Scoring Responses

When scoring responses, you can either assign a score to the response or mark it with a condition code. Condition codes are used for any item you cannot score due to the nature of the student’s response. If a single item consists of multiple scoring criteria, you should enter a score or condition code for each criterion. Please note that condition codes do not apply to the scoring of the Initial ELPAC responses.

For Initial ELPAC, Writing domain responses that were left blank when the test was submitted will not show up in the Response List. They will automatically receive a score of zero. No scoring in the THSS will be necessary for these items.

Note: In order to score student responses, Score Managers must first reassign the responses to themselves. For more information on reassigning responses, see the section Reassigning Responses.

Entering Scores for Responses

This section explains how to enter scores and condition codes for responses.

To score responses:

In the Score column of the Response List table, click Score for a response. The Score Response page appears, displaying the item rubric, student response, and scoring fields.
To review the rubric, click in the Rubric section.
In the Response section, review the item stem and the student’s response. To view the item’s stimulus and an example of a perfect response, click Exemplar.
Figure 3: Response Section for Initial ELPAC
In the Scoring section, do one of the following:
- To enter a score for the response, manually enter a numerical score in the Score field. The score cannot exceed the value in the Points column.
- To assign a condition code to the response, select the appropriate option from the Condition Code drop-down list. This is not applicable to scoring of Initial ELPAC responses.
  Figure 4: Scoring Section
  Note: To view a guide for scoring the student response, click Training Guides. Not applicable to Initial ELPAC.
If the item consists of multiple scoring criteria, repeat step 4 for each criterion.
When you finish entering scores for the response, click Submit Score as Tentative at the bottom of the page.
To navigate to the Score Item page for a different item, click Previous Response or Next Response at the top or bottom of the page (the order of responses is determined by the selected sorting on the Response List table). To return to the Response List page, click Back to Response List. The item status now displays “Tentatively Scored.”

About Machine-Scored Responses (Not applicable to Initial ELPAC)

TDS automatically suggests scores for some student responses. These responses still display "Not Scored" in the Response List table when they arrive in THSS, but the suggested scores in the Score and Condition Code drop-down lists on the Score Item page display "Machine Score".

Figure 5: Machine Scored Responses

You can review the suggested scores and condition codes assigned by the scoring machine and change them, if necessary.

Alert: If you remove the suggested machine score for a response without entering a replacement value, the score for the response will revert to the suggested machine score when you submit it.

Completing Item Responses

After entering scores or selecting condition codes for responses, you should mark the responses as complete to finish the process.

To mark responses as complete:

On the Response List table (see Figure 1), mark the checkbox for any responses you have finished scoring.
Click Mark Complete. Once you mark a response complete, it is submitted and can no longer be edited or viewed in your response list.