Mathematics Test Design and Development

Additional Resources for Mathematics

Calculator policy

• Calculator policy

Equation Editor

Quick reference guides to help familiarize students with how to use the Equation Editor (EE) tool embedded in MCAS computer-based Mathematics Tests can be found at MCAS Resource Center: Equation Editor .

Gridded Response Box

Quick reference guides to help familiarize students with how to mark their responses using grids for Mathematics paper-based testing can be found at MCAS Resource Center: Mathematics Gridded Response Guidelines .

Life Cycle of a Math Item

• Life Cycle of a Mathematics Item

Practice Tests

Practice tests for all MCAS tests can be found at MCAS Resource Center: Mathematics Practice Tests . The practice tests will include examples of the various item types for both the paper-based and computer-based tests.

Released Questions and Student Work Samples

• The Digital Item Library provides access to released items from the MCAS computer-based tests.
• The Released Item Documents provide access to released test questions from the MCAS paper-based tests.
• The Student Work and Scoring Guides provide access to student work samples, including examples of MCAS questions, scoring guides, and student responses.

Equation Editor Guide & Tutorial

Equation Editor (EE) guides and a Student Tutorial are available on the MCAS Resource Center Practice Tests and Other Resources webpage.

• The Equation Editor (EE) guides are to help familiarize students with how to use the EE tool embedded in some MCAS mathematics computer-based tests.
• The Student Tutorial is to help students become familiar with how to navigate the testing environment for the computer-based tests, (e.g., advancing, going back, tool bar, embedded supports, accommodations, and item types).

Cognitive Skill Level Descriptions for Mathematics MCAS Items

Each Mathematics MCAS item is aligned to a cognitive skill level, based on Norman Webb's Depth of Knowledge levels, which are described on the Cognitive Skill Level Descriptions for Mathematics MCAS Items webpage.

Last Updated: March 20, 2025