The Minnesota Questions Tool (MQT) provides access to the released questions from past MCAs (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments) in math and reading across all grade levels. The MQT includes released items for Science MCA IV in grades 5, 8, and HS.
Users can search questions by standard, benchmark, and grade; read rationales for correct/incorrect answers; review student performance data; and download questions for use in planning classroom assessments and instruction.
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The release of MCA questions from past years’ assessments to the general public is an integral part of the reporting process. Many factors are considered when deciding which questions to release, including ensuring that all released questions have shown to accurately measure student knowledge and skills from the standards. The year listed with each question is the year in which it was released to the public.
Each released question is aligned to the standards and grade level for each subject assessed, but is not representative of student mastery of the full standard and corresponding benchmarks. The academic standards provide the foundation for the assessments. The Test Specifications for each subject describe the types of questions that are included on the assessments and how they are scored, as well as which strands, sub-strands, standards, and benchmarks are assessed on the MCA and in what proportions. Test specifications are excellent tools for gaining an in-depth understanding of the content and format of the tests. However, they are not meant to be used as the basis for curriculum and instruction. Some concepts in the academic standards can only be assessed in the classroom and not on a standardized statewide assessment.
Minnesota’s academic standards and MCA test questions are developed by committees of educators and community members to ensure all test content is aligned to the standards for each grade level, culturally affirming, fair, and representative of the rich diversity of Minnesota students.
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The questions in the MQT are provided as
In order to maintain test security and ensure validity of results, a certain number of questions must be kept secure and are not released for public use. The released questions in this tool do not represent a complete assessment that meets the blueprint outlined in the test specifications, including the range of cognitive skills assessed and difficulty level. These questions are not intended to be used as practice tests for future MCA assessments. Rather, they are intended to support educators in understanding how the academic standards are assessed on the MCA, to help identify student misconceptions, and to provide examples of questions that assess student understanding at different DOK (Depth of Knowledge) levels.
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Cognitive complexity refers to the cognitive demand associated with a question or task. The level of cognitive demand is dependent upon the number of cognitive processes taking place in the mind of the learner when determining the correct answer to a question or task (e.g., recalling a basic fact versus synthesizing across multiple sources or applying knowledge in a unique situation). Levels of cognitive complexity for the MCA are based on Norman L. Webb’s Depth of Knowledge levels. A DOK level of I, II, or III is assigned to each question. Cognitive complexity is different than the difficulty of a question, which is based on the inherent nature of the standard or benchmark topic, not the mental processes taking place in the mind of the learner. A question asking students to remember an obscure fact or definition can be considered difficult but still be classified as a DOK level 1.
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The data in the MQT shows the percent of students who answered a particular question correctly and the percent of students who selected each incorrect option.
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Each test question in the MQT includes a rationale, which provides justification for the correct answer and explains why all other options are incorrect. Additionally, the incorrect option rationales explain why the student may have decided to select the incorrect answer. This can be helpful for identifying student misconceptions. For example, if many students chose an incorrect option, it may be useful to closely review the incorrect options and their rationales to identify why students were led to the incorrect option. This information can be used to help teachers address the misconception when planning for classroom instruction, or the question can be shown as an example to students.
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