The released multiple-choice items come from the development of the teacher assessment. The items were written using the same process as the items on the teacher assessment, but were field tested only once. To learn more about the item development process, see Teacher Assessment Development. Each item specifies the concept(s) targeted, the type of teacher assessment item, and the percent of teachers choosing each response from the first field trial.
Content Assessed by the Items
The available released items measure knowledge of science content in one of the following areas:
Each of the items addresses one or two specific sub-ideas from the content clarification.
Field Trial Response Data
All of the items include the p-values and distribution of responses from a field test of the items. At least 500 science teachers across the nation responded to each item. The group included roughly one-fifth high school science teachers in the appropriate science domain (e.g. physics) to ensure an adequate distribution of levels of teacher knowledge in the sample. The remaining respondents were middle grades science teachers.