additional answers. For example, "George Washington", "Washington" and "President Washington" would be separate answer choices. Answers are not case-sensitive.

  • Matching - Add prompts and answers that students match up.

    • Matching questions include an Instructions field where you can provide specific directions for each matching question.

    • Select Allow for partial credit if students should receive credit when they match some prompts, but not all prompts, to the correct answers.

    • Answers are automatically randomized for students taking the assessment.

    • To make matching questions more challenging, you can add extra answers, also known as "distractors", that do not have matching prompts. Each prompt must have an answer.

    • Files or images can be added to the Instructions. Images can be added to the Prompts and/or Answers.

    • Students can select Drag and Drop or Type Answer to determine how they input their responses.

  • Multiple choice: Add a question and multiple answer choices students must select from.

    • If a multiple choice question has multiple correct answers, you can enable Allow for partial credit to award points for the correct answers a student selects, even if they do not select all of the correct answers for the question. If a student selects an incorrect answer, points will be deducted for the question. However, a student will never receive negative credit for a question if they select more wrong answers than correct answers. If you do not enable Allow for partial credit, the student must select all of the correct answers to receive credit for the question.

    • The answer choices for multiple choice questions can also include images in addition to, or in place of, text responses.

    • Randomize answers is enabled by default if Randomize multiple choice answers is enabled in the Assessment Details. You can also enable or disable Randomize answers on each multiple choice question individually. If Randomize answers is disabled, you can select the arrow icon next to the answers and drag them into a different order.

  • True/False: Provide a statement that the student must determine is true or false. You can change True and False to different values if needed.

Tip: For Math and Science questions, faculty can use LaTeX to include mathematical equations in questions and answers.

Create new questions within the assessment builder or select previously created questions from your question banks.

Select +Add, then select the question type: 

  1. Enter the question as it should appear for students.

  2. Enter the Points if your assessment is configured with points assigned per question.

  3. Select  Save.

  1. Enter the question as it should appear for students.

  2. Enter the Answer choice.

  3. Select +Add answer choice to add additional acceptable answers.

  4. Enter the Points if your assessment is configured with points assigned per question.

  5. Select Save.

  1. Select Allow for partial credit if students should receive credit for prompts they match correctly even if they do not match all prompts correctly. Points awarded will be divided equally by the number of prompts.

  2. Enter the Instructions.

  3. Enter each Prompt with the matching Answer on the same row.

  4. To add additional prompts with corresponding answers, select +Add prompt.

  5. To add an extra answer without a matching prompt, select +Add answer choice.

  6. Enter the Points if your assessment is configured with points assigned per question.

  7. Select Save.

  1. Enter the question.

  2. Select Randomize answers if answers should not appear in the same order for all students.

  3. Select Allow for partial credit if students should receive credit for correct answers they select even if they do not select all correct answers. Points awarded will be divided equally by the number of correct answers.

  4. Enter the Answer choices.

  5. Select +Add answer choice to add more answers.

  6. Select the Delete icon to delete any unused answer choices.

  7. Mark the Correct answer(s).

  8. Enter the Points if your assessment is configured with points assigned per question.

  9. Select Save.

  1. Enter the statement.

  2. Mark the Correct answer.

  3. Enter the Points if your assessment is configured with points assigned per question.

  4. Select Save.

  1. Select a question bank from the list on the left. The selected bank displays on the right.

  2. Select the arrow next to the bank to expand it. Expand the sub-banks and questions as needed to identify the questions you want to add to your assessment

    • Expand the bank to view the associated sub-banks.

    • Expand a sub-bank to view the questions in the sub-bank.

    • Expand a question to view the full question details, including answer choices when applicable.

      Tip: Use Filter to limit the available questions by question type.

  3. Select questions to add to your assessment:

    • To add all questions from a bank to the assessment, select the checkbox next to the bank.

    • To add all questions from a sub-bank to the assessment, select the checkbox next to the sub-bank.

    • To add individual questions to the assessment, select the checkbox next to the question(s) you want to add.

  4. Optional: Repeat steps 1-3 to add questions from other banks to the assessment as needed.

  5. When finished, select Save.

In the Assessment Details, you determine if the maximum points are Divided equally by question or Assigned per question. If points are Assigned per question, you can allocate points on each question as you add or edit it. The total points assigned out of the maximum points is displayed at the bottom of the page.

Tip: If you want students to see the point value for a question while they're completing the assessment, include the point value in the question text.

To change the display order of questions in the builder, select Manage questions, then Reorder questions. Questions will display in the same order for students taking the assessment unless Randomize questions is enabled in the assessment settings.

