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Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium: Style Guide Last Revised: April 2012 La

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium: Style Guide Last Revised: April 2012 Last revised: April 2012 i Note: The presentation of the sample items and selections in this document approximates but does not exactly reflect the appearance of the test content that students will view on the computer screen. The final presentation of content will depend on the user interface (UI) of the online delivery system. Last revised: April 2012 ii Table 1. Abbreviations used in Smarter Balanced Style Guide. Style Guide Abbreviations Abbreviation Spelled-Out Term CBT Computer-based testing CMOS Chicago Manual of Style CMYK Cyan-magenta-yellow-black (a four-color model used in printing) CR item Constructed-response item dpi Dots per inch ELA English Language Arts ER item Extended-response item IFC/IBC Inside front cover/inside back cover JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group (a format for compressing images used for print or screen presentation) NTM page No test materials page OBC/OFC Outside front cover/outside back cover PBT Print-based testing PNG Portable network graphics (a format using lossless compression for images used for screen presentation) PSS Purpose-setting statement PT Performance task RGB Red-green-blue (a three-color model used in screen presentation) SR item Selected-response item TEI Technology-enhanced item TIFF Tagged image file format (a format for compressing images used for print presentation) UI User interface Smarter Balanced Style Guide: Table of Contents Last revised: April 2012 iii Part I Global Style Conventions ........................................................................ 1 A. Computer-Based Testing ............................................................................ 2 Layout Considerations ................................................................................... 2 B. General Font and Alignment Specifications ............................................... 4 C. Test Items................................................................................................... 4 Selected-Response Items .............................................................................. 4 Constructed-Response Items, Extended-Response Items, and Writing Prompts ........................................................................................... 9 D. Performance Tasks .................................................................................. 10 E. Graphics and Other Stimuli in Items ........................................................ 10 Introductory Statements ..............................................................................10 Referring to Text from Graphics in Items ....................................................12 Graphics Embedded in Text .........................................................................14 F. Preferred Editorial Styles ......................................................................... 15 Spelling and Plurals......................................................................................15 Possessives ..................................................................................................16 Compound Terms .........................................................................................17 Capitalization ................................................................................................18 Titles of Works ..............................................................................................20 Treatment of Terms ......................................................................................21 Abbreviations ................................................................................................22 Part II Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation ...................................................... 24 A. Grammar and Usage ................................................................................ 25 Subject-Verb Agreement ..............................................................................25 Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement .................................................................26 Modifiers .......................................................................................................27 Adjectival and Adverbial Degrees ................................................................28 Preferred Word Usage ..................................................................................28 B. Punctuation .............................................................................................. 30 Commas ........................................................................................................30 Semicolons ...................................................................................................33 Colons ...........................................................................................................34 Smarter Balanced Style Guide: Table of Contents Last revised: April 2012 iv Hyphens and Dashes ...................................................................................34 Ellipsis Points ................................................................................................35 Multiple Punctuation Marks ........................................................................36 URLs and E-mail Addresses .........................................................................37 Lists ...............................................................................................................37 Part III English Language Arts Style Conventions............................................. 40 A. Reading and Writing Selections ............................................................... 41 Text Elements ...............................................................................................41 Prose and Poetry ..........................................................................................43 Other Types of Selections ............................................................................48 Acknowledgments ........................................................................................48 B. Reading Items .......................................................................................... 49 Selection-Based Items .................................................................................49 Vocabulary Items ..........................................................................................52 C. Writing ...................................................................................................... 56 Editing Selections and Items .......................................................................56 Writing Prompts ............................................................................................59 Part IV Mathematics Style Conventions ........................................................... 63 A. Treatment of Numbers ............................................................................. 64 Words vs. Numerals .....................................................................................64 Ordinals .........................................................................................................65 Commas in Numbers ...................................................................................65 Values Less than One ..................................................................................65 Negative Numbers ........................................................................................65 Fractions .......................................................................................................66 Percentages ..................................................................................................66 Exponents .....................................................................................................66 Ratios ............................................................................................................66 Coordinates and Ordered Pairs ...................................................................66 Dates .............................................................................................................67 Times of Day .................................................................................................67 Smarter Balanced Style Guide: Table of Contents Last revised: April 2012 v B. Equations/Expressions and Patterns General Guidelines .......................................................................................67 Variables and Symbols .................................................................................68 Operational Symbols ....................................................................................68 Pattern Rules ................................................................................................69 Punctuation in Patterns and Lists of Numbers ..........................................69 C. Naming Conventions for Geometric Objects ............................................ 70 Words vs. Symbols .......................................................................................70 Points ............................................................................................................71 Shapes and Figures .....................................................................................71 Lines and Line Segments ............................................................................71 Angles ............................................................................................................72 D. Units of Measure ...................................................................................... 72 When to Abbreviate ......................................................................................72 Abbreviations ................................................................................................73 Plural Units....................................................................................................74 Punctuation and Spacing .............................................................................75 Square and Cubic Units ...............................................................................75 Conversions ..................................................................................................75 E. Preferred Language ................................................................................. 