\doc\web\97\08\samptest.txt Reading and math samples Note - the 50th percentile level of performance was just at the upper edge of "1" equal almost zero level of performance or understanding, only the top 20% met the standard, only 70% met the standard at the best school in the greater Seattle area, where 90% were above national average on the CTBS, and only 2% f/r lunch in Bellevue's Somerset school. The goal is 100% above standard for all students, which would imply every student at the worst school performing better, on average, than Somerset. Sure, no problem. And if you believe that one.... from http://csl.wednet.edu/Web%20page/Assessment/Pilot4/Pilot_menu.html Test samples Reading Sample Passage Summary Students read a short passage, summarized here, explaining what the word camouflage means and how it works. Animals in nature have a special way of hiding. The color of their skin or coat blends with the color of their surroundings and makes them hard to see. This is called camouflage. If you want to find out how camouflage works, take some toothpicks of different colors, including green, natural wood, and red. Scatter these toothpicks, one color at a time, over a small area of green grass. Which toothpicks are easiest to see in the grass? Which are hardest to see? NOTE: Because most of the reading passages are copyright protected, only a summary of the passage is reproduced here. 1. In the activity described in the selection, which of these colors would be easiest to find? A. Green B. Natural wood C. Red 2. What is the author's purpose for writing this selection? Circle a phrase given below. To tell a story To explain an idea To describe a setting Explain your choice. 3. Make up an activity different from the one in the selection to show how camouflage works. Be sure to tell (1) what materials you need and (2) what steps you will take My camouflage activity: Materials to use: Steps to take: 4. In your own words tell the meaning of the word camouflage. Task 1: Page 1 | Task 1: Page 2 | Task 1: Page 3 | Task 1: Page 4 | Task 1: Page 5 | CSL Homepage Writing Directions: Today you will do a writing assignment. The magazine column below, "Advice Column," is meant to give you ideas for the assignment. Read the column to yourself while it is read to you. Advice Column Dear Guest Advice Columnist, I have an idea, and I'd like to see what you think about it. I'm a fourth grader who thinks the school day should be longer. Now, before you say "What?!" please read the rest of my letter. If we had a longer school day, we could have more days off! That would mean longer vacations during the school year or for the summer. Suppose we went to school one hour more each day. That would make five hours a week. If there are about four weeks in a month, that would make 20 hours a month. That's almost two full days each month! What do you think about my idea? Do you think other kids would like it? Do you think my principal and teachers would go for it? Signed, Curious In this letter, a fourth grader wants advice about an idea to make the school day longer. Your writing assignment is to pretend that you are the advice columnist and will write a letter to the person explaining what you think about the idea. Is it a good idea? Why or why not? Think about the advantages and disadvantages of having a longer school day. Make sure you answer the questions that are at the end of the person's letter, and explain your answers. On the next page is a checklist for you to follow in order to do your best writing. Before you begin writing, read the checklist to yourself while it is read to you. Read it again before and after you write your final draft, and put a checkmark in each box when you think you have done that part of the checklist. Go On > 4th grade Math -- http://csl.wednet.edu/Web%20page/Assessment/Pilot4/Math_1.html Eddie wants to find the height of the school flagpole below. The only measuring tool Eddie has is a 12-inch ruler. Tell one way Eddie can figure out the height of the flagpole. Explain all your steps clearly. Use words, numbers, or pictures. Picture shows building, fire hydrant, and the flagpole casting a shadow on the ground. F P / / / / / (Geez, can you solve this problem without trigonometry??) 1 - use trigonometry by matching the apparent size of the ruler to the flagpole, and measuring the distance away as the base of a triangle with the ruler at the far end 2 - attach the ruler to the rope so that it falls when it hits the top, count aloud to measure it time it takes to fall to the ground, use the gravitational constant to solve for the height. 3 - measure the length of the shadow of the fire hydrant, compare that to the actual height and establish the "scale". Measure the length of the shadow of the flag pole, and multiply by the same scale factor. This will only work on a sunny day with a clear shadow. --- Look at the four digits below. 3 1 8 5 Change the order of the digits to make the greatest number possible. Write the new number on the line. Use these same digits to make the smallest number possible. Write that number on the line. Explain what you had to think about to make your numbers. Use words, numbers, or pictures. -- You have three different bags of marbles. Each bag contains black and white marbles. Which bag gives you the best chance of picking a white marble? A - 2 black 1 white B - 5 black 3 white C - 2 black 2 white (you have to compare and reduce fractions 1/3, 3/8, 2/4, and compute probability) --- Eric plans to use the box shown below to hold his baseball cards. (box evidently can hold 1 row of cards on end, ruler is provided) Explain how Eric can estimate the number of cards this box can hold without putting any cards in the box. --- Which of the following is a reasonable estimate of the width of a sheet of notebook paper? A. About 20 millimeters B. About 20 centimeters C. About 20 kilometers (You have to memorize that a standard sheet in the US is 8.5" wide by 11" high, something not generally taught unless you are in a habit of reading the label when you buy the paper, and multiply 8.5 by 2.54 conversion factor which you have to memorize, if you have a calculator, but then many have cm conversion built in if they allow calculator use, otherwise