Built to feel like test day: Written to teach the why behind every answer.
This book gives your fourth grader five full-length practice tests for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) Grade 4 Mathematics exam — 215 items in all, written and reviewed by educators and aligned line-for-line to the Pennsylvania Mathematics Assessment Anchors and Eligible Content.
Take a look inside
Every test in this book mirrors what your child will actually see on PSSA test day: the same 43-item operational load, the same two-section structure with a clear STOP marker between sections, the same item-level calculator rule (no calculator on Question 1; a 4-function calculator allowed on every other item), and the very same Formula and Reference Sheet that PDE provides on the real exam.
About the question count — and why field-test items matter: On the official PSSA Grade 4 Math, 43 items count toward your student’s score: 40 multiple-choice or technology-enhanced items plus 3 four-part open-ended items. The real test booklet also includes a small number of unscored *field-test* items that the state uses to develop future exams. Students never know which items count and which are field test, so on test day every question must be worked with full focus and full energy. Each practice test in this book delivers the full 43-item scored load — the same item count, the same time on task, the same two-section pacing — so your child builds the realistic *endurance* the PSSA demands.
On test day: the PSSA is untimed, though PDE recommends about 78 minutes per section.
What’s inside
- 5 complete 43-item practice tests (40 multiple-choice / technology-enhanced items + 3 four-part open-ended items per test — exactly the operational PSSA form)
- The same Formula and Reference Sheet that PDE provides on test day, printed once in the front matter so students learn to look there instead of inside the questions
- A non-calculator Question 1 on every test (matching the real PSSA sampler), with a 4-function calculator allowed on every other item
- Multiple protractor items on every test — measuring an angle, classifying it, drawing one — so students get used to picking up a real protractor on test day
- Step-by-step answer explanations for every question, teaching the *why* behind every correct answer (not just the letter)
- Items, names, contexts, and slot positions varied across all 5 tests, so no two tests feel the same and no student can game the layout
- A parent letter with the required materials list (pencil, scratch paper, protractor, 4-function calculator), test-taking tips for Grade 4 PSSA Math, and a guide to pacing the five tests over several weeks
- A quick-reference answer key for the full 215-item book
Topics covered
- Place value, comparing, ordering, and rounding multi-digit whole numbers through 1,000,000
- Multi-digit addition and subtraction within 1,000,000 with regrouping
- Multi-digit multiplication (4-digit × 1-digit; 2-digit × 2-digit) and division with and without remainders
- Fractions and mixed numbers with denominators of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 100
- Adding and subtracting like-denominator fractions and mixed numbers (with regrouping)
- Multiplying a fraction by a whole number
- Decimals through hundredths — comparing, ordering, and converting to fractions
- Factors and multiples; prime vs. composite numbers
- Multi-step word problems including multiplicative comparison and inverse multiplicative comparison
- Patterns from arithmetic and non-arithmetic function tables
- Customary and metric unit conversions (length, weight, liquid volume, time)
- Area and perimeter of rectangles, including finding a missing side
- Line plots in 1/4-inch units; bar graphs and pictographs
- Points, rays, line segments, parallel and perpendicular lines
- Classifying angles (acute, right, obtuse, straight); measuring and drawing with a protractor
- Lines of symmetry on regular polygons; classifying quadrilaterals (square, rectangle, rhombus, parallelogram, trapezoid)
Why parents and teachers choose Smart Stars
- Written and reviewed by educators with deep classroom and university teaching experience — not generic test-prep authors
- Every question mirrors what students actually see on the PSSA: We study PDE’s released samplers, scoring guidelines, and Eligible Content for every state we publish for — so there are no surprises on test day
- The deepest answer explanations in fourth-grade test prep: Every explanation teaches reasoning, not just the letter — because students who understand *why* an answer is correct keep that skill long after the test
- Item types, contexts, and slot positions varied across the five tests, so every test feels fresh — exactly like the real exam
