Note the formatting of your state assessment. Some things to notice:
- Is the assessment formatted in vertical columns?
- How are the labels for parts, problems, answer choices, and other elements formatted? (Do the question numbers have a box around them? Are the answer choices in bold? Do the answer choices alternate A-B-C-D/F-G-H-J?)
- Are the answer choices vertical or horizontal? How many answer choices are there?
For example, the California Standards Test (CST) is formatted in two vertical columns; has boxes around the problem numbers; separates problems with a horizontal line; and has four answer choices that are bold, uppercase, and follow the A-B-C-D convention.
Example of California Standards Test
Open your document by using one of the following methods:
- click on the button on the toolbar
,
- choose , or
- use the Cmd+OCTRL+O keyboard shortcut.
Choose to open an Acces document
Format columns
Set the number of vertical columns:
- Choose .
- Choose Test/Wksht from the Type list (This is the default).
- Set the number of columns to match your state assessment.
Format labels
- Choose .
- Choose the appropriate format and size for the Parts, Problems, Multiple-choice labels, and Problem
Intros. The drop-down menu on the left allows you to set formatting such as normal, bold,
italics, and Sans Serif.
Use the drop-down menu to make Multiple-choice labels bold. - The drop-down menu on the right allows you to set the size of the labels.
Use the drop-down menu to change the size of Multiple-choice labels.
Format Borders
- Choose .
- Click the button.
- Choose the appropriate formatting options. In this example, the CST separates each question with a
horizontal line, so choose horizontal line from the Problems list.
Format Multiple-Choice labels
- Choose .
- Make the appropriate selections for your layout. In this example, the CST has four answer choices that
are positioned vertically, bold, uppercase, and are not followed by punctuation. The bold option was
set in step 4. Use this dialog to set the remaining formatting options.
- Choose vertical from the Layout list
- Choose 4 from the Max choices list
- Choose # from the Format list (indicating that the answer choice labels are not surrounded by parenthesis nor followed by punctuation).
- Choose A, B, C,... from the Counter list (indicating that the answer labels are uppercase letters).
Experiment with the different options on this screen to see how they change the formatting of your document.
Note that you will need to Preview your document to see these changes. To preview your document,
choose , click on the button on
the toolbar 
, or use the CTRL+R
keyboard shortcut.
, or use the CTRL+R
keyboard shortcut.
Experiment with the different options on this screen to see how they change the formatting of your document.
Note that you will need to Preview your document to see these changes. To preview your document,
choose and click on the button,
or use the Cmd+P keyboard shortcut.
Format Inserts
- Choose .
- Make the appropriate selections for your layout. In this example, the CST has passages that are
positioned in one column, have numbered paragraphs that are indented, and are usually on a page by
themselves. Use this dialog to set these formatting options.
Because passages are often separated from their associated problems by a page break, and often have
directions that apply to only that passage, it is usually best to insert a passage and its problems into a
new Part.
- Choose ,
- Click on the button on the toolbar , or
- Use the CTRL+R keyboard shortcut.
- Choose then click Preview