During the Unit Test students complete multiple choice items developed to align with Common Core standards covered during the unit. The target Standard is listed next to each problem to allow for easy cross-referencing and use by teachers.
This unit test includes a review section of 11 multiple choice problems that target basic number sense skills. The assessment also contains several open response questions. (I typically include some of my own open response items as an addition to unit tests, but I did not for this unit.) Before they begin, I encourage students to show their work on these problems. I am interested in how they are thinking about the problem. We have also done a lot of active note-taking and writing in this unit and I want to see how their skills have progressed.
I grade the multiple choice items with an overall grade as well as a grade by standard. For example, students will see the percentage of items on standard A.SSE.2 they get correct.
For some tests I also like to add items from the Massachusetts Common Assessment System (MCAS) archive. The url for MCAS question items is http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/search/. I like this site because you can search based on a standard. Note that all MCAS questions as of the 2012-2013 school year are based on the MA Standards, not the common core.
Acknowledgments: This unit assessment was developed in collaboration with Patrick Borzi, a fabulous Math teacher and colleague.
For the second part of the Unit Test, students work on multiple choice and open response items that focus on inequalities in 1 variable. The reason I organize the unit test by topic (part 1 = equations and part 2 = inequalities) is to minimize the number of cognitive shifts I am asking of students.
In my classroom, many 9th grader students have not yet developed the level of executive functioning needed to manage shifts in content. By dividing up the assessment, I give students the opportunity to demonstrate their current level of understanding on each topic.