XX High School

World History
Renaissance Unit Test

DIRECTIONS TO THE STUDENTS

(1) This is a closed book test. Do not refer to your textbook or notes.
(2) Print your name and class period on the test.
(3) The test contains the following:
I. Art Slide
II. Multiple Choice
III. Matching
IV. Short Answers
V. Short Essay

(4) Attempt to answer each question. You may guess at the right answer. Since there
is no penalty for guessing, you should ANSWER EVERY QUESTION.
(5) Record your answers for Sections I-V on the test. If it helps, underline, cross out,
or take notes on the test itself.
(6) Respond to Sections IV and V on the blank notebook paper provided.
(7) Raise your hand if you have any questions about the test, need to leave the room
for any reason, or need additional sheets of notebook paper to record your
answers.
(8) You will have the entire block period (90 minutes) to complete the test.
(9) When you are finished with the test, raise your hand and I will pick up the test
from your desk. You may spend the remainder of the period studying for another
class or resting, but you MUST REMAIN SILENT.

Good luck!
Name:
Period:

The Renaissance Test

I. Art History Slides: Please print your answers on the answer sheet. (10 points
possible)

Painting #1
1. The artist is ____________________.
2. The title of the painting is ____________________.
3. Print three reasons explaining why this painting is an example of
Renaissance artwork.

Painting #2
4. The artist is ____________________.
5. The title of the painting is ____________________.
6. Print three reasons explaining why this painting is an example of
Renaissance artwork.

II. Multiple Choice: Choose the BEST possible answer and record it on the
scantron sheet. (10 points possible – one point each)

1. The Renaissance may be described as an age of:

A. curiosity and isolation.
B. discovery and education.
C. “rebirth of art.”
D. reviving customs from the Middle Ages.

2. A Renaissance scholar
A. debated the nature of life after death.
B. studied only one academic subject.
C. explored the richness and variety of the human experience.
D. usually was a monk or priest.

3. Which is the following was CANNOT be attributed to Leonardo da Vinci?

A. Mona Lisa
B. sketches of undersea boats and flying machines
C. notebooks containing sketches of the human body
D. David
4. A well-known patron in Italy was
A. Lorenzo de Medici
B. Dante Sciandri
C. Martin Luther
D. Leonardo da Vinci

5. Which of the following is a reason the Renaissance happened in Italy as

opposed to other areas of Europe?
A. Italy had suffered from the Bubonic plague
B. Italy had grown rich from trade
C. The rich gold mines in Florence and elsewhere caused the
northern states to be dependent on the Church.
D. Italy was in a constant war-torn state as a result of attacks on the
papal states.

6. Which of the following is NOT a belief held by Martin Luther?

A. Salvation can be reached by faith alone.
B. The sale of indulgences was wrong.
C. Each person who had faith could have a personal relationship
with God.
D. A person could achieve salvation through “good works.”

7. Which of the following was NOT and advantage of the printing press?
A. Books became more expensive.
B. Knowledge of art, science, and religion spread.
C. Pamphlets and books became faster to print.
D. P

8. Who began the European age of printing, by printing a complete edition of

the Bible using movable metal type?
A. Galileo Galilei
B. Nicolaus Copernicus
C. Martin Luther
D. Johann Gutenberg.

9. The Act of Restraint of Appeals was intended to:

A. recognize marriage only under the state.
B. force Henry VIII to answer to the pope.
C. prosecute Protestants.
D. limit the king by order of Parliament.

10. The Council of Trent intended to:

A. reorganize the Protestant faith and end the practice of “works.”
B. reconcile the Lutherans and the Protestants.
C. reform the Catholic faith and end papal indulgences.
D. unite the Catholics and the Protestants.
 III. Matching: Print your answers on the answer sheet. (10 points possible)

1. humanism a. persecuted by Protestants

2. heliocentric b. forced to say the earth was the center of
the universe and the planets revolved
around the earth
3. Nicolaus Copernicus c. placed importance on learning literature,
poetry and history
4. Galileo Galilei d. in order to find truth, doubt everything
5. William Shakespeare e. a financial supporter of the arts
6. Inquisition f. restored unit by keeping a Protestant
nation
7. patron g. the day he died, he correctly published
the earth and other planets all revolve
around the sun the sun
8. Elizabeth I h. English poet and playwright
9. Mary I i. sun-centered model of the universe
10. Rene Descartes j. used secret testimony, torture, and
execution to stamp out heresy

IV. Short Answer: Print a paragraph containing AT LEAST 4-5 sentences responding to
each of the short answer questions below on the blank notebook paper provided. (10
points possible)

1. Why was the timing right for the Renaissance? Why did the Renaissance begin in
Italy and take longer to spread to Northern Europe?

