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**ModeratoR** · 05-24-2008, 09:58 PM

Answer all parts of the question. This may seem simple, but some test takers fail to provide a complete response. If a question asks for two activities, don’t forget the second one. No matter how great your answer is, scorers will not give you full credit if you fail to answer all parts of the question.

Show you understand the pedagogical concepts related to the question. Scorers are looking to see not only that you can read the case study and make good observations, but also that you can relate those good observations to pedagogy such as the principles of human development, and the principles of diagnostic and evaluative assessment. You can show understanding of the concepts not merely by mentioning that the concept exists, but by tying them to the specifics of your response. For example, in answering a question about identifying weakness in a teachers approach to assessment, instead of stating that “Mr. Taft didn’t give the students very good tests,” you could say something like, ”Given that assessment of student performance is most effective when evidence is gathered frequently and through a variety of exercises and assignments, Mr. Taft’s reliance on the end of chapter tests did not give students like Bob adequate opportunities to demonstrate achievement.”

Show that you have a thorough understanding of the case. Some answers receive partial credit because they are vague-they don’t address the issues brought up in the case study at too general a level rather than at a level that takes into consideration the particulars given about a teacher, student, or assignment. If you are asked, for example, about the boy in the case study with learning disabilities whose pattern of behaviors are described specifically in several sentences in the case study, don’t answer the question in terms of children with disabilities in general, but, instead, focus on the boy and all the particulars you know about him.

Support your answers with details. This advice overlaps, to some extent, with numbers two and three. The scorers are looking for some justification of your answers. If you are asked to state a “strength” shown by the teacher in a case study, don’t just state the strength in a few words. Write why this is a strength-perhaps because of a particular principle of effective instructional design, which should briefly summarize, or perhaps because of a good outcome describe in the case, to which you should refer.

Do not change the question or challenge the basis of the question. Stay focused on the question that is asked and do your best to answer it. You will receive no credit or, at best, a low score if you choose to answer another question or you state that, for example, there really aren’t any activities that could be proposed, or there aren’t any strengths to mention, or in some other way deny the basis of the question.