Evaluation
of MARS work
for CTB Mc Graw Hill
Products &
Services:
Assessment Design and Development:
CTB-MARS Balanced Assessment
in Mathematics
MARS work for CTB Mc Graw Hill includes a major publication project 'CTB-MARS Balanced Assessment in Mathematics, Grades 3-10'.
If this link does not work, go to www.ctb.com and look under Products and Services; Special Products and Services; Balanced Assessment in Mathematics.
The unique performance-based tests reflect a range of task types - enhancing teacher understanding of how students reason on substantial mathematics problems and providing a link to the classroom instruction of complex mathematics.
Two 40 minute forms, A and B, will be developed each year for each Grades 3-10, along with a CD-ROM delivered Scoring Guide including rubrics and student work exemplars. Each year's tests are 'secure' until a release date (February 19 in 2001). Practice Tests are also offered, as is live scoring training. All these elements are designed by MARS, under the authority of a Mathematics Board of distinguished people, and delivered by CTB.
MARS goal here is the institutionalization of its services in a way that can generate and meet rising demand. The following services are offered to school systems:
1. Printed Test Papers, either Form A or Form A and Form B, new each year, for each student, plus the practice tests;
2. Scoring Guides, published on CD-ROM, for each set of tests, including the practice tests;
3. Scoring Training, either at CTB-MARS training centers or on-site (MARS designed and delivered by CTB, with MARS support);
4. Data Analysis and Reporting Service, probably provided by MARS, at least initially;
5. Support Materials for classroom use, before and after these tests (the detailed program for these has yet to be agreed);
6. Professional Development support for and through this assessment (again, MARS designed and delivered by CTB, with MARS support).
A Reference Guide provides detailed information on the design principles, the form and the operation of the tests.
These are the first tests, based on the international model of examinations, to be commercially available for school level assessment across the grades in the US. Integration with differentiation into the US assessment system (dominated by multiple choice tests of short 'items') has been a major challenge. The tests also go beyond current international practice in mathematics assessment in various ways.
These sample test
items may be downloaded from the CTB website:
(Adobe Acrobat PDF format)
Sample
- Elementary School Level (52K)
Sample
- Middle School Level (55K)
Sample
- High School Level (68K)
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Copyright
2001 MARS Page updated 21 February 2001 |
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