*For help with questions not addressed below, call the Helpline (877) 516-2403, which is available weekdays May 12-23 from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Schools that have difficulty accessing the 877 area code should fax questions to the Helpline fax number, (919) 425-7733.

IMPORTANT NOTICES. The questions addressed in this Q & A document are generated by scoring leaders who attended the scoring leader videotaping held in April. Information about scoring issues that arise during the May test administration/scoring is posted separately as Important Notices on the elementary/intermediate mathematics page of the OSA website.

A: Training procedures and the logistics of live scoring are covered in the Scoring Leader Handbook, which should be read thoroughly before training. Scoring leaders need to use the videotapes in conjunction with the printed scoring materials. This Question and Answer document and the Helpline are the other scoring tools that should be used to train scorers, and to answer questions during scoring.

• If the question does not specifically direct students to show their work, teachers may not score any work that the student shows.
• If the question requires students to show their work and a student shows appropriate work and identifies a correct answer but fails to write that answer in the answer blank provided, the student should receive full credit.
• If the question requires students to show their work and a student shows appropriate work and arrives at the correct answer, but writes an incorrect answer in the answer blank, the student should not receive full credit.
• If the student gives one legible response, even if it is crossed out, teachers should score the response.
• If there are two or more responses with some crossed out, teachers should score only the response not crossed out.
• Always, whenever there is a place for two numerical answers, if there is one correct answer and no work -- it is a 0. If there are two correct numerical answers and no work -- it is a 1.
• Always, whenever there is a place for one numerical answer and work shown, one correct numerical answer with no work shown -- it is a 1.

A. Yes. The Scoring Leader Handbook and Scoring Leader Practice Set (4M-SL) has a correction in Section 2, page 5, item 34. The score point should be 1, not 0.

A. As long as it is clear that the correct bolt was chosen, the student can use a method other than circling it to indicate his/her choice.

A. The item requires the student to write a number sentence; therefore, a number expression is not acceptable.

A. Yes. Response 37i in the Scoring Guide is a histogram and it received full credit. However, 2003 is the last year that a histogram will be accepted when the item specifies a bar graph. (See www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/instructrec.htm)

For further information regarding assessment issues please consult the Grade 4 and 8 Mathematics School Administrators Manual, page vi, Important Notes http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/testing/elintgen.html.

Updates on mathematics education in NYS are posted on the Office of Curriculum and Instruction's mathematics web site at http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/math.html. For further information, please contact Janice Mwapaga, Associate in Mathematics Education, Office of State Assessment, 760EBA, State Education Department, Albany, NY 12234; (518) 474-5900 or email jmwapaga@mail.nysed.gov

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