Maryland Practice Tests
Maryland Practice Books and Flashcards
Maryland's State Tests at a Glance
In grades 3 through 8, Maryland tests English language arts and math every year, science in grades 5 and 8, and social studies in grade 8. Maryland is moving from the Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) to the Maryland System of Testing Academic Readiness (MSTAR). The ELA and math tests are MSTAR tests: they are multistage adaptive, so each new group of questions is matched to how the student did on the group before, and they are about 25% shorter than the MCAP tests they replace. Science and social studies remain MCAP tests until they also move to MSTAR. Tests are given on computer, and paper versions are available for students who need them.
English Language Arts
| Grade | Format | Time | What’s tested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | Three time blocks; multistage adaptive; a written response to a passage, scored for expression and conventions | Three 70-minute blocks (210 minutes) | Reading 83% (literature, informational text, and foundational skills such as phonics and word recognition at 13 to 15%), writing 17% |
| Grades 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 | Three time blocks; multistage adaptive; a written response to a passage, scored for expression and conventions | Three 70-minute blocks (210 minutes) | Reading 83% (informational text and literature), writing 17% |
Most questions are single-answer multiple choice; the rest are multiple-select, multi-part and technology-enhanced questions. Written responses are scored with Maryland's holistic rubrics for informative or explanatory, opinion or argument, and narrative writing.
Mathematics
| Grade | Format | Time | What’s tested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | Three time blocks; multistage adaptive; no calculator in Section 1, calculator for some Section 2 questions and all of Section 3; two written responses | Three 40-minute blocks (120 minutes) | Content 56% (number and operation sense 28 to 34%, algebraic thinking 9 to 13%, geometric reasoning and measurement 3 to 9%, data and statistics 3 to 9%), reasoning 22%, modeling 22% |
| Grade 4 | Three time blocks; multistage adaptive; no calculator in Section 1, calculator for some Section 2 questions and all of Section 3; reference sheet; two written responses | Three 40-minute blocks (120 minutes) | Content 56% (number and operation sense 28 to 32%, algebraic thinking 9 to 16%, geometric reasoning and measurement 6 to 10%, data and statistics 3 to 9%), reasoning 22%, modeling 22% |
| Grade 5 | Three time blocks; multistage adaptive; no calculator in Section 1, calculator for some Section 2 questions and all of Section 3; reference sheet; two written responses | Three 40-minute blocks (120 minutes) | Content 56% (number and operation sense 31 to 38%, algebraic thinking 9 to 13%, geometric reasoning and measurement 6 to 10%, data and statistics 3 to 9%), reasoning 22%, modeling 22% |
| Grade 6 | Three time blocks; multistage adaptive; calculator in all sections; reference sheet; four written responses | Three 40-minute blocks (120 minutes) | Content 52% (algebraic thinking 24 to 29%, number and operation sense 8 to 15%, data and statistics 6 to 12%, geometric reasoning and measurement 3 to 9%), reasoning 24%, modeling 24% |
| Grade 7 | Three time blocks; multistage adaptive; calculator in all sections; reference sheet; four written responses | Three 40-minute blocks (120 minutes) | Content 52% (algebraic thinking 23 to 30%, data and statistics 9 to 12%, geometric reasoning and measurement 6 to 12%, number and operation sense 3 to 9%), reasoning 24%, modeling 24% |
| Grade 8 | Three time blocks; multistage adaptive; scientific calculator in all sections; reference sheet; four written responses | Three 40-minute blocks (120 minutes) | Content 52% (algebraic thinking 30 to 36%, data and statistics 6 to 12%, geometric reasoning and measurement 6 to 9%, number and operation sense 3 to 9%), reasoning 24%, modeling 24% |
The written responses are the reasoning and modeling questions, where students explain their thinking or use math to model a real situation; every other question is machine scored. Calculators, a ruler, and (from grade 4) a protractor are built into the online test; grades 3 to 7 get a basic calculator and grade 8 a scientific one.
Science
| Grade | Format | Time | What’s tested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 5 and 8 | Four sections; the same fixed form for every student, not adaptive; question sets built around a real-world science scenario, each ending in a written response | Four 40-minute sections | Life sciences, physical sciences, earth and space sciences (equal shares) |
The science test is the Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA), built on the Next Generation Science Standards. The grade 5 test covers the standards for grades 3 to 5, and the grade 8 test covers grades 6 to 8. One of the four sections holds questions being tried out for future tests.
Social Studies
| Grade | Format | Time | What’s tested |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 8 | Four sections; the same fixed form for every student, not adaptive; an evidence-based argument set with written responses | Four 40-minute sections | United States history from 1754 to 1896: civics (16 to 22%), peoples of the nations and world (15 to 21%), geography (15 to 21%), economics (13 to 19%), history (16 to 22%), skills and processes (18%) |
In the evidence-based argument set, students judge how credible a set of sources is, pull out the relevant information, and build an argument using claims and evidence from several sources.