Once teachers have a well-developed set of measurement topics written in scale format, they can design and use formative classroom assessments. In fact, classroom teachers should be able to construct formative assessments right from the scales provided them.

To illustrate, consider the scale for the 6th grade social studies measurement topic, the Nature and Influence of Culture, depicted in Figure 4.1. Assume that a 6th grade teacher wished to design a formative assessment for this topic. Again, it is useful to begin with the score 3.0 elements. The scale provides fairly explicit guidance. The example for the first bulleted element suggests that students should explain and exemplify how ancient civilizations affect society today, with special emphasis on ancient Egyptian architecture. Based on this, the teacher might construct the following item:

We have been studying ancient Egypt and theories about how they constructed the pyramids and why they used this particular structure. We have also seen that the pyramid structure is used today. Identify a structure in our city that we have studied and explain how it follows the same principles as those used in the pyramids.