Writing Classroom Assessment Items for Grade 7 ELA
This paper presents a three-part classroom assessment plan designed for a Grade 7 English Language Arts unit. Drawing on Anne of Green Gables as the literary text, the assessment includes a ten-item summative multiple-choice test, a five-question formative assessment combining selected-response and constructed-response items, and a detailed performance task with a holistic rubric. The paper situates these assessments within the framework of assessment literacy as described by Popham (2018), emphasizing the importance of validity, reliability, and freedom from bias in test construction. An item analysis process informed by Izard (2004) confirms that all summative items meet established criteria without requiring revision.
- Introduction and Assessment Overview: Purpose and theoretical basis for the assessment plan
- Part 1: Summative Multiple-Choice Test: Ten multiple-choice items based on Anne of Green Gables
- Item Analysis of the Summative Assessment: Pre-administration analysis confirms items need no revision
- Part 2: Formative Assessment: True/false and constructed-response comprehension questions
- Part 3: Performance Task: Task description, process steps, and product criteria
- Holistic Rubric and Scoring Criteria: Four-point rubric scoring five product criteria
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The paper clearly organizes three distinct assessment types — summative, formative, and performance — each with a defined purpose and format, making the assessment plan easy to follow.
- The use of a real literary text (Anne of Green Gables) anchors all assessment items in a concrete classroom context, demonstrating how assessment design connects to curriculum content.
- The inclusion of a holistic rubric with explicit scoring levels (1–4) and product criteria shows practical understanding of performance-based assessment design.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates alignment between learning outcomes and assessment instruments. Each section — from multiple-choice stems to constructed-response prompts to the performance task rubric — maps back to specific comprehension and literary analysis skills, illustrating the principle of backward design in assessment construction.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief theoretical grounding in assessment literacy, then proceeds through three numbered parts: (1) a ten-item summative multiple-choice test with starred correct answers and a post-hoc item analysis, (2) a five-question formative assessment mixing true/false and open-ended items, and (3) a performance task that specifies outcomes, process steps, product criteria, and a holistic rubric. References appear at the end in APA format.
Introduction and Assessment Overview
This assessment is designed for a Grade 7 English Language Arts class. It focuses on examining students' literacy in the English language and their understanding of concepts learned in the classroom. In essence, the assessment is intended to evaluate students' comprehension and mastery of the English language. Writing therefore plays a central role — it examines students' interactions with different pieces of literature.
Writing test items that are reliable, valid, and free from bias is a major component of assessment literacy. According to Popham (2018), assessment literacy primarily entails one's ability to read and write rather than knowledge or competence in a specific area. This paper provides a summative multiple-choice test, a formative assessment, and a performance task.
Part 1: Summative Multiple-Choice Test
Assessment of Grade 7 students' comprehension of concepts in the English language involves the use of both summative and formative assessments. Summative multiple-choice tests are viewed as effective and efficient approaches to evaluating learning outcomes (Brame, 2013). For this Grade 7 class, the summative multiple-choice test seeks to examine learning outcomes in relation to concepts taught in the English Language Arts lessons. This summative assessment is based on test specifications and a curriculum map, and it serves as an end-of-unit assessment incorporating 10 multiple-choice items, each with a stem, four answer choices, and a starred correct answer. The assessment is based on an excerpt from Anne of Green Gables, a classic story used in the classroom.
1. Who is the writer of this passage?
a. Anne
b. Marilla
c. An outsider
d. A narrator who is conversant with the story and its characters*
2. What is the author trying to portray in this story?
a. The life and times of a young girl living in rural Prince Edward Island*
b. Anne's interactions with Marilla
c. How Anne feels about Marilla
d. Anne's personality
3. What is the author's main idea or central theme?
a. To demonstrate Anne's dramatic personality
b. Life in rural Prince Edward Island was characterized by numerous challenges that affected interpersonal relationships*
c. To show how Marilla prevented herself from being angry with Anne
d. To show the level of Anne's intelligence
4. How would the word smart, as used in the final sentence of the story, be applicable in today's life?
a. Painful
b. Fashionable
c. Intelligent*
d. Quick
5. Which words best describe Anne's feelings?
a. Scared and uncertain
b. Excited but nostalgic
c. Shy and inactive
d. Energized and excited*
6. If you were Marilla, how would you respond to Anne?
a. Send her back home
b. Be affectionate toward her
c. With suspicion
d. Unsure of how to act*
7. What aspects of Anne's feelings support the author's main idea?
a. Anne's dramatic personality
b. Anne's intelligence
c. Anne's fear of being misunderstood by Marilla*
d. None of the above
8. What could have influenced Anne's dramatic personality and her relationships?
a. Her beauty-loving eyes
b. Experience of so many unlovely places*
c. Resentment toward life on the island
d. Poor childhood
9. How do relationships with others affect Anne?
a. They affect her perceptions about life*
b. They change her childhood experiences
c. They generate discomfort
d. They create low self-esteem
10. How does the story reflect the challenges of life in rural Prince Edward Island?
a. By showing Anne's dramatic personality
b. By highlighting the issues surrounding the relationship between Anne and Marilla*
c. By demonstrating how Anne and Marilla feel about each other
d. By showing Anne as a shy and inactive girl
Item Analysis of the Summative Assessment
Izard (2004) compiled a series of questions used to carry out an item analysis of an assessment. After creating this summative assessment, an item analysis was conducted to evaluate the quality of the instrument. The analysis focused on examining whether each test item was designed to assess what the student is expected to know, in a clear and concise manner. The pre-administration item analysis did not reveal any need for revision, as the test items met all established criteria. In essence, none of the test items required revision: each had an appropriate stem, was stated clearly and concisely, and was aligned with the desired learning outcomes.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.