API MeetingOctober 10, 2013

The ACT Mathematics Test

Format Facts:• 60 MC questions, 60 minutes• Most items individual, but some in

sets based on same graph, table, chart, etc.

• No extensive computation or memorization of complex formulas required (no calculator required, but most allowed)

The ACT Mathematics Test

Types of Questions:• Knowledge & Skills (50% of test)• Direct Application (28% of test)• Understanding Concepts and

Integrating Conceptual Understanding (22 %)

The ACT Mathematics Test

Breakdown of Content:

Algebra

Pre-Algebra (23%) Elementary Algebra (17%)

Intermediate Algebra (15%)

Middle School Math

Math I

Math II

Math III

The ACT Mathematics Test

Breakdown of Content:

Geometry

Coordinate Geometry (15%) Plane Geometry (23%) Trigonometry (7%)

Middle School Math

Math I Math II Math III

ACT OverviewSonya Stephens

Data and Accountability September 12, 2013

Let’s review a little . . .

Participation: Number of students in the 11th grade (March Data Collection) and comparing it to the number of scored assessments.

Performance: Based on the current year total number of students meeting the UNC minimum composite of 17 divided by the number of students who have a composite score.

The ACT Measures

ACT’s Definition of College Readiness

College Readiness is the level of preparation a student needs

to be equipped to enroll and succeed – without remediation – in

a credit-bearing, first-year course at a two-year or four-year institution, trade school,

or technical school. www.act.org/commoncore

ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks

Test College Course 8th Grade 9th Grade

English English Composition 13 14 15 18

Math College Algebra 17 18 19 22

Reading Social Sciences 15 16 17 21

Science Biology 20 20 21 24

Empirically derived

50% likelihood of achieving a B or higher or about a 75% likelihood of achieving a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college course

22

23

32 vs. 40%

14 vs. 20%

Roster 3: Need for Assistance◦Roster 3: Students who expressed a need for

help in a particular area Educational/career planning Improving writing skills Improving reading speed and comprehension Improving study skills Improving mathematical skills Improving computer skills Improving public speaking

This roster can help you identify instructional needs, design intervention strategies, and assist students with reaching their

academic and career goals.

The Need for Thinking Skills

Classroom teachers are integrally involved in preparing today’s students for their futures. Such preparation must include the development of thinking skills such as problem solving, decision making, and inferential and evaluative thinking. These are, in fact, the types of skills and understandings that underlie the test questions on the ACT.

The ACT Connecting College Readiness Standards to the Classroom, For Mathematics Teachers, p.19

Lessons Learned from the PSAT

Remember the ACT question types:

Computing Reasoning Making Connections

49%

56%

30%

40%

58%

WHAT DOES RESEARCH SAY ABOUT

HOW MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTIONSHOULD BE CONDUCTED?A variety of instructional methods should be used in

classrooms to cultivate students’ abilities to investigate, make sense of, and construct meanings from new situations; to make and provide arguments for conjectures; and to use a flexible set of strategies to solve problems from both within and outside mathematics. In addition to traditional teacher demonstrations and teacher-led discussions, greater opportunities should be provided for small-group work, individual explorations, peer instruction, and whole-class discussions in which the teacher serves as a moderator. (NCTM, 1989, pp. 125, 128)

To sum it up . . .Teachers need to support students in engaging in Mathematical Discourse.

Experience the Common Core Math Classroom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6KuHVri3g0

Investigation 1: Physics and Business at Five Star

Amusement Park• How is the stretch of a bungee cord

related to the weight of the bungee jumper?

• How are number of customers and income for a bungee jump related to price charged for a jump?

• How can data tables, graphs, and rules relating variables be used to answer questions about such relationships between variables?

• Each member contributes to the group’s work.• Each member of the group is responsible for

listening carefully when another group member is talking.

• Each member of the group has the responsibility and the right to ask questions.

• Each group member should help others in the group when asked.

• Each member of the group should be considerate and encouraging.

• Work together until everyone in the group understands and can explain the group’s results.

Collaborative Group Norms

Group Roles

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 400

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

Market Survey Data

Price per Jump

Like

ly N

umbe

r of C

usto

mer

s

N = 50 – p

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 350

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Bungee Jump Income

Price per Jump ($)

Dai

ly In

com

e ($

)

Formative Assessment

of Conceptual Understandi

ng

Formative Assessment of

Collaboration Skills

• Applications• Connections• Reflections• Extensions• Review

On Your Own

ReflectionReflect on your experience with this math lesson. • What kinds of math discourse

did you participate in?• What levels of DOK did you

access?• How does this lesson

compare with what you typically observe in your math classrooms?

Walkthrough Tool

The 5-E Model in a Core Plus Lesson