4The
New State Tests in Grades 6-8 Parent Spot for Parents of Middle School Students
What
families need to know
This school year, children in grades 6, 7 and 8 will take new
state tests in English language arts and math. Similar exams have
been in place for eighth graders for a number of years, as have
tests in second languages, science, social studies and technology.
Although testing at all levels can provide useful feedback about
how well children are learning their lessons, testing during the
middle school years is considered particularly important.
The pre-teen years are a time of rapid change for kids.
Physically, socially and emotionally, the years between 10 and 13
rival the first three years of children's lives in terms of
growth. Often, all this upheaval can leave kids less self-assured
and less interested in academics.
However, demanding state and national learning standards don't
allow students the luxury of taking a break from academics during
the middle school years. Everything about school today-from the
courses students take to the tests they need to pass in order to
graduate-is more demanding than ever before. Success with their
middle school lessons now will help students excel later on.
Testing children regularly throughout the middle school years is
one way of ensuring that they are progressing academically. Such
tests help show whether children need additional help to
confidently move ahead in school. These tests will also help
teachers identify where the curriculum might need to be fine-tuned
to better meet students' needs.
A look at the
new middle school tests
The new state tests are carefully designed to reflect the types of
information and skills that children are expected to learn at
their respective grade levels. Although students will be given
opportunities throughout the year to become familiar with the
format of these tests, the school year will not be spent drilling
for these exams. Instead, the primary focus of middle school
education is on expanding children's knowledge in many subject
areas, teaching them to be more self-reliant and preparing them
for the academic challenges that lay ahead.
The English language arts (ELA) tests
The English language arts tests are administered in two sessions
for students in grade 7 and three sessions in grades 6 and 8.
These exams are designed to measure students' abilities in
reading, listening and writing. The tests contain a variety of
questions including multiple choice, short- and extended-response
and editing tasks.
Math
The middle school mathematics tests are administered in two
sessions in grades 6 and 7 and three sessions in grade 8. They are
designed to assess how well students have mastered the newly
proposed mathematics learning standard.
At all grade levels, students will apply the skills and knowledge
gained in the classroom in order to answer three types of
questions: multiple-choice, short-response, and extended-response.
Sample questions:
Sample listening question (grade 6)
After listening to a story about Sojourner Truth, a woman whose
heroic life inspired many both before and after the Civil War,
students will answer questions such as the following:
1. Why do you think Sojourner Truth changed her name from the one
she was given when she was born? Was her choice of name a good
one? Write an essay in which you explain why Sojourner Truth
changed her name, what that name represented to her, and whether
the name was a good choice. Use details from the article to
support your answer. In your answer, be sure to include:
why Sojourner Truth changed her name
what her new name represented to her
whether her new name was a good choice
details from the article to support your answer
Check your writing for correct spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Sample editing question (grade 7)
There are some mistakes in this paragraph. Some sentences may have
more than one mistake, and other sentences may contain no mistakes
at all. There are no mistakes in spelling. Read the paragraph and
find the mistakes. Draw a line through each mistake in the
paragraph. Then write the correction above it.
When you look up at the night sky, you see the beautiful stars
shining, you see a full moon. The view from space can be quite
another matter, though. From Earth you cannot see none of the
nuts, bolts, paint chips, and other assorted pieces of space
debris orbits Earth every day. The worst thing about space debris
is not it's ugly appearance; space debris can be extremely
dangerously. These bits of metal and other junk travels through
the air at speeds greater than 20,000 miles an hour and can create
serious damage.
Sample math short response question (grade6)
Elissa and Matt bought 7/8 of a yard of fabric to make a class
project. They used only 1/3 of a yard. How much fabric was left?
Show your work.
Answer: yard
Sample math Multiple choice question (grade 8)
The regular price of a CD is $18.00. If the CD is on sale for 15%
off the regular price, what is the sale price?
A $2.70
B $15.30
C $16.20
D $16.50
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