Reprinted from http://elemath.pbworks.com/EoG-Preparation
EoG Preparation
Drew Polly (drewpolly@gmail.com)
Teachers, Math Facilitators (Coaches), and Administrators-
As i have visited a number of grade level meetings and talked with teachers in North Carolina, one of the concerns using a standards-based curriculum like Investigations, Trailblazers and Expressions is uncertainty about how these curricula prepare students for End-of-Grade tests.
If you are teaching with a standards-based curricula, the best strategy for EoG prep is to teach the curriculum well, develop students’ conceptual understanding and where there are gaps in the standards use standards-based approaches to teach those concepts. Consistency is the most essential part of teaching with this curricula. Students in Grades 3-5 do need exposure to EoG-type items. Just be very selective on how you spend your money and your students’ time.
A few resources are definitely useful:
1) DPI has released test items freely available on their <a href=”http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/accountability/testing/eog/math/” target=”_blank”>website</a>.
Many schools are using these items, changing the numbers to create a pool of EoG items. These can be used intermittently as problem of the day, as homework problems, or occasionally during lessons. Do not over-prep your students to the point where students’ work becomes largely test prep and not guided discovery.
2) DPI’s indicators are also available <a href=”http://mathlearnnc.sharpschool.com/cms/One.aspx?portalId=4507283&pageId=5051238″ target=”_blank”>online</a>. These indicators provide ample opportunity for rigorous tasks that 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students will be exposed to in May.
3) Curriculum-based materials- Investigations has ExamView, published by Pearson, and the other curricula have their own North Carolina-tweaked test prep materials. Be careful to check for alignment and rigor before using them.
4) Commercial items
a) <a href=”http://classscape.ncsu.edu/” target=”_blank”>ClassScape</a>- the only commercial product developed in North Carolina has EoG-like items that align to the standards and a decent level of rigor.
b) <a href=”http://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/detail.asp?title=TRMath” target=”_blank”>Curriculum Associates</a>- this material is not North Carolina specific, but has a high level of rigor. Anecdotally, students who do well on these practice tests and materials do well on the End-of-Grade test
c) EoG Coach- the level of rigor is not as high as ClassScape or Curriculum Associates. Anecdotally, there have been cases of false-positives, students do well on these materials but do not do well on the EoG test.
d) SuccessMaker, Study Island and CCC- All of these are programs that can be accurately lumped into the direct intervention category. These programs are all based on the idea that students need repetitive practice and lots of repetition to learn the concepts. These programs may lead to slight increases in test scores, but have a long-term detriment to students’ conceptual understanding, which harms them in later grades.
Let me know if you have any questions,
Drew
drewpolly@gmail.com
