Appendix B: Text Response Questions Formatting Toolbar

In addition to the standard test tools described in the section Test Tools, students can use a formatting toolbar above the response field for text response items. The formatting toolbar allows students to apply styling to text and use standard word-processing features.

Table 6 provides an overview of the formatting tools available.

Table 6: Description of Formatting Tools
Tool Description of Function
the Bold button the italics button the underline button Bold, italicize, or underline selected text.
the remove formatting button Remove formatting that was applied to the selected text.
the insert/remove numbered list button the insert/remove bulleted list button Insert a numbered or bulleted list.
the increase indent button Indent a line of selected text.
the decrease indent button Decrease indent of text.
the cut button Cut selected text.
the copy button Copy selected text.
the paste button Paste copied or cut text.
the undo button Undo the last edit to text or formatting in the response field.
the redo button Redo the last undo action.
Use spell check to identify potentially misspelled words in the response field Use spell check to identify potentially misspelled words in the response field. For more information, refer to Spell Check.
Add special characters in the response field Add special characters in the response field. For more information, refer to Special Characters.
Text-to-Speech button Listen to selected text being read aloud.
Speech-to-Text button Enable speech-to-text (dictation).

Spell Check

The spell check tool identifies words in the response field that may be misspelled (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Spell Check Sample

spell check tool in use

  1. In the toolbar, select Use spell check to identify potentially misspelled words in the response field. Potentially incorrect words change color and become underlined.
  2. To exit spell check, select Use spell check to identify potentially misspelled words in the response field again.

Special Characters

Students can add mathematical characters, accented characters, and other symbols.

  1. In the toolbar, select Add special characters in the response field.
  2. In the window that pops up, select the required character.