Test Blueprints

Test blueprints serve as guides for test construction and provide outlines of the content and skills to be measured. For each individual test, they contain the number of test items, the number of points on the test, and how learning standards are grouped to report the test results. Note that science and social studies blueprints are part of test specification documents, which include more information about the content the tests will assess.

Overview of Ohio's State Test Blueprints

How can educators use Test Blueprints?

• Designing Curriculum, Create your local instructional calendar
  Identify standards that can be grouped together into units of instruction based on a common topic, theme, or concept. Determine the amount of local instructional time to spend on each unit.

• Planning Instruction, Dig Deep into Learning Standards
  Plan instructional activities that allow all students to engage in rigorous grade level content at different levels of cognitive complexity.

• Creating Local Assessments, Assess Content in the Classroom
  Design local assessments based on units of instruction that assess rigorous grade level content at different levels of complexity.

Links to Test Blueprints

Test Blueprint documents for each grade/subject area available in the resources section of Ohio's Assessment System.

Connecting Test Blueprints to Improving Instruction

The test blueprints and data displays in the Centralized Reporting System (CRS) are both organized by reporting category. This makes it possible to make connections between the two resources.

Apply It!

Open an assessment and its related test blueprint. For each reporting category, use the performance distribution to compare the percentage of students at, near or below proficient with the percentage/point range identified in the blueprint. Based off this comparison, what reporting categories stand out as strengths? Weaknesses?