As a new middle school math teacher, I was looking for any source of problems, particularly word problems, that I could use to supplement the text book and work book that I had been provided. I noticed there was a released exam on my state's version of the department of education web site. A released exam is more than just a list of sample questions, it is an actual test that has been administered in the past. I used it extensively. I printed it out, chopped it up, sorted it by topic and used it both as final exam review and as a source of additional problems throughout the year. The test was about three years old, and I hoped that a new test would be released at the end of the school year. There wasn't. Finally it occurred to me -- there are 49 other states, and math is the same everywhere! I celebrated this realization by spending endless hours searching other states' web sites. I noticed three things. (1) Several other states were like my own. They released one test and it was at least three or four years old. (2) Some states either didn't release a test, or after a lengthy search of their web page I wasn't able to find one. (3) Some states release a lot of tests including relatively recent ones!
You would think that after I realized that there are other states, the next realization would come quickly. It did not. I eventually realized that there are other countries that teach math, and found wonderful material from Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Guyana, Pakistan and South Africa. I searched the United Kingdom frequently, but could never find a released exam. Finally I discovered that they call theirs "Past Papers." This led to the discovery of 130 tests, which I have placed on the 9th grade page.
The purpose of this web site is not solely to help students pass a standardized test. It is to provide large numbers of practice questions about different types of math problems, such as scientific notation, exponents, circles, and transformations. As a new teacher, I demonstrated the mechanics of solving countless types of problems, but the students need practice -- both for tests and for real-world application -- in recognizing how to solve a word problem with one of those skills.
From year to year and state to state, the standards for what is taught at each grade level changes. The Common Core State Standards will narrow the specific focus of what is taught each year, almost everywhere, but I encourage you to look at all four grades for questions. Providing different students with easy, medium and challenging questions about rectangles will help you to diversify your instruction (and help you to explain how you diversify your instruction on teacher evaluations). After searching dozens of tests for questions on a specific topic, such as congruence and similarity, I retype these questions into a single document and post them on the "Math problems arranged by topic" page.
The released tests and sample questions provided on this site are saved as pdf's. In the past I just provided a link to the exams, but I found that states frequently take their tests off-line after a while, and a lot of valuable questions are no longer available for our benefit. I have also found a way to shorten the tests by removing pages of instructions and blank pages from the documents to make them more usable. Many states, for example, include 40-60 pages of writing and science tests in the same document as their math test. My goal is to provide only the actual questions.
If you find this site useful, please pass the address along to other members of your school district. If you are able to find other tests not found on this site, please click on the button marked "Add items to this site" and send me the link. This site will always remain free of charge and free of advertising. Thank you!
You would think that after I realized that there are other states, the next realization would come quickly. It did not. I eventually realized that there are other countries that teach math, and found wonderful material from Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Guyana, Pakistan and South Africa. I searched the United Kingdom frequently, but could never find a released exam. Finally I discovered that they call theirs "Past Papers." This led to the discovery of 130 tests, which I have placed on the 9th grade page.
The purpose of this web site is not solely to help students pass a standardized test. It is to provide large numbers of practice questions about different types of math problems, such as scientific notation, exponents, circles, and transformations. As a new teacher, I demonstrated the mechanics of solving countless types of problems, but the students need practice -- both for tests and for real-world application -- in recognizing how to solve a word problem with one of those skills.
From year to year and state to state, the standards for what is taught at each grade level changes. The Common Core State Standards will narrow the specific focus of what is taught each year, almost everywhere, but I encourage you to look at all four grades for questions. Providing different students with easy, medium and challenging questions about rectangles will help you to diversify your instruction (and help you to explain how you diversify your instruction on teacher evaluations). After searching dozens of tests for questions on a specific topic, such as congruence and similarity, I retype these questions into a single document and post them on the "Math problems arranged by topic" page.
The released tests and sample questions provided on this site are saved as pdf's. In the past I just provided a link to the exams, but I found that states frequently take their tests off-line after a while, and a lot of valuable questions are no longer available for our benefit. I have also found a way to shorten the tests by removing pages of instructions and blank pages from the documents to make them more usable. Many states, for example, include 40-60 pages of writing and science tests in the same document as their math test. My goal is to provide only the actual questions.
If you find this site useful, please pass the address along to other members of your school district. If you are able to find other tests not found on this site, please click on the button marked "Add items to this site" and send me the link. This site will always remain free of charge and free of advertising. Thank you!