it's long hand multiplication of a 2 by 3 digit number which isn't much fun. But then the "trick" is to realize that the answers are all off by a an order of magnitude, and the centimeter one is the only one that makes sense without an exact conversion) Students tested different brands of batteries to see how long they would power the same flashlight. They tested 20 batteries of each brand. The students graphed the results below: Here's the frequency histogram: Brand A: x xxx xxxxxxx x xxxxxxxx +----+----+----+ 0 10 20 30 Brand B: x x xx x x xx x xxxx xxxxxxx +----+----+----+ 0 10 20 30 Brand C: x x x xx x xx x xxxx x xx xxxx +----+----+----+ 0 10 20 30 Which brand of battery should you buy if you need your batteries to last at least 10 hours? Explain your thinking. Use words, numbers, or pictures. Solution: 1) Unclear as to how this would be scored, this might meet the standard even though it does not meet the question as well as the next solution. Find the highest median Compute the median by counting halfway (10) from the top, down Take the one with the highest median a: halfway point is 19 b: halfway point is between 20 and 21 c: all but 17 are above 22, so the median is well above 22 Answer: "C" has the highest median value, assuming that lasting at least 10 hours means the longest lasting one. In real life, this would be a safe assumption. 2) (This appears to be the best therefore, only correct solution, it is a trick question because the one with the highest average life isn't the one least likely to last less than 10 hours.) Strategy: Find the lowest probability of battery lasting less than 10 hours Count the total number of x's, then count the number that fall below 10 hours. Ignore the number above 10 hours, that's not actually relevant to the answer. a: 1 below 10 c: 3 below 10 d: 3 below 10 Answer: A has the lowest probability of not lasting at least 10 hours, compared to 3 out of 20 for the other two. This is counter to the intuitive assumption that the one with the highest median will has the lowest probability of short life. (What the heck is this? Most high schoolers only see frequency histograms in advanced science classes, not in normal math and certainly not in the 4th grade. You have to interpret intermediate x tic marks, ask if they're just asking for the battery with the longest average, which is just about impossible to computer, or median, which you could eyeball as giving the edge to the last one since all but 3 x's are above 20, but a much larger fraction of the others is below 20) Bird feeder problem from: SEATTLE: NEW REFORM TEST DIFFICULT, GRADES ON EXPLANATION, NOT CORRECT RESULT http://www.seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97/test_072197.html Copyright © 1997 The Seattle Times Company Monday, July 21, 1997 Education reform's first test faces examination by the public Sample Math Problem Teachers say the math section of the new fourth-grade test is particularly difficult, requiring students to read story type problems and answer questions with words, numbers and drawings. Many problems require a number of steps to reach the correct answer. This question is typical: Problem: Your class project is to build a bird feeder. Explain how you could use the information given to find the total cost of the materials. use words, numbers, or pictures. Parallel projection 3D picture: bird sits on a tray on post, dimension lines drawn 60 inches tall from top to bottom of post, bottom of post is in cutaway of ground in cement. +------+ / / / / +------+ +-----------+ | ^ | | | | | +--+ | | 60 inches | | | | | | | +--+ | | | +-----------+ #|#v ### ### Top view: 4 Screws attach to post, dimensioned as 60 inches tall, cement mounting in ground is in drawing, post connection piece drawn in dotted lines, dimension lines are set on tray bottom 2 feet square, tray frame made of wooden strips Table: Item cost per unit ------------------------------ Wooden post $2.50 per foot Strips for tray frame $1.00 per foot Tray bottom $6.00 tools, screws, nails, wood glue, and cement mix - donated by parents Example problem shows a bird house with a platform of a certain size, and material at a certain cost. The solution was not just to get the right answer, in fact, the explanation was graded more important than a right answer. Solution: Times 5 by 2.50 and get $12.50 for the wooden post. for each side of the tray, times 4 by 2 and get 8. the tray bottom (sic) is $6 and the rest is donated by parent. You add $12.50, 48 and $6 together and get a total of $26.50 source: Washington State Commision on Student Learning Comment - You have to deal with english foot / inch conversion, so the given answer starts out wrong! You have to divide 60 inches by 12 to get 5 feet, which you either have to with a calculator, long division by hand, or memorize, common for adults familiar with 5 ft high 60" people, but not 4th graders. The answer does not tell what part of the table 4 by 2 (4 sides by 2 feet per side strip) comes from. For a tray, you have to know enough 3D geometry to know that it has a bottom and 4 sides. You also have to be trained to read 3-view construction drawings, and the meaning of dotted lines, and dimension arrows, something most kids don't get until they take mechanical drawing in high school, and something boys and whites are better at than girls or minorities. You have to know how posts attach to screws, how wooden "strips" attach to a "frame", how a post is set into cement, and how to read a table. In short, there's no way this is fourth grade material, I imagine even an average 50th percentile 10th grader would be hard pressed to get this one completely correct. If a fourth grader understands the basic four functions of plus, minus, multiplication and division, that should be plenty without having to master shop as well. Skills inventory for this problem - ---------------------------------- reading comprehension "donated by parents" equals zero cost writing addition multiplication division reading 3D projection drawing reading top view dimension lines in 3D and top view perimeter hidden lines screw attachment cement achoring post tray strips for tray edger reading table english foot / inch conversion memorization of 5ft = 60 inches