In order to prepare students for high stakes assessments, instructors will have to learn how to create and use Technology-Enhanced Constructed Responses (TECRs) and Evidence-Based Selected Responses (EBSRs). This workshop begins with an overview of how to evaluate and select both anchor and additional texts “worthy of study” from which to construct EBSRs and TECRs. Next, the presenter will introduce activities and resources that instructors can use to prepare students to complete these novel and challenging items. Districts and schools can select from a variety of grade-level configurations; workshop materials and activities will be selected to address students’ developmental levels.

• Lack of teacher familiarity with the structure and expectations of EBSR and TECR items.
  
  
• Challenges in aligning classroom instruction with high stakes testing item design and rigor.
  
  
• Difficulty in selecting and analyzing complex, authentic texts for assessment development.
  

1. Designing Standards-Aligned Assessment Items
   Participants will learn to construct rigorous, standards-based EBSR and TECR questions by analyzing literary and informational texts for vocabulary, structure, and central ideas. Emphasis is placed on writing strong effective distractors that reflect student misconceptions.
   
   
2. Text Selection and Complexity Analysis
   Educators will gain tools for evaluating text complexity using quantitative and qualitative measures. They will be able to identify and justify the selection of texts that meet five criteria: complexity, diversity, authenticity, effective pairing, and sensitivity.
   
   
3. Instructional Integration and Practice
   Teachers will practice integrating assessment creation into instruction by aligning question formats with daily literacy practices. They will engage in collaborative evaluation and revision of EBSR/TECR items, building a repertoire of examples and templates for immediate classroom use.