Assessments > Create and Edit Tests > Create a Manual Test

Create: Manual Test

*Includes Create: Co-Authored Test

Create a manual testA test that is created manually by a test creator with new test items or existing test items selected from the item bank. when you are unsure of which standards the assessment will cover, want to create items and passages yourself or select them individually from an item bank, or want to examine and edit all items one-by-one. After creating a test, you can modify it from the Test Detail page.

ClosedTo create a manual test
  1. Go to Assessments > Create for Tests, and then select Manual.
  2. Enter the test details:
    • Test Name – Enter the name of the test. This name will display in other parts of Assessments. The Test Name can be changed when the test is in the Private Draft or Public Draft stage. Any leading spaces or trailing spaces in your test name will automatically be removed when you save the test, and any multiple spaces will automatically be converted to single spaces.
    • Subject – Choose a subject of the test.
    • Grade Level – Choose a grade level.
    • Number of Items - Enter the number of items you want on the test. Select the All Multiple Choice checkbox to make all of the questions multiple choice (you can change the item type later). This field does not limit the number of items you can add to the test.
    • Preferred Standards Document – The standards document that you would like the test items mapped to. You must select a preferred standards document when creating a test. You can change this document later, and you can add items that map to different standard documents. The Preferred Standards Document will be a applied as a filter when selecting a Standards Template.
    • Standards Template (Recommended) - Click Select Standards to select a set of standards that will be easily accessible to assign to items on this test. A plus sign or a minus sign appears next to parent standards. Click on a plus sign to select a parent standard and all its children. Click on a minus sign to deselect a parent standard and all its children.
    • Institution Source – Optional: Defines where the information comes from (e.g. district, region). Most users will not change the default. This field option is only available to administrators.
    • Test Category – Choose the category of the test such as District Benchmark or My Classroom.
    • Hide Item Content from Test Results - Select whether to hide test content for items and passages from students and parents when reviewing test results. This option is useful for tests that will be reused.
    • Unanswered Questions - Select to include or exclude unanswered questions from the test score. This option is available for Classroom tests only.
    • Score Type - The selected score type will be displayed for this test on an Item Analysis ReportThis report analyzes each item on a test to determine the proportions of students selecting each answer. It can be used to evaluate a student's strengths and weaknesses or the strengths and weaknesses of the entire section(s) on the assessment., Classroom Assessment Monitor, Analysis SpreadsheetAvailable in both the Classrooms and School & District Data modules, the analysis spreadsheet is a type of report used to create a list of students and up to 25 selected data points, such as test scores, absences, and grade level., and Student ProfileFound by using the Find a Student search in the top right corner of the system. A graphic compilation of the performance of an individual on a series of assessments..
    • Test Focus – Applies only when English Language and Literature is selected as the Subject. Choose between ELA, Reading, or Writing. Choose ELA when the test does not fit into the Reading or Writing categories.
    • Answer Key Only – Generates only the answer key without the question and answer content. Although no actual question stem and choice text will be shown on the answer key, each item requires an item type, correct answer choice, point value, and standard alignment. When editing an item on an answer key only test, only the relevant fields will be shown for the item.
    • Default Fonts (TestNav and test booklets) - Select a default font for items and passages on the test. Custom item and passage font settings will override the test settings. Only fonts supported in TestNav are supported. Labels in TestNav will use the standard font, not the default font selected here. The default fonts defined for a test will be maintained even if the system default fonts are changed.
  3. Enter Test Item Defaults - For each option, select whether to Use Item Settings defined at the item level or to use the global test item settings defined here.
    • Open Response Text Formatting - Simple text formatting allows students to enter text without the text formatting toolbar available. Rich text formatting allows students to use the text formatting toolbar. With rich text, you can also give students access to Spell Check (for English only) or the Special Character Palette (for French and Spanish only). Select Equation Editor to allow students to enter their answer as an equation, and then select an appropriate grade level and editor.
    • Answer Choice Layout- Provides the option to choose a table layout for the multiple choice/checklist test questions and answers. This option allows those schools and districts that use a table layout for multiple choice/checklist items to choose the required layout. (Multiple choice two-columns down, then across is not supported in tests administered in TestNav. If it is selected, two-columns across, then down will be used in TestNav.)
    • Answer Choice Positioning- For Gap Match items, you can select where answer choices will appear in the question content (top, bottom, left, or right). For example, answer choices will appear at the bottom of the question (below the question and gaps) if you select bottom. For questions with vertically oriented (side-by-side) passages, left or right positioning will be ignored, and top will be used instead.
    • Gridded Answer Entry- Select how gridded test questions will appear in TestNav for the test, or select to Use Item Settings. The Bubble Grid option displays a bubble layout similar to a printed answer sheet, and the Text Box option displays a single text box in which students can enter their answer.
    • Enable Tools & Manipulatives - Allows tools and manipulatives to be used on both online and printed tests. When you select this option, you can select the specific tools and manipulatives you want to include on a test. Select whether to Use Item Settings defined at the item level or to use the global test settings defined here. For more information, see Tools and Manipulatives.

    Certain test items cannot be edited. If you add an item that cannot be edited to your test, the test item defaults will not apply to that item.

