The ATLAST teacher assessment items have several common features. Among them, all items are multiple choice and include only four choices. Choices such as ”none of the above,“ ”all of the above,“ or multiple correct answers such as, ”A and B but not C“ are not used.
All teacher items are set in an instructional context. The intent in using these contexts was two-fold; first, to make teachers feel like they were taking a test that was written for them, as opposed to, for example, a test constructed for undergraduates. The second goal was for teachers to recognize in the items the kind of work they do every day, making it more likely that they would engage with the items intellectually.
The teacher assessment items target understanding of science content in one of three different ways :
- Knowledge of science content (Level 1 items);
- Using content knowledge to analyze/diagnose student thinking (Level 2 items); and
- Using content knowledge to make instructional decisions (Level 3 items).
More detailed descriptions of the different kinds of teacher items is in Teacher Item Types.