This article describes the Create Questions screen as part of the built-in Focus Assessment System. For the Create Questions screen that is part of the add-on Learnosity assessment module, click here.
Teachers can create a variety of test questions, including multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, true/false, extended response, short response, and more. The Create Questions screen is used to set up questions to be used on future tests. Questions can be linked to standards so that student performance can be analyzed in the test reports. Questions can also be shared with other users.
Additionally, questions can be created while you are setting up a test on the Create Tests screen.
Questions can be set up and linked to a specific standard, or can be set up independent of a standard.
Depending on your district’s setup, standards may be organized by subject area, grade level, strand, and cluster.
1. To add a question for a particular standard, click the subject area, grade level, strand, cluster, and standard.
Hover over the standard to view its description in a tool-tip.
Alternatively, click Non Standard to add a question not associated with a standard.
2. Click Add Question.
3. In the center of the screen, click the Question Text box to open the editor in a pop-up window.
4. In the pop-up window, enter the question text. A variety of formatting tools are provided.
5. Click OK when finished.
6. Select the Question Type. Each question type will be set up differently.
Multiple choice questions require the student to select the best answer from multiple options. This question type can be auto-graded by Focus.
a. Select the Answer Count. This determines how many answer options there are for students to select from.
b. Click each Correct Answer and Incorrect Answer box.
c. In the pop-up window, enter the answer text.
d. Click OK to save the answer text and close the pop-up window.
e. To rearrange the answer options, click and drag the options into the desired order.
Multi multiple choice questions require students to select multiple correct answers from the provided options. This question type can be auto-graded by Focus.
a. Select the Answer Count. This determines how many answer options there are for students to select from.
b. Select Is Correct on each answer option that will be a correct answer.
c. Click each Correct Answer and Incorrect Answer box.
d. In the pop-up window, enter the answer text.
e. Click OK to save the answer text and close the pop-up window.
f. To rearrange the answer options, click and drag the options into the desired order.
Extended response questions require students to answer an open-ended question in a long text format. There is no character limit for extended response questions. This question type cannot be auto-graded by Focus.
a. Click the Grading Notes box.
b. In the pop-up window, enter any notes to display when grading the student's response. The notes will not be visible to students.
c. Click OK to save and close the pop-up window.
Short response questions prompt students to answer an open-ended question in a short text format. Students are limited to 150 characters. This question type cannot be auto-graded by Focus.
a. Click the Grading Notes box.
b. In the pop-up window, enter any notes to display when grading the student's response. The notes will not be visible to students.
c. Click OK to save and close the pop-up window.
True/False questions require students to mark a statement as true or false. True/False questions can be auto-graded by Focus.
Select the correct answer, True or False.
Gridded response questions require students to mark their numerical answer using a grid. Gridded response questions can be auto-graded by Focus.
Use the grid to select the correct answer.
Audio response questions require students to record an answer through their device's microphone. This question type cannot be auto-graded by Focus.
Fill in the blank questions require students to fill in the correct answer for each blank included in the question. Fill in the blank questions can be auto-graded by Focus. Responses are case-sensitive.
a. Select the Blank Count (how many blanks are included in the question text).
b. Click each word box.
c. In the text box, enter the correct response. Responses are case-sensitive.
Passages allow students to refer to a text, image, table, formula, or other information in order to answer the linked questions. On the test, the passage will display for students to reference when answering the linked questions.
The content of the passage is set up in the Question Text.
Use the Copy from Word option to maintain the passage formatting when copying the passage from a Word document.
When passages are saved, they appear in bold in the Items tab of the left side of the screen.
Clicking the passage will display any linked questions.
7. In the Question Options on the right side of the screen, enter a Name for the question.
8. Select the Cognitive Complexity.
9. To link the question to a passage, select the passage in the Link to passage pull-down.
When a question is linked to a passage, the passage will display for students to reference when answering the questions on the test.
10. Select a Question Group, if desired.
Question groups help organize questions when teachers and administrators share questions. See Adding a Question group for how to create question groups.
11. Click Save Question.
The question is displayed beneath the standard on the left side of the screen, or is listed under Non Standard if the question was added there.
Questions linked to a passage are displayed after clicking the passage in the Items list.
Question groups help organize questions when teachers and administrators share questions. See Sharing Questions for how to share questions by question group.
1. On the right side of the screen in the Question Options, click Add New Group.
2. In the pop-up window, enter the New Group Title.
3. Click Save.
The question group is now available for selection in the Question Group pull-down.
1. On the right side of the screen in the Question Options, select the Question Group to rename.
2. Click Rename Group.
3. In the pop-up window, edit the Group Title.
4. Click Save.
Deleting a question group does not delete the questions that are within the group.
1. On the right side of the screen in the Question Options, select the Question Group to delete.
2. Click Delete Group.
3. In the confirmation message, click OK.
Passages can only be edited on the Edit Passages screen.
1. Click the subject area, grade level, strand, cluster, and standard that houses the question, or click Non Standard to view questions not linked to a standard.
2. Click the question to edit.
3. Make any edits to the question text, answers, or question options as needed.
4. Click Save Question.
Passages can only be deleted on the Edit Passages screen.
1. Click the subject area, grade level, strand, cluster, and standard that houses the question, or click Non Standard to view questions not linked to a standard.
2. Click the question to delete.
3. Click Delete Question.
4. In the confirmation message, click OK.
When a question has been used on a test, the Item Analytics section will display a graph when viewing the question. It will display the number of students who selected each answer, and the tests that used this question.
1. Click the subject area, grade level, strand, cluster, and standard that houses the question, or click Non Standard to view questions not linked to a standard.
2. Click the question to view.
On the right side of the screen, the Item Analytics graph will display if the question has been used on a test. It will indicate how many students selected each answer, and which tests the questions has been included on.
Questions can be shared with other teachers and staff. You can share all of your questions with a user, or only specific question groups.
1. Click the Sharing Options tab on the left side of the screen.
2. In the Items tab, click Enable Sharing to share your test questions.
3. Click Add New to select a user to share with.
4. In the pull-down, select the user to share with.
You can begin typing the user’s name in the Filter box to locate the user in the list.
5. Select the question groups you want to share with the user, or select Share All Questions to share all of your test questions with the user.
6. To add an additional user to share with, click Add New and repeat steps 4 and 5.
7. Click Save Settings when finished.
You can search for questions by subject area, grade level, strand, cluster, standard, question ID, or user.
1. On the left side of the screen, click the Search tab.
2. Enter search criteria in the Subject Area, Grade Level, Strand, Cluster, Standard, Quester ID, and/or User fields.
3. Click Search.
The pop-up window displays any questions that match the search criteria.
4. Click Edit next to the desired question.
The question is displayed for viewing and editing.
