Batch Alignment. This can help you save time when you are authoring items for an assessment.

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1 Batch Alignment The Batch Alignment feature in ActivProgress allows you to align groups of questions to standards rather than align one question to standards at a time. This can help you save time when you are authoring items for an assessment. There are three basic approaches that you can use with the batch alignment tool: 1. As you author items, individually align them to standards, then go to the batch alignment area to share those alignments with other questions; 2. As you write your test items, don t align them individually. Align your items after you have written them and use to the batch alignment area to match them to standards as a group; or 3. Use a combination of approaches 1 and 2: In the batch alignment area, share individual alignments with other questions and use the standards library to find new standards to align with your questions. Let s say you are authoring test items for an upcoming assessment. You plan to use some items from an earlier quiz as well as some new questions you just created. The questions from the quiz are already aligned to two standards, so you use the batch alignment area to search for those items and then apply those standards to your new questions. There are also a group of new questions on the test that relate to standards that weren t covered on the quiz, so you use the standards library in the batch alignment area to search for those standards and apply them. To access the batch alignment area, click on the Create tab and choose Item Banks.

2 Click on the item bank you want to work with. Then go to the batch alignment step in the wizard. Batch Alignment uses a Filter Contexts tool similar to the one you may have used to align individual questions to standards. The purpose of this tool is to help you narrow your search for the standards you want to align your questions with. One approach to finding standards is to search your state standards bank. Another approach is to search other item banks or assessments that have questions that are already aligned to the standards you want.

3 Let s say you are populating an item bank that have several items that share very similar standard alignments. Instead of aligning the items as you author them, consider align them later using the batch tool to save time. Notice that your bank is automatically selected in the Filter Context area. You can use the filter tools to select other items here if you choose. The questions that are in this bank, as well as the other categories you select, will be displayed in the Items from Banks column in the lower left hand area of the page.

4 Now we ll look at some of the strategies for aligning items in batches. Strategy 1: Sharing standard alignments between items As you wrote individual questions and saved them in item banks, you may have aligned them to standards. In the batch alignment area, you can share the standards you selected with other questions. Select a test item or items from your list in the left column by clicking on it. They will be highlighted green when you select them.

5 Then click on the accordion arrows to reveal the standards it is already aligned to. When you click on an item, notice how its standards appear in the Working Set window on the right.

6 If I click on another item, its standard will also appear in the Working Set box. Notice how the standards from the first item still appear in the Working Set box. If you wanted to apply the standard from the first item to the second item, you could click on the first standard...

7 then click on the Save Changes to Item button and BOTH standards will be applied to the item I just selected. Click on as many items as you wish to create a working set of standards to choose from. Click Save Changes to Item to apply the standards from the first item you selected to the second item you selected.

8 Standards that are highlighted will be applied. To de-select a standard, click on it. To select ALL items and all of the standards they are aligned to, click on the Select All button at the bottom of your item list. Now all of the standards included in this item bank will appear in the Working Set box. You can pick and choose which standards to apply to items from here using the Save Changes to Item button. Strategy 2: Use the standards library in the batch alignment area to select a working set of standards, then apply those standards to questions. Let s say you are creating an 15-question assessment to measure students understanding and application of three math standards. Rather than search the standards bank 15 times for the same three standards, you can wait until the batch alignment area and search for the standards once. Then click on all 15 questions and apply the standards to those questions. In the batch alignment area, click the choose button to open the standards library.

9 There are several ways to find the standards that align to your question. For help searching for standards, refer to the user guide Standards Library guide. Select all the standards you need to apply to your questions in the right column. Then, click on a question in your item bank, then highlight the standard(s) you wish to apply by clicking on them. Then click Save Changes to Item to apply the new standards to your item. Strategy 3: Share standard alignments between items and use the standards browser to find and align your items. Apply both strategies listed above. You're now ready to build an assessment document with your test items.

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