Below are four ELA standarized test items. These items are the intellectual property of Rebecca Kulik.

G4 Literary Passage Items:

1) Which answer summarizes the passage?

1. Zac wants to go to football camp, but finds out he will not be able to. He goes for a walk with his mother. Zac agrees to play catch with her.
2. Zac is excited to go to football camp. A letter comes to his house, and he learns he will not get to go to camp. He feels sad, but his mother helps him.
3. Zac is waiting to find out if he can go to football camp. When he learns he did not get in, his mother tells him a story while they walk. Zac feels hopeful after the story.
4. Zac is unhappy when he does not get into football camp. On a walk with his mother, he tells her about how he is feeling. He decides he wants to continue playing football.

Rationales:

1. While this answer includes summaries of events in the story, it does not include Zac’s final decision to keep playing football.
2. While this answer correctly summarizes the beginning and middle of the story, it does not include enough details about how Zac’s mother helps him.
3. Correct. This answer summarizes the beginning, middle, and end of the story, and clearly connects each event.
4. While this answer includes correct events, it does not give enough detail about the beginning or end of the story. 

2) Part A: How does Zac feel in Paragraph 3?

1. lonely
2. scared
3. frustrated
4. embarrassed

Rationales:

1. Students who select this answer have incorrectly inferred that Zac’s unhappy feelings are based on not being around his friends, not the news he got in Paragraph 2.
2. Students who select this answer have incorrectly inferred that Zac’s lack of interest in a walk is due to fear of his mother learning about the news he got in Paragraph 2.
3. Correct. Students who select this answer have correctly inferred that Zac sits down and plays a video game aggressively as a response to the news he got in Paragraph 2.
4. Students who select this answer have correctly identified that Zac is reluctant to discuss his feelings, but incorrectly concluded this was based on embarrassment.

Part B: Why does Zac feel this way?

1. He learns he will not go to football camp.
2. His mother does not understand his feelings.
3. He wants to play football with his friends.
4. His mother will not let him stay inside.

Rationales:

1. Correct. Students who select this answer have correctly inferred that Zac did not get into the football camp, based on his disappointment after opening the letter and lack of interest in football in a book or on the TV.
2. Students who select this answer have incorrectly inferred that Zac’s unhappiness is connected to his mother insisting on going out and talking about things, even though Zac is sad and wants to stay at home.
3. Students who select this answer have incorrectly identified Zac’s disinterest in the football on TV and in the book as a cause of his unhappiness, not an effect.
4. Students who select this answer have incorrectly inferred that Zac’s unhappiness resulted from his mother insisting he go outside for a walk.

G7 Informative Passage Items:

1) What does the author want the reader to think about the topic?

1. People should stop eating certain foods.
2. People need to improve their eating habits.
3. People should make different choices about foods.
4. People need to stop disrespecting the work of farmers.

Rationales:

1. Students who select this answer do not understand that the author considered and dismissed the argument that people should stop eating meat.
2. Students who select this answer have incorrectly expanded the author’s comment eating habits to a more general statement.
3. Correct. Students who select this answer understand that the author’s purpose is to encourage readers to change the way they eat to include less meat and more fruits and vegetables.
4. Students who select this answer are over-generalizing about the author’s purpose, which is more targeted than this answer choice indicates.

2) How does the author connect people’s eating to the environment?

1. By explaining how making food can hurt the environment
2. By giving examples of how food today can make people less healthy
3. By discussing ways that farmers can find new jobs to make better food
4. By describing ways people can make food while helping the environment

Rationales:

1. Correct. Students who select this answer understand that the author described a causal relationship between food production and environmental harm
2. Students who select this answer are incorrectly inferring a relationship between how food and dairy overconsumption makes humans unhealthy and the quality of that food.
3. Students who select this answer are connecting two issues in the text, farmers needing work and the need for better food, which are not directly connected in the text.
4. Students who select this answer are connecting comments in Paragraph 3 and 5 that are not connected by the author.