  • Select the up/down icon to the left of a question to drag it to the desired position.

  • Select Top to move a question to the first position.

Add questions to question banks

Once you've created your assessment questions, you can add them to question banks for use again in the future. For example, you may create quizzes throughout a term and bank the questions. When you build a cumulative exam at the end of the term, you can select questions from your banks to add to the exam.

Note: For more information on creating and managing question banks, see Assessment Question Banks.

  1. In the assessment builder, select Manage questions, then Question banks.

  2. Select a Question bank and Sub-bank for any question you want to add to a bank.

    Tip: Select a Default bank and Default sub-bank to set the same bank and sub-bank for all questions in bulk.

  3. When finished, select Save.

When you're finished building the assessment, select Change availability to mark it Ready for taking. A Published assessment that is marked Ready for taking will be available for students to take during the Assigned and Due dates and times.

You cannot add questions, remove questions, or adjust question points once students begin taking the assessment. You can still edit text, media, and adjust correct answers. You can also add additional answers for Multiple Choice, Fill in the Blank, and Matching questions.

Note: If you make any changes to text or media in an assessment after students have started it, those students must exit the assessment, then resume to see your changes reflected in their instance of the assessment. If the Allow students to resume independently option is not enabled in the assessment settings, you can enable it or select Allow continue on the evaluation page for individual students.

If you need to prevent students from beginning an assessment after you've marked it Ready for taking, you can select Change availability and mark the assessment Not ready for taking. Students will no longer have the ability to begin the assessment. Students who are already actively taking the assessment will still be able to complete and submit their current instance of the assessment.

Note: Selecting Not ready for taking does not allow you to add or remove questions or adjust question points if students have already started taking the assessment.

Tip: Use Ready for taking to indicate that you're done building the assessment itself. Use Publishing options to establish if and when students can see the assessment in the Assignment Center and when they can complete the assessment.

In the Assignment Center or from the class Assignments tab, faculty select an assessment name under Details, then select a student to evaluate their assessment. In the list of students, a blue Submitted icon indicates which students have submitted their assessment.

Award points

Scores are calculated automatically for Multiple choice, Fill in the blank, Matching, and True/False questions. Faculty can increase or decrease the points awarded on each question manually, including awarding more points than a question is worth. Essay questions display Awaiting status until the faculty updates the points awarded. Changes to awarded points are reflected in the student's Score at the bottom of the page, along with a breakdown of Correct, Incorrect, Awaiting, and Partial credit questions. If students are able to view their assessment results, they can see any changes made to their awarded points instantly.

Tip: To quickly identify essay questions that must be graded manually, select Show only Essay questions. If the student results page is enabled, students cannot view their results until their essay questions are graded.

Add comments and feedback

Faculty can select + Add question comment to leave feedback on individual questions. Question comments are displayed below the question they reference on the student's results page.

To provide feedback on a student's overall performance on an assessment, select + Add summary feedback and enter your comments. You can also upload a file for the student to review as feedback. Summary feedback is displayed at the top of the student's results page. If an assessment is marked to be included in the gradebook, summary feedback is added to the gradebook when evaluations are committed.

Tip: Need to edit summary feedback after you've committed your evaluation to the gradebook?
Edit the comment from the assessment evaluation page. The updated comment displays in the gradebook and in the student's results page.
If you edit the comment from the gradebook, you must commit your changes to the gradebook before the student can see the updated comment.

Mark submission indicators

If an assessment is added to the gradebook, faculty can select indicators to denote an assessment is Exempt, Missing, orIncomplete. They can also select Exempt to show that a student is excused from the assessment. Abbreviated icons for these indicators are visible in the list of students.

Commit evaluations to gradebook

Once you're done scoring a student's assessment, select Commit evaluation at the bottom of the page to add their score to the gradebook. You can also select Commit evaluations at the top of the page to commit the scores for all students in the class section.

From the evaluation page, faculty select Detailed breakdown to take a closer look at how their class performed as a whole on an assessment and identify questions or subjects students struggled with.

  • Unless otherwise noted, assessments with ungraded essay questions are excluded from score metrics.

  • If a student submits an assessment multiple times, only the most recent submission is included in the metrics.

  • Dropped students are excluded from metrics.

  • Select the ellipsis icon in graphs to download the graph data or print an image of the graph.

  • If an assessment is shared across multiple class sections, faculty can use Select section results to add additional class sections to the Detailed breakdown and compare the results across those sections.

