Study Guide

Field 118: World History/Geography 
Sample Constructed-Response Assignment

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Test Directions for the Constructed-Response Assignment

This section of the test consists of one constructed-response assignment. You are to prepare a written response of approximately 300–600 words on the assigned topic. You should use your time to plan, write, review, and edit your response to the assignment.

Read the assignment carefully before you begin to write. Think about how you will organize your response.

As a whole, your response must demonstrate an understanding of the knowledge and skills of the field. In your response to the assignment, you are expected to demonstrate the depth of your understanding of the content area through your ability to apply your knowledge and skills rather than merely to recite factual information.

Your response to the assignment will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

 start bold PURPOSE: end bold  the extent to which the response achieves the purpose of the assignment
 start bold SUBJECT MATTER KNOWLEDGE: end bold  accuracy and appropriateness in the application of subject matter knowledge
 start bold SUPPORT: end bold  quality and relevance of supporting details
 start bold RATIONALE: end bold  soundness of argument and degree of understanding of the subject matter

The constructed-response assignment is intended to assess subject matter knowledge and skills, not writing ability. However, your response must be communicated clearly enough to permit valid judgment of the scoring criteria. Your response should be written for an audience of educators in this field. The final version of your response should conform to the conventions of edited American English. Your written response must be your original work, written in your own words, and not copied or paraphrased from some other work.

Be sure to write about the assigned topic. You may not use any reference materials during the test. Remember to review what you have written and make any changes you think will improve your response.

Sample Constructed-Response Assignment

Competency 0016 
Apply pedagogical content knowledge to design developmentally appropriate instruction to help students achieve a specific, standards-based learning goal in social studies.

 start bold Use the information provided to complete the assignment that follows. end bold 

Using your knowledge of content and sound pedagogical practices in social studies and citing evidence from the exhibits provided, write a response of approximately 300–600 words in which you:

Exhibit 1: Scenario

After beginning a unit on the Industrial Revolution in England and examining the various technological innovations that contributed to the dramatic increase in productivity, a high school world history teacher wishes to address the social impact of such innovations from multiple perspectives. Students are assigned two primary sources, one from woolen workers objecting to the growing mechanization of their industry and one from cloth merchants defending the use of machines.

Exhibit 2: Standard and Objective

Oklahoma Social Studies Practice Standard 3.A.9-12.7: Analyze complex and interacting factors that influence multiple perspectives during different historical eras or contemporary events.

Learning Objective: Analyze similarities and differences between the impact of industrialization on the mercantile and working classes.

Exhibit 3: Documents

Document A: From a petition by the Leeds Woolen Workers, 17 86

The number of Scribbling-Machines extending about seventeen miles south-west of LEEDS, exceed all belief, being no less than one hundred and seventy! and as each machine will do as much work in twelve hours, as ten men can in that time do by hand, (speaking within bounds) and they working night-and day, one machine will do as much work in one day as would otherwise employ twenty men.

We therefore hope, that the feelings of humanity will lead those who have it in their power to prevent the use of those machines, to give every discouragement they can to what has a tendency so prejudicial to their fellow-creatures.

This is not all; the injury to the Cloth is great, in so much that in Frizing, instead of leaving a nap upon the cloth, the wool is drawn out, and the Cloth is left thread-bare.

Many more evils we could enumerate, but we would hope, that the sensible part of mankind, who are not biased by interest, must see the dreadful tendency of their continuance; a depopulation must be the consequence; trade being then lost, the landed interest will have no other satisfaction but that of being last devoured.

We wish to propose a few queries to those who would plead for the further continuance of these machines.

How are those men, thus thrown out of employ to provide for their families;—and what are they to put their children apprentice to, that the rising generation may have something to keep them at work, in order that they may not be like vagabonds strolling about in idleness? Some say, Begin and learn some other business.—Suppose we do; who will maintain our families, whilst we undertake the arduous task; and when we have learned it, how do we know we shall be any better for all our pains; for by the time we have served our second apprenticeship, another machine may arise, which may take away that business also; so that our families, being half pined whilst we are learning how to provide them with bread, will be wholly so during the period of our third apprenticeship.