2. Explain why science was controversial for both the Catholic Church and
scientists. How did scientific discoveries during the Renaissance change man’s
view of the world?

V. Short Essay: Print your answer on the blank binder paper provided, and write an
outline to help organize your thoughts. (20 points possible)

“Martin Luther did more than speak against the practices and beliefs of the
Catholic Church. He spoke for the practices in which he believed.” Define
Protestant Reformation. Explain why and how the Protestant Reformation
began. Explain what Martin Luther wanted to change. In your opinion, did
Martin Luther advance or hold back freedom of religion?
Answer Key for Unit Test

I. Art History Slides

1. Botticelli
2. “The Man with the Medal”
3. possible answers: use of bright colors show that artist used oil paints,
subject matter is a portrait, use of perspective by including a foreground
and background in painting, use of light
4. Caravaggio
5. “Medusa”
6. possible answers: subject matter is Greek mythology, the snakes are
portrayed very realistically and look as if they are moving, perspective is
used by overlapping figures, Medusa is showing emotion

II. Multiple Choice

1. B
2. C
3. D
4. A
5. B
6. D
7. A
8. D
9. A
10. C

III. Matching
1. C
2. I
3. G
4. B
5. H
6. J
7. E
8. F
9. A
10. D

IV. Short Answer

1. Answer should include (5 points possible):
a. 2 points: People were finally recovering from the plague.
While suffering through the plague, the focus was on mere
survival, and literature, the arts, and scientific
developments were not the main focus. After the plague,
people are in a celebratory mood.
b. 2 points: The Church had lost some of its power, allowing
 more freedom in terms of disagreeing with the Church.
The Muslims had taken back the holy city of Jerusalem
and the plague had caused people to question their faith.
c. 1 point: The economy was recovering and there was a growing
merchant class.

2. Answer should include (5 points possible):

a. 1. 5 points: The Catholic Church could lose power if scientists
disproved what the Church said. As a result, Catholics
might leave the faith, especially since the Reformation was
going on and there was a precedent for leaving Catholicism.

b. 1.5 points: A scientist risked being labeled a heretic, and could

lose his life or be imprisoned. For this reason, Galileo
recanted and Copernicus waited until the day he died
to publish his findings.
c. 1 point: The scientific revolution encouraged curiosity and
exploration. Scientific discoveries encouraged others
to reexamine areas of science. As a result, many scientific
discoveries were made.

V. Short Essay (20 points possible):

a. Define protestant reformation (3 points):
The Protestant Reformation was when Martin Luther protested the certain
actions of the Catholic Church. Martin Luther demanded that the Catholic
Church reform its ways. When the Church refused, Luther formed the
Protestant Church.

b. Why did the Protestant Reformation begin? (3.5 points)

The German people were disgruntled for having to pay taxes to the
Church when the Church was far away in Rome. The Germans also
resented having Italian priests in German churches. Germans also
saw rampant misspending and abuses by the Church.

c. How did the Protestant Reformation begin? (3.5 points)

In 1517, Martin Luther wrote his 99 Theses and letter, which he
nailed to the Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. The pope
told Martin Luther to recant, and when he refused, Martin Luther
was forced to go into hiding for over one year.

d. Explain what Martin Luther wanted to change? (5 points)

