• Multiple-choice items are used in grades 3 through 10 and should take approximately one minute per item to answer.
• Multiple-choice items have four answer choices (A, B, C, D or F, G, H, I).
• When the answer choices for an item are strictly numerical, they are arranged in ascending or descending order.
• Incorrect answer choices (distractors) relate to a common context. Each distractor is a believable answer for someone who does not really know the correct answer. Incorrect choices represent computational or procedural errors.
• Reponses such as "None of the Above," "All of the Above," and "Not Here" are NOT used.

Gridded Response Items

• GR items should take an average of 1.5 minutes per item to complete.
• In Grades 3-5, four-column grids are used for whole number answers and are preceded with a $ sign or followed by a % sign, as appropriate.
• A special grid is provided at grade 5 for gridding decimal numbers and currency. The grid is five columns wide with a fixed decimal point in the middle.
• Grades 6-10 use a five-column grid that includes the numbers zero to nine plus two symbols: the decimal point (.)and the slash(/) for gridding fractions.

Think, Solve, and Explain Performance Tasks

• Performance tasks are included for grades 3-10 so teachers can get students used to responding to such item types.
• FCAT Test Maker includes Short (2 pt.) and Extended (4 pt.) Response Tasks.
• Short-Response Tasks are written such that a student can answer within three to five minutes. A scoring rubric is provided.
• Extended-Response Tasks are written such that students might take approximately five to 15 minutes to complete each one. A scoring rubric is provided.
• A sample top-score response is included for each item.