Working Backward to Improve Standardized Test Scores

One of the projects I started this year was to again look at my state’s math standards and then focus on how they are tested in the standardized test that students take every year. In my state, we refer to these standards as G.L.E.’s (Grade Level Equivalents) and the standardized test our students take is the N.E.C.A.P. (New England Common Assessment Program)

I set up a big binder with a divider and clear plastic sheet protector for each of the math GLE’s at my grade level, and also for the previous grade level which I try to review in the fall in preparation for the test. I went to the school’s library and made copies of all the math released items from the NECAP tests. There were about five years of them. I cut apart each question and identified which GLE it tested and put it in the plastic sleeve for the corresponding GLE. Doing all the items was time-consuming, but the results were worth it.

Over the years I could see which standards were tested more heavily, and this was helpful. But more than that, I now have a question bank for each skill. When teaching a specific math skill, I can look at how questions are asked to assess that skill. I can see how different vocabulary is used, and in many cases, the question is worded differently from how I would ask it , or how our math book asks it. I can give students sample questions throughout the year, and not just at practice test time. And I can save the questions I create and add them to my collection in the binder.

This approach has certainly been working backward; I started with the test and worked to match a skill to it rather than the other way around. But I have gained some good information from it.