IAAT

[Anonymous]

I wanted to post this here, because one of the difficulties we ran into with this test, was the lack of information about what exactly was on the test, and wanted to help out anyone else that is in similar shoes, since DD is done, and we have a better idea of what is on the test.

The Solomon Academy sample tests are MUCH harder than the actual test. Most of the more advanced material there (slope, functions), are not on the IAAT. What DD did think helped from that prep, were two things - graphs/charts, and the timing aspect of it. Because graphs were de-emphasized in the curriculum last year, it was good to have the practice. The thing that most of the kids struggled with, especially in the first section, was the timing. It was really pretty hard for them to wrap their heads around how quickly they needed to work, having never done anything like it before. She said that several of her classmates only did 5 or 6 of the problems in the first set before time ran out. They got faster as time went on. A lot of the kids also did not seem to realize that it's better to put down *some* answer, than leave things blank.

The set of questions she said, were pretty basic. Mostly, she said you can answer them if you've paid attention to your 5th grade math - lots of operations involving percentages, fractions, and decimals. But, several were on the time consuming end of the spectrum, because they were multi-step problems. There were a fair number of word problems as well.

I hope that this helps someone out.

[Anonymous]

Thank you

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to post this here, because one of the difficulties we ran into with this test, was the lack of information about what exactly was on the test, and wanted to help out anyone else that is in similar shoes, since DD is done, and we have a better idea of what is on the test.

The Solomon Academy sample tests are MUCH harder than the actual test. Most of the more advanced material there (slope, functions), are not on the IAAT. What DD did think helped from that prep, were two things - graphs/charts, and the timing aspect of it. Because graphs were de-emphasized in the curriculum last year, it was good to have the practice. The thing that most of the kids struggled with, especially in the first section, was the timing. It was really pretty hard for them to wrap their heads around how quickly they needed to work, having never done anything like it before. She said that several of her classmates only did 5 or 6 of the problems in the first set before time ran out. They got faster as time went on. A lot of the kids also did not seem to realize that it's better to put down *some* answer, than leave things blank.

The set of questions she said, were pretty basic. Mostly, she said you can answer them if you've paid attention to your 5th grade math - lots of operations involving percentages, fractions, and decimals. But, several were on the time consuming end of the spectrum, because they were multi-step problems. There were a fair number of word problems as well.

I hope that this helps someone out.

[Anonymous]

All my kid said was how easy it was and he didn’t understand why people studied for it. Apparently one of his friends had a book he’d bring to recess to prepare for it. Now my kid has been known to say how easy something is and then not do so well. So who knows. I’m not worried about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wanted to post this here, because one of the difficulties we ran into with this test, was the lack of information about what exactly was on the test, and wanted to help out anyone else that is in similar shoes, since DD is done, and we have a better idea of what is on the test.

The Solomon Academy sample tests are MUCH harder than the actual test. Most of the more advanced material there (slope, functions), are not on the IAAT. What DD did think helped from that prep, were two things - graphs/charts, and the timing aspect of it. Because graphs were de-emphasized in the curriculum last year, it was good to have the practice. The thing that most of the kids struggled with, especially in the first section, was the timing. It was really pretty hard for them to wrap their heads around how quickly they needed to work, having never done anything like it before. She said that several of her classmates only did 5 or 6 of the problems in the first set before time ran out. They got faster as time went on. A lot of the kids also did not seem to realize that it's better to put down *some* answer, than leave things blank.

The set of questions she said, were pretty basic. Mostly, she said you can answer them if you've paid attention to your 5th grade math - lots of operations involving percentages, fractions, and decimals. But, several were on the time consuming end of the spectrum, because they were multi-step problems. There were a fair number of word problems as well.

I hope that this helps someone out.

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All my kid said was how easy it was and he didn’t understand why people studied for it. Apparently one of his friends had a book he’d bring to recess to prepare for it. Now my kid has been known to say how easy something is and then not do so well. So who knows. I’m not worried about it.

OP here. I think that kids study for it because there is a lot of mystery surrounding it. As in, no one seems to know what's on the test (that includes the teacher). The entire class felt that the test was fairly easy. The hardest part was keeping track of the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All my kid said was how easy it was and he didn’t understand why people studied for it. Apparently one of his friends had a book he’d bring to recess to prepare for it. Now my kid has been known to say how easy something is and then not do so well. So who knows. I’m not worried about it.

OP here. I think that kids study for it because there is a lot of mystery surrounding it. As in, no one seems to know what's on the test (that includes the teacher). The entire class felt that the test was fairly easy. The hardest part was keeping track of the time.

I will also add that if you look at what constitutes pre-algebra say, in something like Khan Academy, there is A LOT more material there than has been taught in class. So, I don't know if it's the case that the material will be taught over the next two quarters, or if Algebra I also includes what is typically considered pre-algebra.