Technology-enhanced item types on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS: the computer-based formats beyond standard multiple-choice (multiple-select, hot text or evidence selection, drag-and-drop or ordering, and two-part evidence-based items), what each asks, and a reliable method for handling each so the unfamiliar format does not cost points.

What this skill is asking

Technology-enhanced items (TEIs) are the computer-based question formats on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS that go beyond standard multiple-choice, and knowing them means an unfamiliar format never costs you points. The common TEIs are multiple-select (choose more than one correct answer, often a specified number), hot text or evidence selection (click a word, phrase, or sentence in the passage), drag-and-drop or ordering (arrange items into a sequence), and two-part evidence-based items (Part A is a reading, Part B is the supporting line). The skill students lose ground on is misreading what a format requires, selecting one answer on a multiselect, or choosing a mismatched line on a two-part item. This page covers each format and a reliable method for handling it. The transferable skill is recognizing the interaction the screen is asking for and responding precisely, so format never gets in the way of the reading.

The common technology-enhanced formats

The first move is to recognize what each format asks.

Recognizing the format tells you how to respond, and the most common slip is treating a multiselect like a single-answer item: if the item says "choose two," you must select exactly two, each correct on its own. Hot-text items reward precision, click the exact line, not a whole paragraph. Ordering items ask you to reconstruct a sequence, often the true chronology behind a non-linear telling or the logical order of a paragraph. Knowing the demand of each format up front means you spend your effort on the reading, not on figuring out the controls.

Method for each format, especially two-part items

The two-part evidence-based item deserves the most attention, because it is both common and easy to mishandle: a vivid but unrelated line in Part B loses a point even when Part A is right. Treat the evidence as a check on the reading, choose the reading the text can prove, and let Part B confirm it. Because these same technology-enhanced formats appear in the revising and editing items and across the reading sessions, building fluency with them on DESE's computer-based practice tests pays off everywhere on the test. Format familiarity turns potential confusion into routine, freeing your attention for the passages.

Working any technology-enhanced item

Try this

Q1. What must you do differently on a multiple-select item compared with standard multiple-choice? [Recall]

• Cue. A multiple-select item has more than one correct answer, and you must select exactly the number the item asks for, evaluating each option on its own merits, rather than choosing a single best answer.

Q2. On a two-part evidence-based item, why should you work both parts together? [Short explanation]

• Cue. Because Part B must support Part A. Working them together, choosing the reading the passage can prove and the line that proves it, prevents the common error of a correct Part A paired with a vivid but unrelated Part B line, which loses the second point.