Using C.S.T. resources LAUSD Professional Development 2006 I – Where to get sample CST questions II – Using Sample CST questions III – Practice IV - Example

I - Where to get sample questions The Internet Textbooks

Textbook resources Carnegie: Bridge to Algebra Teacher’s Resources and Assessments, Standardized Test Practice McDougal Littell: Mathematics Course 2 Concepts and Skills California Standards Practice Workbook Prentice Hall: Practice and Sample Tests for Grade 7 mathematics California standards

II - Using released C.S.T. questions FBB BB BP A

How can we use this?  If you gave students this question, what do you think is the most likely outcome?  How can we prevent them from guessing?  How can we ensure that the students can meaningfully work on this word problem?

Your Turn  Re-write these problems to create a warm up to use with your students. Please indicate the vocabulary you feel you need to focus on with your students before they begin the questions.

Before we dismiss Multiple Choice!  Some multiple choice questions can be used to demonstrate to students the idea of “reasonableness” in the answer.  Just a little work shows that answer choices A and D are not possible answers.  Many students will be sidetracked by answer choice C 19/5 = 3.8 but at least now we’re down to a “50:50” chance of success. Distractor

Conclusions  There are many sources of authentic questions for the General Math CST.  You may need to modify the questions to turn them into appropriate learning tools for your students

III - Practice Use the online CST released question resources to create an activity you could use with your students

IV – Here’s one we prepared earlier