Martin Luther disagreed with the Catholic Church’s view that through
“good works” a person could obtain a place in heaven. Martin Luther
disagreed with the sacrament of penance, the sale of indulgences, and
the idea of purgatory. Martin Luther also believed religious services
should be performed in languages understood by the people, i.e., not
 Latin.
e. Did Martin Luther advance or hold back freedom of religion? (5 points)
1. Advance- Martin Luther was the first to form a separate Christian
religion. He established a precedent for standing up for one’s religious
beliefs. Many others followed his lead and established distinct
Christian churches.
2. Held Back – Martin Luther was intolerant of those who had religious
beliefs that differed from his own. Martin Luther is known to have
persecuted Jews and initiated anti-Semitism in Germany.
 Rationale
This rationale explains how the Renaissance unit test has been developed in
accordance with the objectives for student learning and designed to avoid issues with
reliability, standardization, validity, and practicality (RSVP issues). Developing a test in
this manner is consistent with CIAS model, which maintains that curriculum, instruction,
assessment, and students should all interlink. Moreover, although this test has been
designed as a summative tool, the unit test also has formative applications, as will be
described in the rationale.
Students
The majority of the students come from the upper-middle class and have benefited
from attending middle schools that rank among the best in California. Approximately
half of the students in World History might take A.P. history classes. The A.P. history
classes at XX High, require students to be strong writers and have the ability to write
under time constraints. In order to adequately prepare these students, I have included two
short answer responses and one short essay on the tests. While the impetus for writing
intensive exams came from the higher-level students, all of the students benefit from the
practice and feedback. I have also strived to add balance to the test by allowing for
multiple choice, matching, and fill in the blank options. While we strive to improve our
writing as a class, struggling writers have an opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of
a unit via the objective question portions.
While I want students to learn how to write under time constraints, I do not want
to cause undue stress. For that reason, I try to schedule all tests during block periods and
allow students the complete 90 minutes to complete the test.
Test Specifics
After carefully considering the unit objectives, the curriculum and the instruction,
I developed a unit test. While developing the test, careful consideration was given to the
number of items, the types of items, and the scoring of these items.
The unit test contains thirty objective questions: responding to art slides, five fill-
in-the-blank with explanation, ten multiple choice and ten matching. The test also
includes two short answer responses and one essay question. According to Bond, a unit
test should include at least fifty items. I decided to include thirty-three items, as a
practical consideration for my students. I have about ten students who take nearly the
entire time, ninety minutes, to complete unit tests. I do not want to compromise these
students’ performances by adding additional items. Moreover, I expect paragraph
answers consisting of at least 4-5 sentences for each short answer response. I anticipate
that students will write about one page in response to the short essay response. Because I
want students to spend time thinking before they write and organizing their responses, I
want to make sure they have adequate time.
The types of test items have been chosen to reflect the breadth and depth of the
objectives for the unit. The art slide portion of the test relates to the two days the class
studied Renaissance artwork. For these questions, two slides of the five students saw
during class will be randomly selected. The slides will be shown at the beginning of the
test. The students will have to identify the artist and the painting for each slide. Students
will also be required to explain three characteristics of Renaissance artwork that are
demonstrated by the particular painting. These questions assess students’ ability to
identify Renaissance artwork and distinguish artwork from this period of time.
The test includes ten multiple choice questions and ten matching questions, in
order to cover the breadth of the curriculum. The test questions have been grouped
together to avoid students from having to change “mind sets” (Nitko). The multiple
choice questions also help prepare students for standardized tests. Nitko points out that
students are required to take state assessments and standardized tests. Giving students an
opportunity to practice multiple choice questions is important, because decisions will be
made based upon how well students do on state assessments and standardized tests,
which will affect both the school and students. When developing the multiple choice
questions, I followed Nitko’s advice and created questions that minimized the advantage
that test-wise students have.
The test also includes ten matching questions. These questions are designed to
assess whether students can link names, events, and places to their significance in the
context of the curriculum covered during the unit.
In order to allow students to demonstrate the depth of their knowledge, students
have been given ample time to complete the two short answer responses and one essay
question. In this section, I am interested to see how students analyze facts about events
and people, along with historical examples, to respond to the prompts. I am interested in
assessing how students link and connect facts and concepts together in their writing.
Nitko recommends that teachers should prepare an answer key for the test before
giving students the assessment. Doing so helps teachers to efficiently and accurately
score students’ assessments, and return assessments in a timely manner. Returning
students work quickly promotes an opportunity to give students feedback and keep
motivational levels high. To further assist with scoring, students use a separate answer
