MCAS PREPARATION

GRADE CREDITS

9, 10, 11 4

MCAS Preparation is a full semester course that integrates language arts and mathematics. The emphasis is placed on developing student skills in basic areas and building confidence. Improvement is tracked from a pre-test through a compiled portfolio to a post-test. The class is team-taught by a Mathematics specialist and an English specialist who confer regularly about ways to improve student progress.

The language arts portion of the course focuses on improving reading comprehension and writing ability to, and beyond, the level of the state language arts standards. Literary techniques are analyzed as they apply to a wide variety of works in different genres. Writing is done on the reading and on personally chosen topics. Grammar study includes a review of sentence structure and usage. Tough context vocabulary is discussed as it is encountered in the literature.

The mathematics portion of the course focuses on reviewing and reinforcing basic mathematics concepts and skills, then progresses into algebraic and geometric topics, as well as probability and statistics. Multiple-choice and open-response test-taking skills are discussed, modeled, and practiced. Throughout the semester, computational and problem-solving skills are emphasized.

Students are graded on the basis of class participation, homework, quizzes, tests, written papers, and oral presentations. Pre and post MCAS tests are administered.

Texts: Literature Anthologies

Writing/Grammar text

MCAS preparation workbooks

Various handouts