Glossary

Term	Description
Associations	The link between the item and the stimulus that connects the two pieces.
Attributes	Characteristics of an item or stimulus, such as description, standard.
Benchmark	Standard or a set of standards, used as a point of reference for evaluating performance or level of quality. Benchmarks are statements that describe concrete learning outcomes.
Cloze	Based on or being a test of reading comprehension in which the test taker is asked to supply words that have been systematically deleted from a text.
Entity	An item or stimulus that is presented to a student for assessment purposes.
Item Distractors	The incorrect choices available for an item.
Item Key	The correct answer for an item.
Item Exemplar	An item sample or specimen used for providing instructions to students.
Item Prompt	The question component of the item.
Item Options	Used in multiple-choice item format only. These are the choices available for an item, one of which is the key (or answer).
Item Rubric	Used in constructed-response item format only. The rubric outlines the guidelines that should be used when scoring the question.
Item Text	The item prompt, options, and rubric.
Item Graphic	A picture, a chart, a table, or an answer space that is unique to a particular test item. Note that this is different from a stimulus that is used by multiple test questions (as described below).
Item Record	Consists of the Item Attributes (or characteristics of the item) as well as the Item Text (the stem/prompt and options or rubric) and any Graphics (pictures, charts, tables).
Item Bank	The item repository set up for a client or project.
Lexile	A framework of reading, which is an educational tool that uses a measure called a Lexile to match readers of all ages with books, articles, and other leveled reading resources. The Lexile Framework produces scores using quantitative methods, based on individual words and sentence lengths, rather than qualitative analysis of content.
Stimulus	A graphic, piece of text, table, or chart that is used by multiple test items; in reading, this is often referred to as a passage. Note that this is different from an item graphic that is used by only one test item (as described above).
Stimulus Attributes	Characteristics of the stimulus, such as stimulus type and description.
Stimulus Graphic	A picture, chart, table, or map that is a part of the stimulus. The stimulus graphic could be the entire stimulus, or it could accompany some stimulus text.
Stimulus Record	Consists of the Stimulus Attributes (characteristics of the stimulus) and the Stimulus Text (the written text) and/or any Graphics (pictures, charts, tables).
Strand	A description of the assessment’s area of coverage in terms of its relationship with the Learning Progressions. An example is below. The Read with Understanding assessment strand includes items from the following progressions: Vocabulary Language and text features Comprehension Reading critically
Submit	Enter an item or a stimulus into the review process; item writers have access to their items until they are submitted. CAI does not begin reviewing items until they are submitted.
TTS	Text-to-speech

Associations

The link between the item and the stimulus that connects the two pieces.

Attributes

Characteristics of an item or stimulus, such as description, standard.

Benchmark

Standard or a set of standards, used as a point of reference for evaluating performance or level of quality. Benchmarks are statements that describe concrete learning outcomes.

Cloze

Based on or being a test of reading comprehension in which the test taker is asked to supply words that have been systematically deleted from a text.

Entity

An item or stimulus that is presented to a student for assessment purposes.

Item Distractors

The incorrect choices available for an item.

Item Key

The correct answer for an item.

Item Exemplar

An item sample or specimen used for providing instructions to students.

Item Prompt

The question component of the item.

Item Options

Used in multiple-choice item format only. These are the choices available for an item, one of which is the key (or answer).

Item Rubric

Used in constructed-response item format only. The rubric outlines the guidelines that should be used when scoring the question.

Item Text

The item prompt, options, and rubric.

Item Graphic

A picture, a chart, a table, or an answer space that is unique to a particular test item. Note that this is different from a stimulus that is used by multiple test questions (as described below).

Item Record

Consists of the Item Attributes (or characteristics of the item) as well as the Item Text (the stem/prompt and options or rubric) and any Graphics (pictures, charts, tables).

Item Bank

The item repository set up for a client or project.

Lexile

A framework of reading, which is an educational tool that uses a measure called a Lexile to match readers of all ages with books, articles, and other leveled reading resources. The Lexile Framework produces scores using quantitative methods, based on individual words and sentence lengths, rather than qualitative analysis of content.

Stimulus

A graphic, piece of text, table, or chart that is used by multiple test items; in reading, this is often referred to as a passage. Note that this is different from an item graphic that is used by only one test item (as described above).

Stimulus Attributes

Characteristics of the stimulus, such as stimulus type and description.

Stimulus Graphic

A picture, chart, table, or map that is a part of the stimulus. The stimulus graphic could be the entire stimulus, or it could accompany some stimulus text.

Stimulus Record

Consists of the Stimulus Attributes (characteristics of the stimulus) and the Stimulus Text (the written text) and/or any Graphics (pictures, charts, tables).

Strand

A description of the assessment’s area of coverage in terms of its relationship with the Learning Progressions. An example is below.

The Read with Understanding assessment strand includes items from the following progressions:

Vocabulary
Language and text features
Comprehension
Reading critically

Submit

Enter an item or a stimulus into the review process; item writers have access to their items until they are submitted. CAI does not begin reviewing items until they are submitted.

TTS

Text-to-speech