But what are our children to do; are they to be brought up in idleness. Indeed as things are, it is no wonder to hear of so many executions; for our parts, though we may be thought illiterate men, our conceptions are, that bringing children up to industry, and keeping them employed, is the way to keep them from falling into those crimes, which an idle habit naturally leads to.

Document B: From a Statement by the Cloth Merchants of Leeds, England, 17 91

At a time when the People, engaged in every other Manufacture in the Kingdom, are exerting themselves to bring their Work to Market at reduced Prices, which can alone be effected by the Aid of Machinery, it certainly is not necessary that the Cloth Merchants of Leeds, who depend chiefly on a Foreign Demand, where they have for Competitors the Manufacturers of other Nations, whose Taxes are few, and whose manual Labour is only Half the Price it bears here, should have Occasion to defend a Conduct, which has for its Aim the Advantage of the Kingdom in general, and of the Cloth Trade in particular; yet anxious to prevent Misrepresentations, which have usually attended the Introduction of the most useful Machines, they wish to remind the Inhabitants of this Town, of the Advantages derived to every flourishing Manufacture from the Application of Machinery; they instance that of Cotton in particular, which in its internal and foreign Demand is nearly alike to our own, and has in a few Years by the Means of Machinery advanced to its present Importance, and is still increasing.

If then by the Use of Machines, the Manufacture of Cotton, an Article which we import, and are supplied with from other Countries, and which can everywhere be procured on equal Terms, has met with such amazing Success, may not greater Advantages be reasonably expected from cultivating to the utmost the Manufacture of Wool, the Produce of our own Island, an Article in Demand in all Countries, almost the universal Clothing of Mankind?

In the Manufacture of Woollens, the Scribbling Mill, the Spinning Frame, and the Fly Shuttle, have reduced manual Labour nearly One-third, and each of them at its first Introduction carried an Alarm to the Work People, yet each has contributed to advance the Wages and to increase the Trade, so that if an Attempt was now made to deprive us of the Use of them, there is no Doubt, but every Person engaged in the Business, would exert himself to defend them.

Sample Strong Response to the Constructed-Response Assignment

 start bold Please note: The sample response provided below is for review purposes only and should not be used in a response on an operational exam. Use of the exact words and phrases presented in this sample response will result in a score of "U" (Unscorable) due to lack of original work. end bold 

The goal of this 10th grade World History lesson on the Industrial Revolution is for students to analyze similarities and differences between the effect of industrialization on the mercantile and working classes. The teacher has created a learning activity that will incorporate direct instruction, guided practice, independent practice, and class discussion to meet this objective.

First, the teacher will use direct instruction to help students understand the background information so students can place the documents in the correct historical context. The teacher will create a graphic organizer for the class to fill out during a PowerPoint lecture. The teacher will use the graphic organizer to ensure the class understands background information; specifically, when, why, and how the Industrial Revolution happened in England. Students should understand the Industrial Revolution began around 1760 and lasted through the early 1800s. In simplest terms, students should understand that it was the process of going from hand production to the use of machines and ultimately the mechanization of the factory system. After the teacher has covered the key who/what/where/etc. questions, he or she will discuss the various social groups in England (i.e., the upper class, middle class, and the lower/working class) as well as the various industries effected by the Industrial Revolution and how it affected each respectively.

Next, the teacher will use guided practice to teach students how to SOAPS a document – focusing on the textile industry and the social groups in England as he or she explains the SOAPS method. SOAPS is a way to analyze primary sources in a succinct, student-friendly manner. Students will need to identify and explain each part of SOAPS in order to analyze the documents:

S — Source, who or what group produced the document?
O — Occasion, what was the time era this was produced? What was going on at that time that led to the production of this document?
A — Audience, who was this document intended to reach?
P — Purpose, what was the purpose of this document? Was it designed to influence a particular group of people? Explain.
S — Summarize, after the SOAP is complete, students are asked to write a paragraph summary analyzing the document, using what they learned from the SOAP activity.

