Maximizing MAP Scores Ways to Work Smarter, Not Harder

Compiled by Linda M. Cordes

For MAP Monday
October 18, 2004

Use the Right Materials

1. Forget the textbook approach. You know, “Students, open up to page….” The
textbook writers did not write the test your students will face. If you have
administered the test YOU know what students have to know to perform well on
this test. Look for materials that teach this.
2. Think in terms of units and big major concepts. Use the MAP Level Descriptors
as your guide. If you want to develop Level 4 and % students, teach what is
described in Level 4 and 5.
3. Laminate the formulas sheet and refer to it at appropriate opportunities.
4. Use manipulatives to introduce each concept. Move student understanding from
concept, to connecting, to symbolic.
• At the concept level students use concrete materials to explore
concepts. No symbolic representations of the concept is introduced.
At this level, it is important that students interact with a concept in a
variety of ways, using a variety of materials.
• At the connecting level, the concept, as concretely experienced by the
student, is connected to the mathematical symbolization that represents
the concept. The teacher guides students through discussion,
encouraging students to use their own language and then expanding
their vocabulary and developing their ability to represent their verbal
expressions symbolically. But the students must already have a firm
grasp of the concept for this to be meaningful.
• At the symbolic level, the students themselves write the mathematical
symbols to represent the concepts they have learned. They may still se
concrete materials; they will drop them when they are ready. The
symbols are not the vehicle for teaching the concept or solving a
problem. They are used for recording concepts that have already been
internalized to understanding.
5. Collect and use Sample MAP-like problems every day and as assessments. Have
students create their own that are modeled after the ones they have encountered
on pretests and through daily classwork.

Require Students to THINK.

6. Practice accountable talk as a prelude to accountable problem solving.
7. Start with problems designed for lower grade levels. Don’t tell students what
grade level they were designed for this develops success and motivation.
8. Use brainteasers. Lots of good books and websites are available for this.
9. Model your thinking by “thinking out loud” during demo problems.
10. Always ask students to explain why. These following should become part of your
routine discussions:
 • “Tell us why you think so.”
• “How do you know that is true?”
• “Who can explain why?”
• “Who disagrees?”
• “Who agrees?”
• “Will this always work?”
• “Who can explain this in another way?”
• “What is another way to approach this problem?”
• “Find someone who used another method.”
11. You get the idea. Push further and dig deeper. Just because students can arrive at
a correct answer doesn’t mean they understand the concept or process. They are
often guessing or using misinformation that coincidentally works. If they can’t
explain it, don’t be satisfied that they have learned anything.

12. Never explain or demonstrate anything that a student can explain. Never say
anything that a student can say.
13. Encourage students to find multiple solutions and use multiple strategies on the
same problem.
14. Always collect all the answers before deciding, “which one is right.”
15. Make it a routine to identify where wrong answers came from.

Teacher Strategies
1. Reward creativity.
2. Value alternative methods. Do not require problems only be done “your” way.
3. Ask students to “show their thinking” and “provide the work that shows how
you arrived at your answer.”
4. Give additional credit for working a problem in more than one way.
5. Use calculators routinely in class. Teach them to use the calculator as a tool.
Teach them how to use it, including all functions. Require them to look back and
check that the answer is reasonable. Keep a class chart or poster of “calculator
mistakes” to make a point that the calculator is only a tool that works as well as
the person who employs it.
6. Use multiple-choice tests in this different way: Students are not allowed to work
any problem.J They get points for every answer they can eliminate with correct
justification.

Tackle the Myths

1. Only certain kinds of people are “good at math.”
2. You have to be taught how. This is learned helplessness.
3. When in doubt, ask the teacher. More helplessness.
4. Math is mostly knowing how to calculate.
5. If you don’t know “the basics,” you can’t do anything else.
6. The calculator is smarter than a fifth grader.
7. The most important thing in math is “getting the right answer.”
Address these myths and any others you notice whenever they rear their ugly heads.
Teach students that these myths are not true and that they are merely self-limiting
misbeliefs.