Measuring Complex Skills
The tasks that constructed-response questions require of the test taker are as
varied as the skills to be measured — a wide variety, even if the skills are limited to
academic skills that can be demonstrated with a pencil and paper. (Tasks that require
responses that cannot be made in pencil-and-paper format are typically described as
“performance assessments” rather than “constructed-response questions.”)
In literature, the test taker may be asked to write an essay comparing and contrasting
two poems, stories, or plays.