BIOLOGY EOC Information Session Biology EOC General Information

BIOLOGY EOC Information Session

Biology EOC General Information • The Biology 1 EOC is scheduled in May 2021 • The test is delivered via a computer-based test platform. The test has 60 -66 multiple choice questions. • The assessment is given in a 160 -minute session with a 10 -minute break after the first 80 minutes. Students may not be dismissed during the first 80 minutes; however, after the 10 -minute break, they may be dismissed as they complete the test. • Although the assessment is scheduled for a 160 -minute session, any student not finished by the end of the 160 minutes may continue working. Testing must be completed within the same school day. • There will be multiple forms of the assessment with a maximum of 66 items on each test form. Approximately six to ten of these items are experimental (field test) items, and are not included in student scores. For more information, see the test design summary on the Florida State Department of Education website.

Biology EOC Only has Multiple Choice (MC) Questions • MC items should take approximately one minute per item to answer. • MC items are worth one point each. • Each distractor should be a believable answer for someone who does not really know the correct answer. • Distractors include common science misconceptions.

EOC Test Items • Test items assess the application of the concept rather than the memorization of science fact, law, or theory unless otherwise noted in the Individual Benchmark Specifications. • Test items will not require the student to define terms. • Test items that include a collection of data should require the student to analyze or interpret that data (e. g. , use data from a scenario to identify a trend) rather than retrieve information directly from a passage, chart, graph, or table. • Test items will not require the creation of a chart, graph, or table.

EOC Test Items • Test items may require the student to apply knowledge of the science concepts described in the prior knowledge benchmarks from lower grades; however, that knowledge should NOT be assessed in isolation. • Each test item should be written clearly and unambiguously to elicit the desired response. • Test items will not require the memorization of equations or formulas unless otherwise noted in the Individual Benchmark Specifications.

Item Difficulty After a test item appears on a test, item difficulty refers to the actual percentage of students who chose the correct answer. The classification scheme used for item difficulty is based on the following: Easy: More than 70 percent of the students are likely to respond correctly. Average: Between 40 percent and 70 percent of the students are likely to respond correctly. Challenging: Less than 40 percent of the students are likely to respond correctly.

Test Item Complexity Test items are chosen for the Statewide Science and EOC assessments based on the NGSSS and on their grade-level appropriateness, but the complexity of the test items remains independent of the particular curriculum a student has experienced. On any given assessment, the cognitive complexity of a multiplechoice item may be affected by the distractors (answer options). The cognitive complexity of a test item depends on the grade level of the assessment; a test item that has a high level of cognitive complexity at one grade may not be as complex at a higher grade.

The Categories of Test Item Complexity • The categories—low complexity, moderate complexity, and high complexity—form an ordered description of the demands a test item may make on a student. For example, low-complexity test items may require a student to solve a one-step problem. • Moderate complexity test items may require multiple steps. However, the number of steps is not always indicative of cognitive level. • High-complexity test items may require a student to analyze and synthesize information. The distinctions made in item complexity ensure that test items will assess the depth of student knowledge at each benchmark.

EXAMPLE TEST ITEM LOW COMPLEXITY

EXAMPLE TEST ITEM MODERATE COMPLEXITY

EXAMPLE TEST ITEM HIGH COMPLEXITY

PERCENTAGE OF POINTS BY COGNITIVE-COMPLEXITY LEVEL FOR BIOLOGY 1 EOC ASSESSMENT Complexity Level Low Moderate High Biology 1 10%-20% 60%-80% 10%-20%

REPORTING CATEGORIES BIOLOGY 1 EOC

EOC Scores • Course grade: The Biology EOC will count as 30% of any student’s final grade for the year. Additionally, any student who wishes to obtain a “Scholar Diploma” must obtain a passing grade on the EOC, set by the state scale. • Estimated reporting date: Biology EOC test scores will be released approximately four weeks after the end of the test administration window.

SCIENCE CONTENT ASSESSED BY BIOLOGY 1 EOC.

AA = annually assessed benchmark MC = multiple choice Standards marked as Not Assessed are more appropriately assessed through classroom instruction.