Hand Scoring Condition Codes

Condition codes are used for student responses to short-answer and full-write items that cannot be scored because of the nature of the student’s response. They are available for the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments only.

A detailed description of each available condition code is provided in table 1. A condition code may be selected instead of a numeric score from the Points Earned drop-down list (figure 1).

Points Earned drop-down list that includes the numerals and Condition Code options.

Figure 1. Points Earned drop-down list

When a student’s response or writing trait is assigned a condition code, it is equivalent to a score of zero. Note that an assigned condition code for the interim assessments will not be displayed in the student’s results in CERS and is only visible when assigned to the student response in the THSS.

For full-write responses to ELA performance tasks, the condition codes “off topic” and “off purpose” can be assigned. In most cases, when a full-write response receives a condition code, the code is assigned to all writing traits of the response. However, if the condition code for a response is “off purpose,” only the evidence/elaboration and organization/purpose writing traits are assigned “off purpose,” and the conventions writing trait is still scored. This conventions item score is included in the total ELA score and the writing claim score. The rule for “off-purpose” scoring of conventions is applied to ELA full-write performance tasks regardless of the writing purpose of the assigned task.

Table 1. Condition Codes for Hand Scoring
Condition Code Description

Blank (B)

Student did not enter a response.

Insufficient Text (I)

  • Student has not provided a meaningful response; examples can include

    • random keystrokes;
    • undecipherable text;
    • “I hate this test”;
    • “I like pizza!” (in response to a reading passage about helicopters); or
    • response consists entirely of profanity.

  • For ELA full writes, for responses previously described and if

    • the student’s original work is insufficient to determine whether the student is able to organize, cite evidence and elaborate, and use conventions as defined in the rubrics; or
    • the response is too brief to determine whether it is on purpose or on topic.

Nonscorable Language (L)
  • ELA: language other than English
  • Mathematics: language other than English or Spanish

Off Topic (T)

For ELA Full Writes Only

  • A writing sample will be judged as off topic when the response is unrelated to the task or the sources or shows no evidence that the student has read the task or the sources (especially for informational/explanatory and opinion/argumentative).

Off-topic responses are, generally, substantial responses.

Off Purpose (M)

For ELA Full Writes Only

  • A writing sample will be judged as off purpose when the student has clearly not written to the purpose designated in the task.
  • An off-purpose response addresses the topic of the task but not the purpose of the task.
  • Note that students may use narrative techniques in an explanatory essay or use argumentative and persuasive techniques to explain, for example, and still be on purpose.

Off-purpose responses are, generally, developed responses (essays, poems, etc.) clearly not written to the designated purpose.

If the condition code for a full-write essay is “off purpose,” only the evidence/elaboration and organization/purpose writing traits are assigned “off purpose,” and the conventions writing trait is still scored.