The primary purpose of the training is to help the readers understand the decisions made by the range-finding committee. Also, training helps readers internalize the scoring rubrics, so that they may effectively and consistently apply them. Reader training sessions include an introduction to the assessment itself. In addition, readers are informed of the parameters or context within which the students' performance was elicited. This gives readers a better understanding of what types of responses can be expected, given such parameters as grade level, instruction or time limitations.
Readers next receive a description of the scoring rubrics that apply to the responses.
The scoring rubric is always presented in conjunction with the anchor papers. After presentation and discussion of the anchor papers, each reader is given a training set consisting of ten papers. The readers score the papers independently. When all readers have scored the training set, their preliminary scores are collected for reference. Group discussion of the scores assigned is the next step, allowing the readers to raise questions about the application of the scoring rubric and giving them a context for those questions.