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MCA Item Samplers
Item samplers, classroom assessments and additional resources are provided to help teachers and students become familiar with the format and type of content included in the MCAs.
Item samplers contain fewer items than an actual full-length test and are aligned to the Minnesota Academic Standards. They are not suitable for predicting how students will perform on the MCAs. Reading and mathematics item samplers contain about 30 items and are available below.
SCIENCE ITEM SAMPLERS
Science item samplers have 2-3 scenarios; full-length tests have 9-11 scenarios. Science item samplers, as well as the science classroom assessments described under Additional Resources, are available on Pearson’s Website. They must be downloaded and installed in advance, so be sure to plan ahead and coordinate installation with your technology staff. If you need assistance, contact Pearson technical support at mnhelp@support.pearson.com or 1-888-817-8659.
All item samplers for online tests, including the science item samplers, are available on the PearsonAccess Website under Support > Resources > Item Samplers. See Related Links for a direct link to the item samplers at PearsonAccess.
Reading Item Samplers
Grade 3 Reading MCA-II Item Sampler
 4Mb (3/26/2008)
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Grade 4 Reading MCA-II Item Sampler
1Mb (3/26/2008)
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Grade 5 Reading MCA-II Item Sampler
5Mb (3/26/2008)
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Grade 6 Reading MCA-II Item Sampler
3Mb (3/26/2008)
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Grade 7 Reading MCA-II Item Sampler
7Mb (3/26/2008)
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Grade 8 Reading MCA-II Item Sampler
5Mb (3/26/2008)
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Grade 10 Reading MCA-II Item Sampler
5Mb (3/26/2008)
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Math Item Samplers
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Grade 11 Math MCA-II Item Sampler
5Mb (3/26/2008)
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Grade 3 Math MCA-II Item Sampler
3Mb (3/26/2008)
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Grade 4 Math MCA-II Item Sampler
3Mb (3/26/2008)
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Grade 5 Math MCA-II Item Sampler
4Mb (3/26/2008)
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Grade 6 Math MCA-II Item Sampler
5Mb (3/26/2008)
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Grade 7 Math MCA-II Item Sampler
3Mb (3/26/2008)
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Grade 8 Math MCA-II Item Sampler
5Mb (3/26/2008)
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Additional Resources
Classroom Assessments for science are scoreable assessments teachers can incorporate into their teaching. These assessments have the same format and design as the Science MCAs and give classroom teachers instant feedback on student performance. District staff can obtain the link to these assessments from their District Assessment Coordinator (DAC). DACs can get the link from their area code contact at MDE.
Gridded Response Tutorials help students learn to use the gridded response format used for some items on the Mathematics MCA-II. The tutorials are available below for grades 5-7, 8 and 11. Tutorials include sample questions with instructions on the correct way to fill in the answer form and a blank grid.
Sample Items in Mathematics and Reading provide additional insight into the content of the MCAs and can be used to supplement classroom instruction or as test practice for students. Teachers can tailor the use of sample items to their students’ needs. Visit the Pearson Perspective Website (see Related Links) to access these sample items. For technical support for these sample items, e-mail SupportPerspective@Support.Pearson.com.
Short Constructed-Response Tutorials are available below to help teachers prepare students for the short constructed-response (SCR) questions that will be used for research purposes on the 2009 Mathematics MCA in grades 3–8. Each form of the MCA test will contain one SCR item that requires students to solve the problem and then write their answer in designated boxes. MDE will use these items for research purposes only; the item will not be included in the student’s test score.
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Gridded Response Tutorial: Mathematics, Grade 11
559Kb (10/20/2008)
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Gridded Response Tutorial: Mathematics, Grade 8
579Kb (10/20/2008)
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Gridded Response Tutorial: Mathematics, Grades 5-7
1Mb (10/20/2008)
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