NCEXTEND1 Grade 11 Test Specifications

NCEXTEND1 at Grade 11 Alternate Assessment

North Carolina Test Specifications

Purpose of the Test

The NCEXTEND1 at Grade 11 Alternate Assessment measure students’ proficiency on the North Carolina Extended Content Standards, adopted by the North Carolina State Board of Education in February 2011.

Assessment results will be used for school and district accountability under the accountability model and for federal reporting purposes.

Developing Tests

North Carolina educators were recruited and trained to write new items. The diversity among item writers and their knowledge of the current standards was addressed during recruitment. Trained North Carolina educators also review items and suggest improvements, if necessary. The use of North Carolina educators to write and review items strengthens evidence of content validity of these assessments.

For an in-depth explanation of the test development process, see North Carolina State Board Policy TEST-013: Multiple Choice Test Development or reference the Test Development Process: Item, Selection, and Form Development document.

Prioritization of Standards

Members of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI)’s Test Development Section invited North Carolina educators to collaborate and develop recommendations for a prioritization of standards indicating the relative importance of each standard, the anticipated instructional time, and the appropriateness of the standard for test design.

Subsequently, the Office of Exceptional Children and Test Development staff from the NCDPI met to review the recommendations from the teacher panels and adopt final weight distributions across the domains for each grade level.

Some content standards in the North Carolina Extended Content Standards will not be directly assessed in the tests because either (1) the standard cannot be appropriately assessed during a limited time test using multiple-choice items or (2) the standard is better assessed through another, more inclusive standard.

Table 1 describes the range of items by content area that will appear on the NCEXTEND1 at Grade 11 Alternate Assessment. The NCEXTEND1 at Grade 11 Alternate Assessment is divided into three sections (1, 2, 3) based on content area.

Table 1. NCEXTEND1 at grade 11 content area distribution.

Cognitive Rigor and Item Complexity

Test items for the NCEXTEND1 at Grade 11 Alternate Assessment have been designed, developed, and classified to ensure that the cognitive rigor of the operational test forms align to the cognitive complexity and demands of the North Carolina Extended Content Standards.

Testing Structure and Test Administration

The NCEXTEND1 at Grade 11 Alternate Assessment will consist of three-response-option multiple-choice items. If the question is answered correctly in the first trial, it is worth two points. If the question is answered correctly in the second trial, it is worth one point. The mathematics items are all calculator active. Table 2 provides the number of operational test items for NCEXTEND1 at Grade 11 Alternate Assessment.

Table 2. NCEXTEND1 at grade 11 total number of items.

The NCEXTEND1 Grade 11 Alternate Assessment may be administered over several days or may be completed in one session. The assessor must use professional judgment to determine an appropriate length of time for a student’s assessment administration. The NCEXTEND1 Grade 11 Alternate Assessment is administered individually to each student. The time required by a student to complete the assessment will be unique to each individual student, depending on the student’s ability to maintain focus, medical condition, and/or fatigue factor(s). Refer to the North Carolina Test Coordinators’ Policies and Procedures Handbook on the Testing Policy and Operations webpage and the Testing Students with Disabilities Handbook on the Testing Students with Disabilities webpage for additional information.

Test Cycle and Delivery Mode

For administration dates, please reference the North Carolina Operational Testing Calendar on the Testing and School Accountability webpage.

The NCEXTEND1 at Grade 11 Alternate Assessment is provided only in English. Native language translation versions are not available. North Carolina G.S.§115C-81.45(a) requires all teachers and principals to conduct all classes other than foreign language classes in English.

Supplemental Materials and Additional Resources

Students taking the NCEXTEND1 at Grade 11 Alternate Assessment must be provided any four-function calculator with memory key. Refer to the North Carolina Testing Program Calculator Requirements Assessment Brief on the Testing Policy and Operations webpage for additional information

All students must be provided scratch paper and a writing utensil. Students who have been routinely taught with counters or objects may use them on the assessment.

Achievement Level Descriptors for the NCEXTEND1 at Grade 11 Alternate Assessment were adopted by the NC State Board of Education in October 2023 and are available on the Alternate Assessment webpage.

A sample Individual Student Report is available on the Individual Student Reports (ISRs) webpage.