If Florida ended social promotion in all grades, up to 30 percent of public school students would face being held back, based on last year’s FCAT scores.
How difficult are the questions? See for yourself.
The sample questions are from exams given to fifth- and eighth-graders. To be rated in Level 1, the lowest category, a student would have to miss about half the questions like these.
Florida now retains only Level 1 third-graders — about 20,000 of them last year. But the state Board of Education voted this week to ask lawmakers to expand the policy to all grades. If that happened, Florida would be the first state in the nation to do so.
Bobby made a pattern by shading some of the squares in the designs below.
Continue the pattern. How many squares should Bobby shade in Design 4?
A. 13 B. 20 C. 25 D. 36
1. Grade 5 math
2. Grade 8 math
Grade 8 Reading:
The answer is B, “carried,” which means the same thing as “borne” in this sentence.
Grade 5 Math -- Squares in the designs:
The answer is B, 20.
The middle square grows by one block per side, meaning Design 4 has a shaded block of 4 squares by 4 squares (equaling 16). Add the other four squares to get the answer of 20.
1. Grade 5 Math:
1. B, (3, 4). City Hall is at (5, 5). From among the choices given, plot the coordinate closet to (5, 5). It’s (3, 4), the school.
2. Grade 8 Math:
B, 68 degrees. A triangle has 180 degrees. An isosceles triangle has two equal angles. Thus, 180 minus 44 equals 136 degrees for the two equal angles. Divide by two (remember they are equal), to get the answer: 68 degrees.
On the web
These FCAT materials, along with other test samples, are posted on the state Department of Education Web site. Go to www.firn.edu/doe/sas/ fcat/fcatpub1.htm
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