For more information, see Assessment Reporting.

Allow continue

If a student exits their assessment without submitting, they can resume the assessment on their own if you enabled Allow students to resume independently in the Assessment Details. If students are not allowed to resume independently, you can allow individual students to resume the assessment by selecting Allow continue.

  1. From the Assignment Center, select the assessment name under Details.

  2. Select the student

  3. Select Allow continue.

  4. The student can now select Resume for the assessment from the class Assignments page.

Allow retake

Allow retake allows a student to complete a new instance of the assessment. Allow retake is only available once an assessment has been submitted. Upon selecting Allow retake, the student will see the Retake or Take again option for the assessment within the Assigned and Due dates.

Tip: When a student retakes an assessment, the answers they previously submitted will be erased from the system and they will take a new instance of the assessment. If needed, make note of the student's answers before selecting Allow Retake.

  1. From the Assignment Center, select the assessment name under Details.

  2. Select the student

  3. Select Allow retake. Allow retake only appears once the assessment has been submitted.

  4. The student can now select Retake for the assessment from the class Assignments page.

Extend assessment for a student

There may be instances when a student needs an extension to complete their assessment due to an absence or other circumstances. Faculty can extend an assessment and set a new due date for an individual student.

Tip: If a student is retaking an assessment after the due date, first extend the assessment to a new due date before selecting Allow Retake.

  1. From the Assignment Center, select the assessment name under Details.

  2. Select the student in the list.

  3. Select Extend.

  4. Select Select date to extend to to choose a due date for the student.

Students access their assessment results by selecting the assessment title in the Assignment Center or their class Assignments tab. When students can view their results and what details are displayed is based on your selections in Student Results Page. If your assessment includes any essay questions, you must grade those essay questions before students can view their results.

  1. In Faculty,

    Select  My Day > Assignment Center.

    OR

    Select Classes, choose a class, then select Assignments.

  2. In list view, select the context menu next to the assessment > Edit. In calendar view, select the assessment tile in the calendar (not the assessment name). This will open the builder where you can edit questions and answers.

  3. Select Edit details to access and edit the assessment settings.

  4. Make any necessary changes and select Save.

  1. In Faculty,

    Select  My Day > Assignment Center.

    OR

    Select Classes, choose a class, then select Assignments.

  2. In list view, select the context menu next to the assessment > Make a copy.

  3. The page will refresh and a new instance of the assessment named "Copy of [assessment name]" is displayed.

    Tip: The Publish status for the new copy of the assessment will be set to Not Published. If you don't see the new copy listed in the Assignment Center, check your filters to ensure they include Not Published assignments.

  4. To edit the new copy, select the context menu next to the new copy > Edit .

Faculty can use Import assignments to copy an assessment from one class section to another and to copy assessments from previous school years.

Deleting an assessment will delete any student submissions, including graded submissions. To delete an assessment:

  1. In Faculty,

    Select  My Day > Assignment Center.

    OR

    Select Classes, choose a class, then select Assignments.

  2. In list view, select the context menu next to the assessment > Delete.

  3. Select the sections to delete the assessment from.

  4. Select Yes, delete for the selected sections to complete the deletion.

There may be instances when faculty need to print a blank assessment for students to complete on paper. Printed assessments include a header that displays the assessment name and provides Name and Date spaces for students to fill in. Questions print one after the other until the page length is reached, even if the assessment is set up to display one question at a time when taking it online.

Printed assessments include the Introduction on the first page. If the options to Show time to complete, Show points, and/or Show question details are enabled, those details are included in the printed assessment.

If Randomize questions is enabled in the Assessment Details, the questions will also be randomized when printing. Similarly, if Randomize answers is enabled on multiple choice questions, the answers will be randomized in the printed assessment.

When printing assessments with images, images in questions print with a maximum width of 3.125 inches and images in answers print a maximum width of 1.5625 inches.

Note: Printed assessments cannot display mathematical equations created using LaTeX.

To print an assessment:

  1. From the Assignment Center or Assignments on the class page, select the context menu next to the assessment > Print assessment.

  2. Select the Text size: 

    • Small: question text is 12 pt

    • Medium: question text is 14 pt

    • Large: question text is 16 pt

      Tip: You can also control the size of printed text with the text size setting in each question and answer field.

  3. Number of blank lines to display for essay questions defaults to 5. Select a different value if needed. Number of blank lines to display is required even if the assessment does not include essay questions.

  4. Select Print preview.

Tip: You can also print an assessment from the question builder view by selecting Print assessment at the bottom of the page.