CAPT Student Objectives

Grade 10 Language Arts

The language arts section of the CAPT consists of three components: response to literature, editing and interdisciplinary. The response to literature component requires students to read a short published work and provide written responses that demonstrate:

The editing test requires students to read three passages that are simulated samples of student writing. Students respond to multiple-choice items that ask them to identify and correct errors in sentence construction, mechanics and word choice.

The interdisciplinary section requires students to apply knowledge and skills gained through social studies, science, mathematics and language arts to an important contemporary issue. Students are given a set of source materials (e.g., newspaper and magazine articles, editorials, political cartoons, charts, graphs) representing different perspectives on the issue. Students are asked to read the materials and use the information to write a persuasive piece, such as a letter to a congressperson or a letter to the editor of their local newspaper, which supports their own position on the issue. This interdisciplinary assessment item is quite unique and requires analysis, synthesis and evaluation of knowledge and skills acquired across curricular areas.

 

A conceptual framework for the assessment of the language arts section of the CAPT serves several important functions. The framework, with separate reading and writing sections, is designed to:help define and show the relationships among the key elements of language arts instruction and assessment; serve as a blueprint for the development of tasks and items to be included on the CAPT; and communicate the language arts content of the CAPT to students, educators and the general public.

The Reading Framework represents two major dimensions: types of reading material and levels of interaction with text. The three basic types of reading material on the CAPT are literary, informational and persuasive. Three levels of interaction with text are included: describing the text; personalizing and interpreting the text; and moving beyond the text.

 

The Writing Framework is based on the premise, in that students should be able to write for different audiences for the purposes of expressing personal ideas, informing and persuading. Writing has been divided into three stages: (1) generating ideas, (2) developing and clarifying ideas, and (3) proofreading.

Questions presented within the cells of the following reading and writing matrices are designed to serve as guides to illustrate the types of assessment items students may encounter on the 10th Grade CAPT.

Grade 10 Science

The CAPT science assessment is based on the idea that science is not only a body of knowledge, but also a way of thinking about the world around us. The test addresses three major goals: conceptual understanding (What do students know in science?); applications (What do they do with their scientific knowledge?); and experimentation

(How do they know?) The content is drawn from the following major areas.

Life science, including characteristics of living things; cells; genetics and evolution; ecosystems, human biology and issues in bioethics;

Physical science, including structure of matter, reactions and interactions, force and motion, energy sources and transformations, heat and temperature, magnetism and electricity, and sound and light; and

Earth and space science, including astronomy, geology and natural resources, oceanography, meteorology, and earth history and dynamics.

Students are asked to demonstrate the following understandings and applications:

Description ­ use of scientific knowledge to provide accurate names for natural phenomena and for purposes of classification

Explanation ­ use of scientific knowledge to explain natural phenomena

Prediction ­ use of scientific knowledge to generate predictions about future events

Application ­ use of scientific reasoning and knowledge to solve daily life problems and technological problems,

Recognizing its potential and limitations

Communication ­ use of scientific words, graphs, charts and equations to explain scientific phenomena

In the science laboratory activity, student experimentation involves the following

expectations:

· define the problem;

· formulate a hypothesis;

· test the hypothesis ­ design and conduct appropriate experiments;

· make, record and interpret observations; and

· draw conclusions and discuss their validity.

 

Grade 10 Mathematics

 

The mathematics section of the CAPT assesses three processes (problem solving and reasoning; communicating; and computing and estimating) in four content areas (number and quantity; geometry, measurement and shape; statistics, probability and data analysis; and relations, functions and algebra. The test focuses on generalized abilities and an integrated understanding of key mathematical concepts drawn from everyday experiences.

The content is drawn from the following major areas:

Number and Quantity

· Understand, represent and use numbers in a variety of forms (integer, fraction, decimal, percent, exponential, (scientific notation) in real-world and mathematical problem situations

· Demonstrate an understanding of order, magnitude and equivalent forms with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percents, integers and rational numbers

· Use arithmetic operations and understand how the operations are related to one another

· Understand and apply ratios and proportions

- Geometry, Measurement and Shape

· Represent and solve problems using geometric models

· Interpret and draw two- and three-dimensional objects

· Understand and use the concepts of rotation, reflection and translation to demonstrate geometric figures and apply relationships of congruence and similarity

· Deduce and use properties of, and relationships between, figures from given assumptions

· Use coordinate representations of geometric figures

· Estimate, make and use measurements to describe and compare phenomena

· Select and use appropriate units and tools to measure, including conversions between units within measurement systems

· Understand and use the concepts of perimeter, area, volume, angle measure, capacity, weight and mass

· Understand and use rates and other derived and indirect measures

· Develop and use formulas and procedures for determining measures

· Understand and apply the relationship between precision of measurements and accuracy of calculations Statistics, Probability and Data

· Systematically collect, organize and describe data

· Construct, read and interpret tables, charts and graphs of data from real-world situations

· Draw and defend inferences from charts, tables and data

· Understand sampling and recognize its role in statistical claims

· Understand and use basic probability to make predictions and to evaluate the likelihood of events

Relations, Functions and Algebra

· Understand and use the concepts of a variable, expression and equation

· Represent and analyze situations involving variable quantities with tables, graphs, verbal rules and equations; understand the interrelationship among these representations

· Describe, analyze, extend and create a wide variety of patterns

· Understand and use direct and inverse variation

· Use tables and graphs to solve problems

· Create and use equations and inequalities including formulas to model situations and solve problems

· Analyze and use functional relationships to explain how a change in one quantity results in a change in another

 

Grade 10 students are asked to demonstrate understandings and applications in three areas, as follows:

-Problem Solving and Reasoning

· Formulate problems from situations and given data

· Develop and apply a variety of strategies to solve problems ­ particularly multistep and nonroutine problems

· Make and evaluate conjectures and arguments

· Verify, validate and interpret results and claims and generalize solutions

 

Communicating

· Model situations using written, concrete, pictorial, graphical and algebraic representations

· Express mathematical ideas and arguments with clarity and coherence

· Use mathematical language and notation to represent ideas, describe relationships and model situations

Computing and Estimating

· Compute accurately and make estimates with whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percents, integers and rational numbers

· Select and use an appropriate method for computing from among mental arithmetic, paper-and-pencil or calculator

· Use estimation to assess the reasonableness of results


Copied from the Connecticut Department of Education web site. 
Home