ACT ASPIRE Information The ACT Aspire is a national test that is criterion referenced, meaning it doesn’t rank students in order of who gets the most questions correct, but instead, measures how well the students know the standards It is important that students their best Our testing dates are April 4th- April 8th All Sophomores will take all sections All Juniors and Seniors will have other activities with Tiger Connect Monday April 4th English - 45 minutes Tuesday April 5th Math - 75 minutes Wednesday April 6th Reading - 65 minutes Thursday April 7th Science - 60 minutes Friday April 8th Writing - 30 minutes If you get stuck on a question, you may want to skip it and come back to it later if you have time left It is best to answer every question even if you are not sure your answer is correct Students are allowed to use a calculator only on the math test if they bring one Students should use a TI 83, TI 84, or a scientific calculator A few other types of calculators are allowed Check with your tiger connect teacher for a list of prohibited calculators Students may not share a calculator during testing Cell phones and other electronic devices are not allowed during testing Students who are absent from one or more days of testing will make up the missed parts of the exam Please go to the following website and select each subject tab Then use the user name and password under the column EHS (Early High School) from the table on the left to log into the "student sandbox" on the right This allows access to a practice test for each part of the ASPIRE Google Chrome doesn’t work well….please use Firefox http://actaspire.pearson.com/exemplars.html The links below have some of the same problems with solutions and acceptable justification to the practice tests from the link above Answers for English practice test: http://actaspire.pearson.com/_documents/exemplars/3814_Aspire%20Exemplar %20EHS%20English_Web.pdf Answers for Math practice test: http://discoveractaspire.org/pdf/5198_Aspire_Exemplar-Math_EHS-Web.pdf Answers for Science practice test: http://actaspire.pearson.com/_documents/exemplars/3817_Aspire%20Exemplar %20EHS%20Science_Web.pdf Answers for Reading practice test: http://actaspire.pearson.com/_documents/exemplars/3816_Aspire%20Exemplar %20EHS%20Reading_Web.pdf Answers for Writing practice test: http://actaspire.pearson.com/_documents/exemplars/3818_Aspire%20Exemplar %20EHS%20Writing_Web.pdf ASPIRE TESTING - Item Count MATH Type of Question Multiple Choice Constructed Response Total Number of Questions 33 20 53 Percentage 62% 38% 100% READING Type of Question Multiple Choice Constructed Response Total Number of Questions 21 10 31 Percentage 68% 32% 100% SCIENCE Type of Question Multiple Choice Constructed Response Total Number of Questions 27 13 40 Percentage 67% 33% 100% ENGLISH Type of Question Multiple Choice Number of Questions 50 Percentage 100% WRITING Ideas and Analysis Development and Support Organization Language Use and Conventions Percentage 25% 25% 25% 25% The Aspire Mathematics test measures a variety of mathematical skills: problem solving, justifying, and explaining This test is different from most standardized tests; students will be expected to not only solve problems, but also justify their solution On some questions, students will be expected to explain correct and incorrect approaches to problems Questions on the Math Aspire Test involve the following topics: Numbers and Operations Algebra Functions with Operations and Algebraic Thinking Geometry Statistics and Probability On the Math Test, constructed responses will be scored on evidence of a student's ability to support and explain his or her mathematical reasoning when applying mathematics to real-world situations Constructed Responses should include as many of the following as possible: Show all math steps clearly Use precise math vocabulary when possible Label work clearly including steps of work, graphs, or diagrams with words and units Use units appropriately Show a counter example Identify and explain mistakes in presented examples Always reiterate the statement at the very end Questions on the Science Aspire Test involve the following topics: Assessment of science practices using real-world scientific scenarios (scenarios include student investigations, formal scientific research, formal scientific data from references, and students or scientists providing competing explanations for real scientific phenomena) Advanced knowledge in subject areas is NOT required (content will be presented from biology, chemistry, physics and earth/space) Background knowledge acquired in general, introductory science courses is needed (for example, reading tables and interpreting graphs) Aspire tests stress science practices over recall of scientific content or complex math skills 5 Science practices that are assessed on the Aspire: a) Interpretation of Data b) Scientific investigation c) Evaluation of models, inferences and experimental results On the Aspire Science Test, constructed response tasks require students to produce, rather than select, a response Constructed response tasks assess complex reasoning or thinking skills by providing opportunities for students to explain, justify, critique, create, propose, produce, design, or otherwise demonstrate their knowledge and understanding in ways that are not typically assessed through selected-response items Constructed-response tasks are scored according to scoring criteria unique to each item ACT Aspire Reading Test measures students’ ability to derive meaning from and reason logically about text passages Types of reading passages: Literary narratives (prose fiction, memoirs, and personal essays) Informational texts (science and social studies passages) Skills tested by the ACT Aspire reading test: Determining main idea Locating and interpreting significant details Understanding sequences of events Making comparisons Comprehending cause-effect relationships Determining the meaning of words in context Drawing generalizations Analyzing author’s method Analyzing narrator’s voice Constructed reading response questions (short answer) require students to the following: Formulate a conclusion by making connections within a passage Provide support by using specific details from that passage Or Formulate a conclusion between a pair of passages Provide support by using specific details from both passages In order to well on constructed response reading questions, read all passages thoroughly and then synthesize the information Draw a conclusion that works for the entire reading assignment Then find specific evidence to support your conclusion Aspire Testing Bell Schedule April 4-8 Monday and Friday ASPIRE 8:00 – 9:15 st 9:21 – 10:38 2nd 10:44 – 12:01 rd 12:07 – 1:58 1st Wave – 12:08 – 12:35 2nd Wave – 12:35 – 1:01 3rd Wave – 1:01 – 1:29 4th Wave – 1:29 – 1:58 th 2:04 – 3:20 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday ASPIRE 8:00 – 9:35 st 9:41 – 10:53 2nd 10:59 – 12:11 rd 12:17 – 2:02 1st Wave – 12:18 – 12:44 2nd Wave – 12:44 – 1:10 3rd Wave – 1:10 – 1:36 4th Wave – 1:36 – 2:02 th 2:08 – 3:20 Math Example problems and solutions Example Problem #1 Good answer: A line of symmetry cuts a figure in half This dotted line does not cut the figure in half Better answer: A line of symmetry is a line that divides a figure into two equal parts where you can fold along the line and make the edges match up Folding along the given line will not make the edges match up because it does not divide the picture into two equal parts, so the dashed line is not a line of symmetry Note: the “better answer” reiterates the statement at the very end Also, it states a more precise definition of a line and uses that to conclude the line was not a line of symmetry The better answer shows understanding of the given information and expresses the argument in a clear and organized manner Example Problem #2 Correct Answer: Red, Yellow, Blue Note: the question is asking to order these from least amount of discount to greatest amount of discount Students might incorrectly determine the discounted sale price from least to greatest instead of the discount Example Problem #3 Correct answer: x = 1, y = OR x = 2, y = Note: Students are not limited by the notion that they must give one correct answer Students should recognize that this is similar to a “T-table” and choose certain x values, plug those into the quadratic equation, and determine an output from what is listed In this problem, returns and returns Example Problem #4 Correct answer: Note: It is important to see that the question is asking for “a” to be an integer and positive This means we are looking for a positive whole number (fractions will not work) One way to arrive at the answer is to find the slope, use point-slope form to get an equation in slope-intercept form After that, you convert the slope intercept from to standard form, making sure to eliminate any fractions