Recognize and approach the redesigned STAAR Biology question types, including multiselect, multipart, hot spot, drag and drop, inline choice, and text entry, alongside multiple choice (TEKS Biology scientific and engineering practices; obtaining and communicating information).

What this topic is asking

The redesigned STAAR (often called STAAR 2.0) uses several new question types alongside multiple choice, because by law no more than 75 percent of items can be multiple choice. The TEKS practice behind handling them is obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information. For STAAR Biology you should recognize each item type and have a plan for it, so the format never costs you a point you knew. These types appear with content from any reporting category.

The question types

• Multiple choice. Pick the one correct option. The prompt has four choices.
• Multiselect. Pick all the correct options; the prompt tells you how many (for example, "Select the two correct answers"). Usually scored all-or-nothing, so check each option.
• Multipart. Two linked parts (A and B), often a claim and its evidence. Scored separately, so answer both.
• Hot spot. Click one or more regions of a graphic, such as an organelle in a cell diagram.
• Drag and drop. Move words, numbers, or images into target locations, such as placing organisms at trophic levels.
• Inline choice. Choose from a drop-down menu embedded in a sentence.
• Text entry. Type a short answer (a number from a graph, the name of a process).
• Short constructed response. Write a short answer scored on the 2-point rubric (see constructed response: claim, evidence, reasoning).

A strategy for each type

The content is the same biology you study everywhere else; the new types just change how you respond. A few habits help:

1. Read the prompt's instructions. For multiselect, note how many to choose; for multipart, notice there are two parts.
2. For multiselect, evaluate every option as true or false, because you must select all correct ones and none of the incorrect ones.
3. For multipart, answer both parts, and make Part B (often the evidence or reason) consistent with Part A.
4. For drag and drop and hot spot, use the content rule (for example, structure-and-function for an organelle diagram, or trophic levels for a food web).
5. For text entry, give exactly what is asked (a number with the right units, or a single term), spelled as clearly as you can.
6. Answer everything. There is no penalty for guessing, and some new types offer partial credit. Unscored field-test items look the same as scored ones, so treat every question as if it counts.

Why this matters

Because several new types are worth 2 points, the non-multiple-choice items count for more of your score than their share of the question count. Practicing the formats means your knowledge is not wasted on a format you have never seen. The recurring practice here, obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information, is exactly what these item types assess: can you take in a stimulus and respond in the form the question requires.

Try this

Q1. Explain how a multiselect item is usually scored and what that means for how you answer. [2]

• Cue. Usually all-or-nothing, so you must select every correct option and no incorrect ones; evaluate each option as true or false.

Q2. Explain why you should answer both parts of a multipart item even if unsure of one. [1]

• Cue. The two parts are scored separately, so you can earn a point for one part even if you miss the other.