Educator Resources

OSPI provides the following supportive materials for educators.

Test and Item Specifications
These documents describe guidelines for writing test items, the type and number of items on each test, and specific information about which Performance Expectations will be assessed using multiple-choice, completion, and/or short-answer items. Vocabulary lists for the MSP and EOC Exams are available at the bottom of the webpage in an excel sheet.

End-of-Course Crosswalks
The purpose of these crosswalk documents is to identify the standards that are assessed on each end-of-course assessment.

Updates for 2012
Updates for 2012 contains pertinent information for Washington educators. This document includes a summary of changes and new information in mathematics assessment, links to resources for teachers, and sample test items. Updates for 2012 has been customized into grade bands: Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, and End-of-Course Assessments.
Grades 3-5
Grades 6-8
End-of-Course

Updates for 2011
Updates for 2011, is a document that includes sample items to familiarize teachers and students with the item types on the assessments. There are separate documents for 3-5, 6-8, and end-of-course exams.
Grades 3-5
Grades 6-8
End-of-Course

Released Items: Samples From Previous Years
These documents contain released WASL items from 2006 to 2008, including information on scoring open-ended items and annotated examples of scored student work. Some of these items align to the new K-12 mathematics standards and can be used in the classroom.

Teacher Resource Tool The Web-based teacher resource tool assists teachers with information about the test questions on the Reading, Writing, Mathematics, and Science State Assessments. Teachers can access descriptions of the test questions, the item specifications, state performance on each question, and sample questions for classroom instructions.

Lessons Learned from Scoring Student Work
These documents list actions students can take to increase their test scores, based on scoring thousands of student responses. These can be used to help teachers inform and focus instruction.

Standards Professional Development
The OSPI Mathematics office encourages teachers to use these materials for standards-based instruction. Most documents are available in Word format for download and editing.

Instructional Materials: Reviews and Reports
These documents include the 2008 Core/Comprehensive Instructional Review of K-8 and 9-12 instructional materials and their alignment to the newly revised 2008 mathematics standards. Also included is the Supplemental Materials Review Final Report.

Early Math Brochure
Children naturally love numbers. They learn about numbers through their daily play in their environment. The more they explore with counting, numbers, and shapes the more prepared they will be for kindergarten.

Washington State Diagnostic Assessment Guide
This guide defines the different types of assessments. It provides guidance on how to select appropriate assessments for instructional purposes.

Formative Assessment Comparative Guide – Consumer Report
This document is a companion to the Washington State Diagnostic Assessment Guide. Together, these documents are intended to help educators, schools, and school districts select and use diagnostic and formative assessment tools in supporting student learning the areas of reading, writing, mathematics, and science.

Like-User Groups Wikis
This space is for Like-User Groups to share and collaborate around resources on instructional materials for particular published series.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Focal Points
The curriculum focal points are important mathematical topics for each grade level, pre K-8. These topics are central to mathematics and can serve as an organizing structure for curriculum design and instruction.

Common Core State Standards Initiative
This is a joint effort of the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of chief State School Officers in partnership with Achieve, ACT, and the College Board support a state-led process to develop a common core of state standards in English-language arts and mathematics for grades K-12.

Mathematics Instructional Coaching: Interim Report (PDF)
This document reports on the 2007-2008 mathematics coaching program as established by SSHB 1906.

School District Mathematics Curricula Adoption and Usage Report
This document reports by school district the elementary, middle school and high school curriculum in use and its year of adoption.

Assisting Students Struggling with Mathematics: Response to Intervention (RTI) for Elementary and Middle Schools, April 2009 (PDF, 104 pages)
Students struggling with mathematics may benefit from early interventions aimed at improving their mathematics ability and ultimately preventing subsequent failure. This guide provides eight specific recommendations intended to help teachers, principals, and school administrators use Response to Intervention (RtI) to identify students who need assistance in mathematics and to address the needs of these students through focused interventions.

Instructional Support Modules
The Segmented Mathematics Course was an alternative for students who had not met standard on the mathematics portion of the high school WASL. With the revised 9-12 Mathematics Standards in Washington State, these modules could be adapted to the new high school standards to provide the same resource. These instructional support modules are also available on the Grade Level Standards & Resources Web site.

Math Avenues
Math Avenues is a series of problems that address area, perimeter, and volume in standards from grade three to seven. Each extended activity is aligned with the current WA State Mathematics Standards. An overview, teacher materials, student materials, and aligned assessments are provided.