As the guided practice for this lesson, the teacher and class will SOAPS Document A together.

The last step of the learning activity will be for students to SOAPS Document B on their own. After they have done this, the class will come back together and will share what they have learned. The teacher will walk through each part of SOAPS and will make sure the class has a common understanding. By doing this, students will be able to see how the purpose of each document is different depending on the source. For instance, students will be able to see that the Woolen Workers (i.e., the working class) want to stop the use of the machines as they are afraid of losing their livelihoods whereas the Cloth Merchants (i.e., the mercantile class) want the machines so they can make more money. Ultimately, both documents come down to economics.

To conclude the lesson the teacher will have each student write a one paragraph response where they state which document they agree with and why — using evidence from the direct instruction lecture and evidence from the two documents. The teacher will evaluate these paragraphs to measure their understanding of the learning objective.

A potential challenge students may face when learning to SOAPS documents is unknown vocabulary. To address this challenge, the teacher has two options: 1. provide a vocabulary list with definitions accompanying each document (e.g., in the given documents Frizing, a nap, idleness, etc.) or 2. have students research each unknown term. A further way to address this issue is to have students read the documents three times. First as a short read, highlighting all unknown terms. Second, they will read for understanding and will attempt to make sense of the terms they do not know, and if they cannot figure out the meaning, they will look up the term or ask for help. The third read would be to SOAPS the document.

Rationale for the Sample Strong Response

Please note that the response is evaluated based upon the four performance characteristics of Purpose, Subject Matter Knowledge, Support, and Rationale. Please also note how the score point descriptions are based upon how the examinee attends to the performance characteristics. You should be very familiar with the CEOE performance characteristics and score scale and refer to them when reviewing this rationale.

The response fulfills the purpose of the assignment by adequately addressing all bullets of the prompt. The response provides a learning activity that utilizes the documents to achieve the learning objective (i.e., students will be able to analyze similarities and differences between the effect of industrialization on the mercantile and working classes), describes the background information students may need (i.e., the teacher will create a graphic organizer and give a direct instruction lesson to cover all necessary background information), identifies a potential challenge (i.e., unknown vocabulary), and discusses how the challenge might be addressed (i.e., providing a vocabulary list with definitions, having students research the unknown terms on their own, or having students read the document multiple times with a specific focus each time). The response contains accurate subject matter content by explaining what, when, where, and why the Industrial Revolution occurred. The response also uses appropriate pedagogical approaches to address student needs when designing this learning activity. For instance, the learning activity makes use of multiple teaching methods (i.e., direct instruction, note-taking, guided practice, independent practice, whole class discussion, and a small assessment). The teacher also uses an age-appropriate way of teaching students how to analyze primary sources—in this case Documents A and B (i.e., using SOAPS). The writer uses professional language and appropriate terminology (although a stronger response would have elaborated on the background information and provided further specific examples). Overall, this response reflects a comprehensive understanding of sound pedagogical practices in the content area of World History, in particular the Industrial Revolution in England.

Sample Weak Response to the Constructed-Response Assignment

I think that the best way to help students understand the two documents will be to put students in partners to work together. The students will ultimately be doing a Think Pair Share activity with their elbow partner. The Think Pair Share will help students understand the learning objective, which is to analyze similarities and differences between the effect of industrialization on the mercantile and working classes.

However, before students can work with their elbow partners, they will need to understand the historical context of the documents. To understand this time era, I will show a short film. The film will be something that will get students interested in the time era and will also teaching them about the Industrial Revolution in England.

The given Scenario in the prompt says students have begun studying the Industrial Revolution, so they should already have a bit of an idea of the background information on the documents. Between the film and the Scenario, students should know the Industrial Revolution began in England and that it was important for industry in England and later the world.