76 Conditional (“if”) Clauses .............................................................................76 Table vs. Chart ..............................................................................................76 Percent vs. Percentage ................................................................................77 Coordinate Grids ...........................................................................................77 Probability .....................................................................................................77 Spinners ........................................................................................................77 Constructed-Response and Extended-Response Items .............................78 Part V Graphic Specifications .......................................................................... 79 A. Text Elements ........................................................................................... 80 Fonts .............................................................................................................80 Symbols and Special Characters .................................................................81 Smarter Balanced Style Guide: Table of Contents Last revised: April 2012 vi B. Graphic Size ............................................................................................. 84 Maximum Size ..............................................................................................84 Scaled Graphics ...........................................................................................84 C. Graphic Colors .......................................................................................... 85 D. Common Graphic Elements ..................................................................... 86 Units of Measure ..........................................................................................86 Arrows ...........................................................................................................87 Keys and Scales ...........................................................................................87 E. Photographs and Raster Images.............................................................. 88 Image Improvement .....................................................................................89 Credit Lines ...................................................................................................89 F. Graphs ...................................................................................................... 89 Bar Graphs ....................................................................................................90 Histograms ....................................................................................................92 Circle Graphs ................................................................................................92 Line Graphs...................................................................................................93 Scatter Plots .................................................................................................94 G. Tables and Charts .................................................................................... 96 Text Alignment in Tables ..............................................................................96 Tables ............................................................................................................97 Pictographs ...................................................................................................98 Tally Charts ...................................................................................................98 H. Coordinate Grids ...................................................................................... 99 Plotted Points and Shapes ....................................................................... 100 Plotted Lines .............................................................................................. 101 I. Geometric Shapes .................................................................................. 102 Two-Dimensional Shapes.......................................................................... 102 Three-Dimensional Shapes ....................................................................... 103 J. Other Types of Graphics ......................................................................... 103 Number Lines ............................................................................................ 103 Box-and-Whisker Plots .............................................................................. 104 Line Plots ................................................................................................... 104 Stem-and-Leaf Plots .................................................................................. 105 Smarter Balanced Style Guide: Table of Contents Last revised: April 2012 vii Spinners ..................................................................................................... 105 Maps .......................................................................................................... 106 Graphic Organizers .................................................................................... 107 Part VI Technology-Enhanced Items .............................................................. 108 A. User Interface Elements......................................................................... 109 Capitalization ............................................................................................. 109 Referring to User Interface Elements in Text ........................................... 110 B. Referring to Students ............................................................................. 110 C. Preferred Usage of Technical Terms ...................................................... 111 Appendix A Print-Based Testing ............................................................................ 116 Appendix B Word List ............................................................................................ 121 Appendix C Resources, Research, and Bibliography ............................................ 125 Index................................................................................................... 130 Part I: Global Style Conventions Smarter Balanced Style Guide: Global Style Conventions Last revised: April 2012 2 A. Computer-Based Testing Computer-based testing (CBT) differs from traditional print-based testing (PBT). As such, traditional style conventions applied to printed test forms must be modified for computer-based test forms because not all print-based style conventions are appropriate for display on a computer screen. For example, the Verdana font has been chosen because it was specifically designed to be used in place of Times New Roman and other serif fonts that often appear in printed test forms. Verdana characters are slightly larger than characters in other fonts, and the ample space between the characters makes them easy to distinguish at low screen resolutions. Note: At this time, Verdana has been specified as the primary font for test content. However, another font may be chosen upon further analysis of the effects fonts have on readability and students’ ability to retain information. Layout Considerations The presentation of content in computer-based test forms depends on the user interface (UI) in the online delivery system. The guidelines in this section should be applied to the extent possible once the online delivery system is identified. Content panes. Students should have the option of viewing content in one pane that is the full size of the computer screen or in subpanes that divide the screen horizontally or vertically. For example, students should be able to view a selection on the screen by itself or on the screen with an item. The sizes of content panes depend on the amount of space allotted in the UI for viewing content. For example, content panes will be larger in a UI in which 80% of the viewing area is used for content and 20% is reserved for headers, navigation tools, and other noncontent elements than in a UI in which 70% of the viewing area is used for content and 30% is reserved for noncontent elements. Scrolling. Students should not have to use horizontal or vertical scrolling to view test content in its entirety. The following guidelines are designed to minimize the need for scrolling: • Lay out content across the computer screen rather than in columns. • Display each item on the screen by itself. • Allow students to view a selection on the screen by itself or on the screen with an item. This eliminates the electronic equivalent of turning a page to flip between the selection and the items. • Similar options should be provided for viewing a cluster (a group of items associated with the same graphic). Students should be able to view the graphic on the screen by itself or on the screen with an item in the cluster. Smarter Balanced Style Guide: Global Style Conventions Last revised: April 2012 3 • Whenever possible, arrange graphic options in a two-over-two box layout. Which graph shows that Noel walked home from school at a constant rate? Line breaks. The locations of line breaks depend on the operating system on the computer as well as the size of the monitor being used to view test content. Because lines of text do not necessarily break at the same locations from computer to computer, hard line breaks should not be inserted unless absolutely necessary. Smarter Balanced Style Guide: Global Style Conventions Last revised: April 2012 4 B. General Font and Alignment Specifications Table 2 shows general font and alignment specifications for different text elements. See “Selected-Response Items” in this section for information about option alignment; see Parts III and IV for content-specific font and alignment specifications. Note: All text should be displayed on a white background. Table 2. General font and alignment specifications for text elements in test forms. Font and Alignment Specifications Content Font Alignment Items 14 pt. Verdana Left aligned Part headings in items 14 pt. Verdana Bold Italic Left aligned Boxed text 14 pt. Verdana • Box: left aligned • Text: longest line centered uploads/s3/ style-guide-sbac.pdf