(Note: This informative article is the fifth in a series regarding state testing and is provided by the New Albany and Union County School Districts with assistance from resources of the Mississippi Department of Education. This article focuses on the MCT2 for grades 6-8. Last week’s article focused on MCT2 for grades 3-5.)
The Mississippi Curriculum Test, Second Edition, (MCT2) is a measure of student achievement in Language Arts and Mathematics for students in grades 3-8. The test is based on information that is taught in that grade during the school year. Test results are used for school accreditation.
The MCT2 contains test questions of different levels of difficulty that match the content and skills taught in each grade level. The MCT2 is given each year over a three-day period. The test is an untimed, multiple-choice test requiring students to bubble in answers on an answer sheet. The MCT2 Language Arts-Reading Test is scheduled for May 10, the MCT2 Language Arts-Writing is scheduled for May 11, and the MCT2 Mathematics is scheduled for May 12.
Sample test question from the MCT2 Grade 6
Below is a sample test from the MCT2 Language Arts-Reading Test for Grade 6. This item represents a high-level of difficulty question that makes up about 30% of the language arts-reading test for this grade:
Read the following entry from a thesaurus.
Deteriorating: crumbling, decaying, declining, fading, rotting, worsening
Now read the following sentence from the passage.
Mistress Madge had to get her discovery back to the museum lab quickly because the fish was deteriorating in South Africa’s December heat.
Which word from the thesaurus entry can be justified as a replacement for deteriorating without changing the meaning of the sentence?
a. worsening
b. crumbling
c. decaying
d. fading
Sample test questions from the MCT2 Grade 7
Below is a sample test question from the MCT2 Language Arts-Writing Test for Grade 7. This item represents a high-level of difficulty question that makes up about 50% of the language arts-writing test for this grade:
Alex composed the following sentence for a biography he is writing.
Arthritis made Oseola McCarty stop making a living by laundering clothes.
Alex wants to replace this sentence with a sentence that includes more descriptive details.
Which of the following sentences will he use as a replacement?
a. Before her arthritic hands interfered, Oseola McCarty washed and ironed clothes for a living.
b. Oseola McCarty made her living washing and ironing clothes until arthritis damaged her hands.
c. Oseola McCarty washed and ironed clothes for a living until her hands became filled with arthritis.
d. Her hands, drawn and twisted from painful arthritis, forced Oseola McCarty to retire from washing and ironing clothes.
Below is a sample test question from the MCT2 Mathematics Test for Grade 7. This item represents a medium-level of difficulty question that makes up about 70% of the mathematics test for this grade:
Michael needs a total of 12 feet of rope to complete his science project. He already has 3 separate pieces left over from a previous project. The first piece is 3 1/8 feet long, the second piece is 4 ¼ feet long and the third piece of rope is half the length of the second piece. How much more rope does Michael need to complete his science project?
a. 2 ½ feet
b. 2 1/3 feet
c. 2 ¼ feet
d. 2 1/5 feet
Sample test question from the MCT2 Grade 8
Below is a sample test question from the MCT2 Mathematics Test for Grade 8. This item represents a medium-level of difficulty question that makes up about 50% of the mathematics test for this grade:
There were 45 fluorescent light fixtures in a warehouse. Each fixture required 2 fluorescent tubes. Mr. Moto replaced all of the fluorescent tubes in the warehouse. Each tube cost $1.19, including tax.
How much did it cost to replace all of the tubes in the warehouse?
a. $53.55
b. $97.10
c. $107.10
d. $127.10
*The correct answer to the MCT2 Language Arts-Reading Test Question for Grade 6 is “C”; the correct answer to the MCT2 Language Arts-Writing Test Question for Grade 7 is “D”; the correct answer to the MCT2 Mathematics Test Question for Grade 7 is ”A”; and the correct answer to the MCT2 Mathematics Test Question for Grade 8 is “C”.
For more information on MCT2 Testing, go to: http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/OSA/MCT2/MCT2_Index.htm