I think there are many challenges the students might have with the two documents. However, I think the biggest challenge may be understanding specifics from the documents. For instance, in Document B, the statement brings up "the Scribbling Mill, the Spinning Frame, and the Fly Shuttle," these are three thing students may not know and could be a challenge to overcome.

To overcome the above challenge, the teacher should show a second film that shows what those three things are and the effect they had on the Cloth Merchants. A film will give the students a visual to understand and should further help students as they begin to analyze the documents and realize the lesson objective with their elbow partners.

Rationale for the Sample Weak Response

Please note that the response is evaluated based upon the four performance characteristics of Purpose, Subject Matter Knowledge, Support, and Rationale. Please also note how the score point descriptions are based upon how the examinee attends to the performance characteristics. You should be very familiar with the CEOE performance characteristics and score scale and refer to them when reviewing this rationale.

The purpose of this assignment is only partially achieved. The writer does address all bullets of the prompt; however, the response is limited, demonstrating a partial understanding of both the subject matter and the pedagogy involved in teaching this topic. The writer has partially outlined a learning activity but has given very little in details as to what this activity might look like and how it might support student learning. The writer does mention appropriate pedagogy—Think Pair Share—but does not elaborate on how it will be used in the classroom, nor does the response make it clear that the writer understands how to use Think Pair Share in the classroom (or even what it is). The response reflects a limited application of subject matter knowledge. The writer seems to know the Industrial Revolution began in England and spread throughout the world, but there is no sense from the response that the writer knows when the Industrial Revolution occurred or why it occurred. The supporting evidence in the response is weak and there are few or no relevant examples. The response does identify a potential challenge that students are likely to encounter; however, the method with which the writer plans to solve the problem is unlikely to be effective. The reader is left wondering what film will be shown, how it will benefit students, how it will address the described challenge, and how showing a film demonstrates strong pedagogical knowledge. Overall, the response provides a limited, poorly reasoned understanding of the pedagogical practices necessary to teach World History.

Performance Characteristics

The following characteristics guide the scoring of responses to the constructed-response assignment.

Characteristics that guide the scoring of responses
Purpose The extent to which the response achieves the purpose of the assignment
Subject Matter Knowledge The accuracy and appropriateness in the application of subject matter knowledge
Support The quality and relevance of supporting details
Rationale The soundness of argument and degree of understanding of the subject matter

Scoring Scale

Scores will be assigned to each response to the constructed-response assignment according to the following scoring scale.

Score Scale with description for each score point.
Score Point Score Point Description
4  start bold The "4" response reflects a thorough knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. end bold 
  • The purpose of the assignment is fully achieved.
  • There is a substantial, accurate, and appropriate application of subject matter knowledge.
  • The supporting evidence is sound; there are high-quality, relevant examples.
  • The response reflects an ably reasoned, comprehensive understanding of the topic.
3  start bold The "3" response reflects a general knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. end bold 
  • The purpose of the assignment is largely achieved.
  • There is a generally accurate and appropriate application of subject matter knowledge.
  • The supporting evidence generally supports the discussion; there are some relevant examples.
  • The response reflects a general understanding of the topic.
2  start bold The "2" response reflects a partial knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. end bold 
  • The purpose of the assignment is partially achieved.
  • There is a limited, possibly inaccurate or inappropriate application of subject matter knowledge.
  • The supporting evidence is limited; there are few relevant examples.
  • The response reflects a limited, poorly reasoned understanding of the topic.
1  start bold The "1" response reflects little or no knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. end bold 
  • The purpose of the assignment is not achieved.
  • There is little or no appropriate or accurate application of subject matter knowledge.
  • The supporting evidence, if present, is weak; there are few or no relevant examples.
  • The response reflects little or no reasoning about or understanding of the topic.
U The response is unscorable because it is illegible, not written to the assigned topic, written in a language other than English, or lacking a sufficient amount of original work to score.
B There is no response to the assignment.