How do you know if they're getting it? Writing assessment items that reveal student understanding.

The article offers tips for teachers on how to write assessment items that reveal student understanding including best practices and concrete examples given. First, a teacher should decide what is fair game as drawing clear boundaries around the intended content assures that items focus on what they care about and prevent them from introducing content that is out of bounds. In writing assessment items, try to target just one sub-idea per item as this will make each item precise allowing a specific and clear assessment of students' understanding of a particular idea. Teachers should consider the necessity criterion and the sufficiency criterion.