Delete a Question FAQ and Best Practices

Question: Can a district create multiple versions of a Custom Test to use for different groups of students?

Answer: A district can only have one version of an assessment available at a time. This default assessment for the district will either be the latest version of the assessment published by Benchmark Education, or the last Custom Test published by a District Administrator.

 

Q: What happens if a district publishes a Custom Test after some students have already taken the previous version of the assessment?

A: When a Custom Test is published, all the existing test instances for that assessment in the current year are automatically reprocessed to reflect the changes in the Custom Test so that all students and educators see a uniform version of the assessment with the deleted questions indicated across test preview, test taker, Grade View, student test review, and reporting.

 

Q: How are scores for assessments with deleted questions calculated?

A: When a Custom Test is published, the points earned and the maximum points available for the questions deleted are reset to zero. So an assessment that had 10 questions worth 1 point each, would become a test with a maximum point value of 9 points if one question was deleted. For any assessments already graded before the Custom Test is published, all existing test instances will be updated to reflect the scoring changes on Grade View and in reporting.

 

Q: When can a Custom Test be created using the Delete a Question feature?

A: An assessment can be customized using the Delete a Question feature at any time so that all the test instances in the District in the current school year are reprocessed to match the Custom Test that was published.

 

Q: Who can create, save, and publish Custom Tests?

A: Only District Administrators can create, save, and publish Custom Tests.

 

Q: Can more than one District Administrator create/edit a Custom Test at the same time?

A: No, only one District Administrator can create/edit a Custom Test at a time, but any changes made to an assessment in the Custom Test Review mode will be automatically saved and another District Administrator can review those saved changes once the first District Administrator has exited the Custom Test Review mode for that assessment.

 

Q: Can a question(s) be added back to a Custom Test after it’s been published?

A: Yes, a question(s) can be added back to a Custom Test after it’s been published, but only if no version of that assessment has been assigned to a student in the current school year. If the assessment has assignments in the current school year, the “Add Question” feature in the Custom Test Review mode will be disabled.

 

Q: Will the Custom Tests I create carry over from one school year to the next?

A: Yes, by default all Custom Tests created in a District will carry over from one school year to the next. If the district decides they want to revert a Custom Test they created back to the latest version of the test that Benchmark Education published, they can do that at the beginning of each new school year before any new assignments have been made for that assessment.

Best Practices for Implementing Delete a Question

Following are some best practices to consider when using the Delete a Question feature to create Custom Tests for your district:

• Clearly define the criteria for how you will decide what questions to delete. Some districts choose to remove all questions associated with certain standards, while others want to limit or remove certain question types from their assessments.
• Bring together a diverse group of educators to collaborate on establishing the criteria and reviewing the assessments to identify questions you want to consider for deletion.
• Designate one or more leaders for the process who will make the final decision on what questions will be deleted. It helps if these leaders are District Administrators since they are the only role in Benchmark Universe that has permission to delete questions and publish Custom Tests.
• Make sure to double-check your saved Custom Tests before publishing them to avoid any questions being deleted or added back to an assessment by mistake.
• Review all Custom Tests in the district at the beginning of each new school year to determine whether you want to continue with the customization or revert to the latest version of the assessment published by Benchmark Education.
• Keep notes on what assessments have been customized, what questions were removed, and why. This is especially helpful when reviewing your Custom Tests each year.
• Share a list of the customized tests with all the relevant educators in the district each school year so they are aware of this feature and understand why certain questions were removed from assessments.
• Provide training to teachers and students on what Custom Tests are as well as how they look and function in the Test Taker, Grade View, Student Test Review, and Assessment Reporting environments.

For more information, check out Delete a Question for Administrators and Delete a Question for Teachers.

Last Updated: December 28, 2022