Assessment/Accountability
Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System

Guide to the

Massachusetts Comprehensive

Assessment System:

Mathematics

January 1998

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Copyright 1998 by Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Permission is hereby granted to copy any or all parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes.
Please credit the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Commissioner's Foreword

Dear Colleagues:

As you know, the state's new testing program, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, will be administered to all students in grades 4, 8, and 10 for the first time in May of 1998. This new testing program is based exclusively on the rigorous academic learning standards contained in the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. It has been developed with the direct and intensive involvement of educators from across Massachusetts and with the support of the Board of Education. I am proud of our work in developing this critical new program that is designed to raise the academic achievement of all students of the Commonwealth.

In anticipation of this next phase of Education Reform, I am pleased to present to you the publication, Guide to the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System: Mathematics. We intend for each subject guide to serve as a support to schools in theirimplementation of the Curriculum Frameworks as they prepare for the first administration of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. I believe that teachers and administrators will find the sample questions to be particularly helpful in bringing the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework learning standards to life in classrooms and schools.

Sincerely,

Robert V. Antonucci

Commissioner of Education

Table of Contents

Commissioner's Foreword

I. Document Purpose and Structure

Purpose
Structure

II. Frequently Asked Questions About the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS)

What are the state testing requirements established by the Education Reform Law of 1993?

Why standards-based assessment?

How and by whom is MCAS being developed?

What are the advantages of a state-developed test?

What will be tested?

Must all students in grades 4, 8, and 10 participate?

What types of questions will appear on MCAS?

How will test results be reported?

How will the results of the tests be used?

What is the schedule for implementation of MCAS?

Where can more information about MCAS be found?

III. Mathematics Content and Skills to be Assessed by MCAS

Overview of Mathematics Assessment

Grade 4 Mathematics Assessment

Number Sense

• Number Sense and Numeration
• Concepts of Whole Number Operations
• Fractions and Decimals
• Estimation
• Whole Number Computation

Patterns, Relations, and Functions

• Patterns and Relationships
• Algebra/Mathematical Structure

Geometry and Measurement

• Geometry and Spatial Sense
• Measurement

Statistics and Probability

Grade 8 Mathematics Assessment

Number Sense

• Number and Number Relationships
• Number Systems and Number Theory
• Computation and Estimation
• Ratio, Proportion, Percent

Patterns, Relations, and Functions

• Patterns and Functions
• Algebra

Geometry and Measurement

• Geometry
• Measurement
• Geometric Measurement

Statistics and Probability

• Statistics
• Probability

Grade 10 Mathematics Assessment

Number Sense

• Discrete Mathematics
• Mathematical Structure
• Estimation

Patterns, Relations, and Functions

• Algebra
• Functions
• Trigonometry

Geometry and Measurement

• Geometry and Spatial Sense
• Measurement
• Geometry from an Algebraic Perspective

Statistics and Probability

• Statistics
• Probability

Appendix A: Tool Kits
Appendix B: Acknowledgments
Bibliography