Understanding and Preparing for the CRCTStrategies and Tips to

Improve StudentPerformance

Tonight’s Presenters

• Kelli Jones, School Psychologist• Kendra Berry, Advanced Learning

Programs• Lucille Carlisle, Professional School

Counselor• Dana Gillian, Professional School Counselor• Cindy Dorsey, Professional School

Counselor• Maria Chu, ESOL Teacher and Interpreter

What is the CRCT?

• The CRCT Test• The Criterion Referenced Competency Test

(CRCT) is administered to students in the Georgia school system. Read this article to learn about the specifics of this state-wide assessment test.

• Georgia's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests are used to determine how students are learning and performing in the Georgia school environment. Georgia law requires all first to eighth grade students to take the CRCT in the subjects of reading, language arts, and mathematics. Third to eighth graders also test in science and social studies.

What Makes the CRCT Different from Other Norm-Referenced

Tests?• The CRCT is different from norm-referenced tests

(NRTs). The CRCT is designed to see how well a student acquires, learns, and uses the specific skills and goals outlined in an instructional unit or year-long curriculum. The Georgia CRCT is designed specifically to test the state's educational content standards. NRTs are designed for use throughout the entire nation and test to national standards. They compare students along an achievement spectrum. With the results of these tests, parents and teachers are able to see how individual students compare with other students in their class, school district, state and nation. These tests help educators and administration determine the effectiveness of their school's education.

CRCT Content WeightsReading

2008-2009• Third Grade Reading• Literacy Comprehension 60%• Reading for Information 20%• Reading Skills and Vocabulary Acquisition 20%

• Fifth Grade Reading• Literacy Comprehension 40%• Reading for Information

40%• Reading Skills and Vocabulary Acquisition 20%

CRCT Content WeightsMath

2008-2009• Third Grade• Numbers and Operations 50%• Measurement 18%• Geometry 12%• Algebra 10%• Data Analysis 10%

• Fifth Grade• Numbers and Operations 50%• Measurement 18%• Geometry 12%• Algebra 10%• Data Analysis 10% •

Scale Score and Performance Levels

• The scale score reported for each content area is derived by converting the number of correct responses on the test (the raw score) to the CRCT scale. Since the scale scores are equivalent across test forms within the same content area and grade, students obtaining the same score have demonstrated the same level of performance with respect to the GPS.

• Scores at or above 850 indicate a level of performance that Exceeds the Standard set for the test.

• Scores from 800–849 indicate a level of performance that Meets the Standard set for the test.

• Scores below 800 indicate a level of performance that Does Not Meet the Standard set for the test

Testing MechanicsHow Can I Help My Child Be More Prepared For a Test

Pop Quiz

Which of the following is true about multiple-choice tests:

a. Everybody takes themb. They're not always func. You can improve your test-taking skillsd. All of the above Pencils down!

The correct choice is answer d. While multiple-choice tests are among the most popular testing forms, they're also among the easiest at which to improve

using provided strategy.

The Process of Elimination

• Go through each answer to a question and eliminate as many of the answer choices as possible. By eliminating two answer choices, you can vastly improve your chances of getting the item correct. It is recommended that you attempt to answer each question, since your score is calculated based on how many questions you get right, and unanswered or incorrectly answered questions receive no credit.

Example

How old was Martin Luther Kingwhen he died?• A. 85 years old (too old)• B. 39 years old• C. 57 years old• D. 13 years old (a young boy)

Another Example

Use Number Sense or Estimation to rule out wrong choices.

Students at Bullard Elementary collected labels from cans. The third grade class collected 247 labels, and the fourth grade collected 236 labels. How many labels did they collect in all?

• A. 13• B. 411• C. 483• D. 583

• We can rule out the answer choice 13 because we are adding and 13 is less than either of the addends.

• We can also estimate to rule out other answer choices.

• Round 247 to the nearest 10, 250• Round 236 to the nearest 10, 240• Then add, 490• 411 is to low• 583 is to high

The Process of Elimination is Valuable

• If you eliminate one choice you have a 25% chance of having the correct answer

• Eliminate two a 33% chance• Eliminate three 50%

Read and Re-Read

Teach your child to read the test question or statement carefully at

least twice.  Be sure they are reading all of the answer choices, not jumping to conclusions before

they have read all the choices.

A Steady Pace Wins the Race

• Keep a steady pace and do not let more difficult questions affect your attitude and steal your valuable time. Students often cloud their minds by lingering over difficult questions. Moving on and finding success with other questions is a better method. When you finish, go back to those left blank.

Supporting Ideas or Details

• Supporting Ideas or Details: These test questions are about the little details in a story. For example: “What color was Timothy’s skateboard in the story?” Go back to the story and find the answer. These questions force you to figure out something in the passage. There will be clues in the passage. The question may have the phrase “most likely” in it.

