Team Readiness Assessments (TRAs)
Team readiness assessments (TRAs) are given every three weeks to assess student readiness for the more complex thinking required during application exercises. These assessments measure recognition & basic comprehension of (1) essential terms, (2) primary sources, and (3) key images. IMPORTANT: A number of these same questions then reappear on the final exam.
NOTE: each TRA takes place after a two-period guided reading session introducing the readings, but before the in-depth processing of readings done during team application exercises. Most students thus need to allow more time than they are used to for reading and studying assigned materials on their own.
Format (number & types of questions):
- Each TRA will begin with six or seven (7) questions asking you to identify, and/or to answer a basic question regarding, one or more of the terms & names identified in the reading guide for each three-week period. These
terms are drawn from the primary sources listed in the schedule for each unit, although one question will deal with related information found in the "Essential Elements" essay or an Encyclopedia Britannica article linked to the schedule.
- Each TRA will also contain three or four (3-4) questions asking you to
(a) identify the title, composer, and historical period of the source for two unidentified passages drawn from the required primary sources assigned for each two-week unit; as well as
(b) what precedes and follows the passages.
These excerpts will be chosen from a set of four unidentified excerpts provided at the end of the reading guide for each three-week unit. Required primary sources are listed in the schedule for each unit.