School Improvement in Maryland

Sample Assessments: Each sample assessment item gives an idea of how an assessment item on the MSA might be presented. The items appropriately measure the content of the VSC and may be formatted similarly to those appearing on the MSA; however, these are sample items only and have not appeared on any MSA form.

Standard 1.0 General Reading Processes

Topic E. General Reading Comprehension

Indicator 4. Use strategies to demonstrate understanding of the text (after reading)

Objective b. Identify and explain what is directly stated in the text

Assessment limit: In the text or a portion of the text

Selected Response Item
Read the story ''Summer Palace'' and answer the following question.

Why hadn’t Yeh Yeh told Sasha about the other artist in the family before?

  1. He didn’t want to bore her with old stories.
  2. He thought she was too young to understand.
  3. It made him sad to tell the story.
  4. He was embarrassed about the story.
/share/assessment_items/xml/items/msa_ela_4_009.xml

Correct Answer:
B