Read to UnderstandNot to Remember

• On the CRCT Reading, the passages are fiction or nonfiction and the answers are multiple choice.  There are four types of reading questions:  Main Idea, Word Meaning, Supporting Details and Inferences.

• · Read to understand –not to remember.  Think of this test as an open book test. Look back in the passage for detail questions.

• · Don't look for the answer in the passage if the question is inference-based.  A careful reader needs to make educated guesses based on facts the author provides.

Main Idea or SummarizationQuestions

These questions are usually written somethinglike, “What is this story mostly about?” or“What’s the main idea?” or “Which sentence best tells about this story?”

The answer is not stated exactly in the story, sothis is a “think about it” type

Word Meanings

• Some test questions will focus on the meaning of a word. The words chosen for these items are

supposed to be new words, so it shouldn’t bother you if you’ve

never heard of the word.

• Look back in the passage and find the word in the sentence. The words in that sentence (or the sentence before or after) should give clues about the word meaning. Try replacing the word with one of the choices from the test.

Word Meaning Example

In the story, Alexander enjoyed staying at expensive hotels and eating at the best restaurants. His friends thought that he led an extravagant life.

Extravagant means

• A. cheap• B. hard• C. spending carelessly• D. sad

Inferences

• Inference is a conclusion reached through reasoning. Inference is used to reach conclusions when information is implied but not stated as a certainty. You make inferences about story elements based in details in a story.

Example of Inference Question

When the Smith children got home from summer camp, they noticed that the TV and VCR were not in the family room. What most likely happened while they were away?

• A. Grandmother came for a visit.• B. The dog ate them.• C. There was a flood.• D. Their parents moved them to another

room.

Understand What's Being Asked

One of the biggest challenges with multiple choices is to not misinterpret what's being asked: some choices will be related to the subject but won't answer the question. For instance,

• Why do some birds fly south for the winter?1. Because they have feathers2. Because they migrate to warmer climates3. Because they eat birdseed4. Because they fly in patterns

• All of the choices are true about birds, but only one choice — answer b — answers the question asked.

Vocabulary• Prefixes• If you’re having trouble with a word in the question or answer

choices, try• dissecting it. Take advantage of every clue that the word might

include. Prefixes• and suffixes can be a huge help. Usually they allow you to

determine a basic• meaning. Pre- means before, post- means after, pro - is positive,

de- is negative.• From these prefixes and suffixes, you can get an idea of the general

meaning of the• word and try to put it into context. Beware though of any traps. Just

because con is• the opposite of pro, doesn’t necessarily mean congress is the

opposite of progress!

CRCT Common Vocabulary Terms

• Test development sometimes results in terms being used on a test that may be unique to the test. Listed below are terms that may be used in Georgia’s Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests. In many instances, these terms may represent concepts included in Georgia’s Performance Standards. This is only a sample list and is not meant to be comprehensive.

Know The Vocabulary• CRCT Common Vocabulary Terms

• CRCT Key Terms- Reading and English Language Arts• Grades 1-3• Action word (verbs)• Best order (sequence)• Combine sentences (conjunctions)• Complete sentence• Compound predicate• Compound subject• Describing words (adjectives)• Ending sounds (rhyming words)• Imperative sentences• Modifier (adjective)• Mostly about (main idea)• Naming word (noun)

• Opinion• Opposite (antonym)• Passage (story)• Root word (base word)• Simple predicate• Simple subject• Sounds like (homophones)• Transition• Types of sentence (telling, asking, command,

excitement, supporting)• Word parts (syllables)

Grades 4-5 (Reading and English Language Arts)

ConjunctionsContext cluesDraw conclusionFragmentImposeInferenceIrrelevantMain ideaMainlyMeans opposite ofMeans the same asModifier

Math Grades 1-3• Angles• Area• Best unit• Difference• Digit• Equal to• Equivalent• Estimate• Even and odd numbers• Factor• Fraction• Greater than• Less than• Lines of symmetry• Measurement (width, height, length)• Model• Money value• Number is closest (nearest to)• Number line• Number pattern

• Number sentence• Number sentence is same as• Older (more)• Operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)• Ordinal number• Pie• Same as• Solve• Value equals• View as• Whole number• Younger (less)• Acknowledgement: Many of the words in this list are borrowed

from the work of selected• Gwinnett County Public School educators.

Grades 4-5 Math• Algebraic• Balanced• Common denominator• Computation• Coordinates on a grid• Digit• Doubling• Estimate• Expanded notation• Geometric figures• In all (total)• Least likely/most likely• Model• Number sentence• Patterns• Perimeter

• Place value• Prime number• Probability• Problem solving strategy• Product• Properties• Remainder• Rename• Rounded to• Simplest forms• Sum• Symbol for does not equal

Wonderful Websites

• www.cobbk12.org/bullard/

• www.doe.k12.ga.us