sheet to record their answers for objective items.
RSVP Issues
The unit test addresses four reliability, standardization, validity and practicality
issues.
I have attempted to reduce reliability concerns by making the unit testing itself
and the scoring of the unit test consistent. In order to accomplish this, I have included
clearly define criteria. Following the Ormrod’s recommendations, I have provided clear
directions for each section, grouped question types together, and specified the scoring
criteria in advance. I have also created clear directions for the test and each section in the
test. I reviewed the test for typos and made sure that proper margin and question
alignment was used.
The test itself does not directly address standardization. Rather, when I
administer the test, I will, in accordance with Ormrod’s suggestions, provide a quiet and
comfortable environment. In reality, there always seems to be standardization issues for
students who take longer to take the test. When students finish the test, they invariably
begin to move around in their seats more, shuffle papers or pull books out of their bag.
Despite my admonishments, I find this buzz is impossible to eliminate. I have also
followed Nitko’s advice and included a cover page to prevent those who receive the test
from beginning before the rest of the class.
I have designed this test to reduce validity concerns. As discussed above, the unit
test was designed to use art slides and writing questions so that students could show the
depth of their learning. The unit test also includes objective questions to cover the
breadth of the unit’s curriculum and instruction. The table of specifications also serves as
a checkpoint to ensure that the test covers what I taught.
 I acknowledge that including written responses reduces the practicality of this unit
test. The art slides, short answers and short essay are time intensive to grade. However,
at least the time for grading has been somewhat mitigated by making sure that students
complete all their answers on a separate answer key, facilitating the grading process,
especially for objective questions. I have attempted to take into consideration practicality
issues of my students by administering the test during a block period, and therefore
ensuring that they have adequate time to complete the test. I have also developed the test
in accordance with a study guide that the students will receive one week prior to the test.
Table of Specifications
The table of specifications helps to visually illustrate links between curriculum,
instruction, assessment, and students (CIAS). By listing the objectives in the right hand
column and specifically itemizing the type of question, I can double check that I am
including all relevant instruction in the assessment. I reviewed Bond’s checklist for
creating a table of specifications. I have made sure that no item is used to measure more
than one objective, every item on the test has a clear relationship to an objective, used the
table of specifications to determine whether the test is representative of the material
taught, and double checked to make sure critical objectives were not omitted from the
test. After the test has been administered, I will use the table of specifications to
determine where students are having difficulty.
After reviewing the table of specifications I created, I do have test items which
cover each of the four objectives set forth in the unit matrix plan. Each objective is not
covered equally in the test, which is consistent with the fact that each objective did not
receive as much instructional emphasis. The objective covering introductory materials
has the fewest number of points (four points). The objective that received the most
instructional emphasis, covering the Protestant, English and Catholic Reformations, also
has the most number of test items.
Formative Uses of Summative Tool
Although the unit tool is a summative assessment, I still want to use the test for
formative purposes. I will review the objective questions and answers with the entire
class when I return the tests. Through this process, I will address any test-taking
strategies with which student might struggle. One example is how to use the process of
elimination to help answer multiple choice questions. I will also provide students with
numerous comments on their written work, so that they can improve next time. I will
show students where and why they lost points, to make the grading process as transparent
for students as possible.
I will also use the unit test as a formative tool for my own teaching. I keep a copy
of each lesson plan, and all the materials used for a given lesson. I will take notes of
which questions seemed to consistently confuse students and I will make an effort to
rewrite or replace those questions next year. I will also review how I taught the
corresponding sections of the curriculum, and rethink how I would present the material.
 Renaissance Unit Test
Table of Specifications

Item Types
Short Short
Art Slides Multiple Matching Total
Objectives Answer Essay
Choice Points
(5 pts (20 pts)
(5 pts each) (1 pt each) (1 pt each)
each)
Explain why the Renaissance is characterized as a period of
reawakening and rebirth.
 Compare and contrast the attitudes toward culture and 3 items 1 item 4 pts
learning during the Renaissance and the Middle Ages.

Describe the ideas that influenced Renaissance scholars, artists,

and writers.
 Understand and use criteria to distinguish 2 items 2 items 1 item 13 pts
Renaissance and Medieval art.

Construct rationales to explain why the Renaissance began in

Italy and why the Renaissance was delayed in northern Europe.
 Analyze the role the Medici family played in the 2 items 1 item 1 item 8 pts
Italian Renaissance

Explain and justify the criticisms against the Roman Catholic

Church, especially those of Martin Luther. Explain how the
Protestant Reformation contributed to the English Reformation
and the Catholic Reformation. 1 items 3 items 24 pts
1 item
Explain the role the Scientific Revolution played in changing
European society. 2 items 4 items 1 item 11 pts
Total Points/Item Type 20
10 points 10 points 10 points 10 points 60 pts
points