  4. Enter Test Settings - Select the default settings for test items used on the test.
    • Student Comments - Provides students the ability to enter or update feedback about the test and/or items. Select to allow students to either Comment at the end of the test, to Comment on each item, or leave blank to remove student comments for the test. This item setting cannot be changed once the test is scheduled. These comments display on the Score page.
    • Hide Teacher Names and Section Information on Answer Sheets - Select whether to hide teacher names and section information on answer sheets.
    • Capture teacher comments on Answer Sheets - Choose Yes to add space on the printed answer sheets for teacher comments for open response questions.
    • Enable Assessment Notes - Allows teachers and administrators to add notes on the use and effectiveness of an assessment when it is in the following test stages: scheduled, in progress, or completed. When enabled, the Assessment Notes area will be available on the Test Detail page.
    • Enable Student Self-Assessment - Select this option to enable student self-assessments for this test via the Review a Test widget. The test must be a My Classroom test and have at least one open response or human scorable question. After taking the test, students can compare their open response answers to specific scoring criteria (via rubrics) for each question and assign their own score. Teachers will see self-assessment scores and comments when scoring the test.
    • Description – A description of the test.
    • Link to a Test Window – Choose an existing test window for the test.
    • Accommodations (TestNav only)- Select whether to enable the Line Reader, Magnifier, and/or Text to Speech accommodations for tests delivered in TestNav. For Text to Speech, English or Spanish pronunciation can be selected. The test-level setting will override the item-level Question Language. This setting determines only the pronunciation of question content; it does not translate question content. A warning message will appear if the test and item settings differ. See Student Accommodations for more information.
    • Enable Printing - Select whether to allow the printing of student test booklets, test rubrics, answer keys, scoring instructions, and cover sheets. By default, all test materials can be printed. Student test booklets can be downloaded for printing, in PDF and .DOCX (Word) formats.
    • Answer Sheet Scanning - Select whether to enable answer sheet scanning with a camera for this test. This option will only appear if this functionality is enabled in your system .
  5. Select Test Restrictions for educators and parents/students. Users with the appropriate operations can bypass these restrictions.

    For Educators. The following options are available only if you have the View Content and Manage Restricted Tests operation and can create State, District, or Region benchmark tests. Note that for State tests, district, region, and school users will be subject to all selected test restrictions regardless of their operations.

    • Prevent viewing item content - Prevents viewing item content and when the restriction will apply. When you select this option, the Prevent copying test or test items restriction is automatically applied as well to protect test content from being exposed. When you select the Except From option and enter start and end dates, the restriction applies from the beginning of the day on the start date to the end of the day on the end date.
      Caution: Deselecting either of the following scoring restrictions below will allow users to see test content on the Score page.
    • Prevent copying test or test items - Prevents the test or any test items from being copied. Protects test content from being exposed.
    • Prevent editing or deleting student responses - Select when the restriction will apply.
    • Prevent scoring open response questions - Select when the restriction will apply.
    • Restrict Item Analysis, Data Collection Report, and Export Test Results for this assessment - Prevents viewing of item analysis information and the Data Collection Report, and also prevents exporting test results from all areas.

    For Parents and Students. The following options are available for all tests and test creators. These options are progressively restrictive, and only one option can be selected. The selected restrictions will be respected in the Student Profile and Review a Test widget.

    • No restrictions - No restrictions are applied to parents and students.
    • Hide correct answers - Hides correct answers when viewing test results during the selected time period (or always).
    • Restrict access to item content and answer choices - Restricts access to item content and answer choices while leaving student responses and correctness visible.
    • Restrict access to test details, correctness, standards analysis, item content, and answer choices - If the item analysis restriction for educators is applied, this option will be selected by default, but it can be applied independently of the educator setting. Only the test name, test score, and score group will be available to parents and students.
    • Hide test from Student Profile - Hides the test and test results from parents and students on the Benchmark Tests and Classroom Tests tabs of the Student Profile.

  6. Enter Co-Authoring Settings - For more information, see Co-Authoring.
    • Enable Co-Authoring – Select to enable the co-authoring feature that allows you to collaborate with others when creating tests and test items.
    • Select Co-Authors – Select to search for co-authors and enter a co-authors name in the field. You can enter the full or partial information and select from the pre-populated list. When co-authors are selected, you can choose to limit them to View-Only Access.
    • Save to a Co-Authored Folder – Select to save this test to a co-authored folder, and then select the folder. The folder must already exist on the Co-Authoring page.
  7. Click Generate Test at the bottom of the page, and then select whether to Use items from Item Bank or Author new items. When adding items from a bank, all items you select will appear on the test, regardless of the Number of Items entered when creating the test. If you selected to use All Multiple Choice items, the Multiple Choice filter will be applied automatically in the item bank search.
  8. On the Edit Test page, click an item in the left panel to edit it or create a new item if it is blank. You can also click Add Item to create a new item or search for an item in an item bank. If you create an item on a test, the new item will not be saved to an item bank. After the test is scheduled or completed, you can save new items to a bank from the Test Detail page.
  9. After adding or creating the test items, resolve any warnings for each item, and then click Return to Test Details.

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