Give your fourth grader the confidence to succeed on the Maryland MCAP Grade 4 Math test.
This Smart Stars practice book provides five full-length, standards-aligned practice tests that mirror the length, section structure, and item mix of the real Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) in Mathematics. Every question was written by experienced educators, reviewed for accuracy, and built around the Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards for Mathematics at Grade 4.
MCAP is given to Maryland public-school students each spring in Grades 3-8. It is developed by ETS and administered for the Maryland State Department of Education by NCS Pearson, both online and on paper. The Grade 4 math test is given in four sections: two with no calculator and two where a four-function calculator is allowed: and mixes machine-scored questions (Type I) with constructed-response reasoning (Type II) and real-world modeling tasks (Type III). A few unscored “field-test” questions are mixed invisibly into every real test, so each practice test here follows the same shape: about 39 questions across four sections (35 scored plus a few field-test-style questions, 195 items in all) to build true test-day endurance.
What’s inside
- Five full-length practice tests, each split into four sections (non-calculator, calculator, non-calculator, calculator), with detailed Answers and Explanations after every test
- Coverage of every Grade 4 math standard across all five domains (Operations and Algebraic Thinking, Number and Operations in Base Ten, Number and Operations: Fractions, Measurement and Data, and Geometry), weighted to match the MCAP blueprint, where fractions carry the most questions
- Practice with all three MCAP task types in the same balance as the real test, including the Reasoning and Modeling constructed-response tasks that ask students to explain their thinking and model real-world problems
- Field-test-style questions blended invisibly and unmarked into each test, exactly as MCAP embeds its own unscored field-test questions, and fully answered here so nothing on test day feels unfamiliar
- Practice in every MCAP item format: multiple choice, multiple select (“select the two”), type-in numeric answers, “explain your work” written-reasoning responses, “show your work” modeling tasks, area models, line plots, angle figures, and figure-based geometry questions
- Every explanation walks through the reasoning step by step and ends with a labeled Tip, Check, or Estimate (with a Strategy on the multi-step and constructed-response items), so students learn the move, not just the answer
- A combined Quick Answer Key at the back of the book for fast self-grading
- A family letter, a test-taking tips section, and a Grade 4 Math Study Reference Sheet (with a full multiplication table) up front
- Calculator practice matched to the real test: no calculator in Sections 1 and 3, a four-function calculator allowed in Sections 2 and 4
Topics covered
- Multi-digit multiplication (up to four-digit by one-digit and two-digit by two-digit) and division with remainders, using area models and partial products
- Multiplicative comparison and multi-step word problems with all four operations
- Factors and multiples, prime and composite numbers, and number and shape patterns
- Place value to one million, comparing and rounding multi-digit numbers, and multi-digit addition and subtraction
- Equivalent fractions and comparing fractions; adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers; multiplying a fraction by a whole number (denominators 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 100)
- Decimal notation for tenths and hundredths and comparing decimals
- Unit conversion within a system, measurement word problems with time and money, and area and perimeter (including finding a missing side)
- Line plots marked in halves, fourths, and eighths
- Measuring and adding angles with a protractor: new at Grade 4
- Points, lines, rays, and angles; parallel and perpendicular lines; classifying triangles and quadrilaterals; and lines of symmetry
Why parents and teachers choose Smart Stars
- Educator-authored. Every question is written and reviewed by classroom-experienced educators.
- Mirrors test day. Each practice test matches the official MCAP format, four-section structure, Type I/II/III item mix, and calculator policy, including the reasoning-and-modeling questions on the real test.
- Built for Maryland. Aligned to the Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards for Mathematics and the MCAP blueprint, weighted toward fractions just like the real Grade 4 test.
- Explanations teach the why. Every Answers and Explanations entry shows the full worked solution, then a labeled closing Tip, Check, or Estimate (and a Strategy on multi-step and constructed-response problems) so students learn the reasoning.
- Varied and graduated. Slot positions, contexts, names, and number choices rotate test-to-test, and the five tests step up in difficulty so no two feel like the same practice run.