Forward Exam Practice Test and Sample Items

picture of teacher helping students on computers

Students may perform better and with less anxiety if they are familiar with the format of the test and with the types of questions they will be required to answer. However, please note that test preparation is only useful to the extent that it is also teaching content area knowledge and skills. Therefore, the use of test preparation resources is of limited value to students due to the narrow opportunity for content learning. It is very important to ensure that teachers are teaching to the curriculum and not to the test, as teaching to the test narrows the focus of instruction to only that content covered by the test.

Online Tools Training (OTT)

The OTT provides students with hands-on practice logging in, selecting a test session, responding to different item types, and using the tools available in the testing system. The OTT is not scored and is not for content practice or to see how well students will perform on the Forward Exam.

The OTT is not compatible with Internet Explorer. The use of a Chrome browser to access the OTT is required.

Student Tutorials

The student tutorials are a series of short videos that:

Are broken out by grade
Introduce students to the online tools in the testing system
Introduce students to the item types they will see during testing
Provide students with an overview of the testing process
May be viewed as a class or individually

All students should have the opportunity to view the student tutorials.

Item Samplers

The Item Sampler contains samples of stimulus and test items similar to those on the Forward Exam. The items illustrate a sample of the content that students will encounter on the Forward Exam. A Summary Data table for each grade and content area identifies the alignment (standard measured), answer key, depth of knowledge, and annotations for each item.

The Forward Exam Item Sampler is available at each grade level and content area in both PDF and Online versions. The online version uses the same format and tools students will see during the actual Forward Exam. The Item Samplers are not used to see how well students will perform on the Forward Exam.

Forward Exam Online Item Samplers - All grades/content areas

(must be accessed via a chrome browser)

Quick Guide to the Wisconsin Forward Exam Item Samplers

Item Sampler PDFs -

Social Studies Grade 4

Social Studies Grade 8

Social Studies Grade 10

Text Dependent Analysis (TDA) Sampler

The following grade band documents contain samples of TDA test questions, stimulus passages, and student responses. The TDA portion of the Forward Exam requires students to read the text (passage or passages) and then respond in writing to a prompt in one of several ways:

identifying and explaining a theme or central idea, using textual evidence to support the claim about what that theme or central idea is,
and analyzing the development of an event, character, central ideas, or theme, using textual evidence to support the explanation and analysis.