Common Core LiveBinder Highlight: Mathematics Assessment Project (MAP)

Yesterday I introduced you to a one-stop shopping website - Danielle Seabold's LiveBinder - for all things Common Core and promised to highlight various sections of this wonderful resource over the next few weeks. Today I am featuring the Mathematics Assessment Project (MAP), part of MARS (Mathematics Assessment Resource Service.

To access this site, start with the Danielle's LiveBinder link. http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/187117, Next select the "Math Tasks" black tab in the top tier followed by the "Grades 6-12 MAP Tasks” grey tab in the secondary tier. (The direct link to MAP is http://map.mathshell.org/materials/tasks.php.)

Here you will find a vast resource of math tasks aligned to the both Common Core Content Standards and Common Core Mathematical Practices. Use the pull down menu to select either high school or middle school level. Use the expansion arrows in the left frame to view the list of available tasks at three levels: Expert, Apprentice, or Novice. Each task has a scoring rubric and samples of student work (both scored and unscored versions). These tasks would be what Smarter Balance considers as extended constructed response items. Students should be able to complete 3-5 of these in 45-60 minutes and will comprise approximately 14% of the final score.  (Note: what Smarter Balance considers as a "Performance Tasks" would be much more extensive, have multiple parts about a single scenario, and would take from 90-120 minutes to complete.)

As you explore these tasks, please share with this A4A Social Network ones you particularly like or changes you would recomend. There is a note on the MAP site that these prototype tasks are currently in draft form and are in the process of further trialing before they can recommend them in high-stakes tests. If you try them out with a group of students, we would love to have some feedback. Even though the goal is to have students read the problem and complete the task completely on their own, students may at first need some scaffolding. The tasks certainly may be used for instructional purposes. Consider having students work together on them. However, before grouping them, give each student 5-10 minutes of individual time to get started so that when they come together as pairs or foursomes, multiple ideas are brought to the table. Another teaching strategy is after 10 minutes of individual work, have students come together in groups of 8-10. They can only bring their work - no pencils. Allow 10 minutes of sharing then have students go back to their seats and complete the problems individually. After collecting their work, distribute the unscored student examples and have students critique these in groups of 3-5. I'm sure you have other fantastic ways of utilizing these materials.  Please share!

Before leaving this site, scroll to the top of the page and click on the link "Read more about the purpose of MAP summative assessment..."  Here you will find links to complete end-of-grade or end-of-term summative assessments. Have fun exploring!