Question and Answer Document, Grade 8 Mathematics - 2003
*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.
Q: As a Scoring Leader, how should I prepare to train Scorers?
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.
Q. What are the mathematics Grade 8 scoring policies?
A. See below:
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.
Q. Are there any corrections in the 2003 printed scoring materials?
A. Yes. The Scoring Guide Part 2 of 2 (8M-SG2) has a correction on page 37b. For Item 37 under the Complete and Correct Response, the second equation under the word 'or' should appear as: (1.65)1.08p ¸ 1.65 = 8.91 ¸ 1.65.
ITEM 28
Q. Looking at papers 28d and 28c in the scoring guide, in paper 28d the student shows work and receives credit, but in paper 28c the student shows work and receives no credit. What is the difference between the two papers?
A. In paper 28d the student correctly shows the first toward towards finding the mean, which is what the question asks for. In paper 28c, the student finds the median instead of the mean.
Item 31
Q. If the student interprets "same" as "identical" negative integers and follows through with correct reasoning to say that this will always equal "0" can the student receive full credit?
A. No. The item requires the student to use the same pair of integers in both examples. The student must do this in order to receive full credit.
ITEM 37
Q. In response 37d in the scoring guide, if the student had only written "I used guess and check" would the response get full credit?
A. No. Showing work through guess and check requires showing more tries than just the correct one. There must be at least three attempts (one correct, two incorrect).
ITEM 39
Q. In the explanation for response 39h in the scoring guide, the student wrote "not" which is an incorrect statement. Why did the response receive full credit?
A. In context, it is clear that the word "not" was inadvertently included in the explanation.
ITEM 43
Q. If the student does not label the dimensions, can the response still receive full credit?
A. No. The item asks the student to label the dimensions on the grid.

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.