Give your fourth grader the confidence to succeed on the New Mexico NM-MSSA Grade 4 Math test.
This Smart Stars practice book provides five full-length, standards-aligned practice tests that mirror the length, item mix, and question types of the real NM-MSSA spring assessment in Mathematics. Every question was written by experienced educators, reviewed for accuracy, and built around the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics at Grade 4 — the standards New Mexico has adopted — so the topics and emphasis match what New Mexico students actually see.
Take a look inside
NM-MSSA — the New Mexico Measures of Student Success and Achievement — is the test the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) gives to every public-school student in Grades 3-8.
- Delivery: delivered by Cognia, with the spring administration the one that counts toward grade-level results.
- Format: a fixed-form (not adaptive) online test, with paper forms available as an accommodation, given in two sessions.
- Tools at Grade 4: a Session 1 with no calculator and a Session 2 where a basic on-screen calculator is allowed.
- Question types: single-answer multiple choice, multiple-select (“select the two”), type-in and equation-entry answers, two-part questions, and constructed-response questions where students show their work.
- Length: a student answers about 47 scored questions, with a few unscored field-test questions mixed in invisibly.
- Each practice test here: 47 scored-style questions plus 6 field-test-style questions, 53 in all, for 265 questions across the book — to build true test-day endurance.
What’s inside
- Five full-length practice tests, with detailed Answers and Explanations after every test
- Coverage of every Grade 4 math area New Mexico reports — Operations & Algebraic Thinking, Number & Operations in Base Ten, Number & Operations — Fractions, Measurement & Data, and Geometry — weighted toward the fraction work that carries the most questions, just like the real blueprint
- Field-test-style questions blended invisibly into each test, just like the real NM-MSSA, and fully answered here so nothing on test day feels unfamiliar
- Practice in every NM-MSSA item format rendered for paper: multiple choice, multiple select (“select the two” or “select the three”), type-in/equation-entry answers, two-part questions, constructed-response (show-your-work) questions, drag-and-sort tasks, number lines, line plots, area models, protractors, and figure-based geometry
- A combined Quick Answer Key after each test for fast self-grading
- A family letter, a test-taking tips section, and a Grade 4 math reference sheet up front — matching the reference sheet the real NM-MSSA provides at Grade 4
- A no-calculator Session 1 and a calculator-allowed Session 2 in every test, matching the official NM-MSSA Grade 4 policy
Two sessions, just like the real test: NM-MSSA splits the Grade 4 math test into a Session 1 with no calculator and a Session 2 where a basic four-function calculator is allowed. This book mirrors that split so students practice exactly as they will test — building both the mental-math fluency Session 1 demands and the calculator judgment Session 2 rewards. An inch-and-centimeter ruler is helpful for the measurement and line-plot questions.
Topics covered
- Place value to 1,000,000, and reading, writing, comparing, and rounding multi-digit whole numbers, including standard and expanded form
- Adding and subtracting multi-digit whole numbers with the standard algorithm, and multi-step word problems
- Multiplying up to four-digit by one-digit and two-digit by two-digit numbers using area models, partial products, and the standard algorithm
- Dividing up to four-digit numbers by one-digit divisors, including interpreting remainders
- Factors, multiples, and prime and composite numbers
- “Times as many” multiplicative comparison, and multi-step problems with a letter standing for the unknown
- Generating and analyzing number and shape patterns
- Fraction equivalence and comparison; adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers with like denominators; multiplying a fraction by a whole number
- Decimal notation for fractions in tenths and hundredths, and comparing decimals
- Converting measurements within a system, and solving problems with distance, time, money, and intervals
- Area and perimeter of rectangles, including finding an unknown side and composite figures
- Measuring and drawing angles with a protractor, and understanding angles as fractions of a circle
- Making and using line plots marked in halves, quarters, and eighths
- Points, lines, rays, angles, and parallel and perpendicular lines; classifying triangles and angles; and identifying 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 NM-MSSA shape, item mix, question formats, two-session structure, and Grade 4 calculator policy, with field-test questions blended in invisibly just like the real test.
- Built for New Mexico: Aligned to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics at Grade 4 — the standards New Mexico has adopted — with grade-appropriate real-world contexts and a diverse cast of student names.
- 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 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 — the later tests lean on more multi-step, multi-select, and constructed-response reasoning — so no two feel like the same practice run.
