MTLE - Basic Math HELP!

Making Sense of the MTLE Basic Skills Math Exam

In July 2016, the Minnesota Board of Teaching adopted the National Evaluation Series (NES) as the Basic Skills Test. Other skills test options now include the ACT and SAT. Updated information about these options can be found at the MN Dept. of Ed site.

Link to my complete MTLE Math Prep paper containing
information overview and several practice test questions

The Minnesota Teacher Licensure Examinations - Basic Skills Math Exam is brought to you by PearsonEd (FDBA Prentice Hall Publishing). Pearson's use of the word, basic, is misleading. A more precise descriptor of their MTLE math exam would be, general -- very general! A surprisingly wide range of material is covered in the test, so for most people, some amount of preparation will be required. 

POP!

Maximizing test performance involves three things: preparation, organization and practice. 

Prepare thoroughly to confront both the test content and the testing experience. Anxiety reduction techniques may be in order. 

Organize by creating a clear, targeted study plan. 

Practice to get comfortable taking the test.


First things first. Design your Personal Assessment Performance Management Plan. I created a 5-point plan for myself:

• Define content areas
• Identify all skillsets
• Determine strengths and weaknesses
• Systematically build necessary knowledge base
• Practice exam-taking every other day

Every different person's plan will differ, but I think the most critical element to consider is the opportunity to practice taking the MTLE several times. Unfortunately, Pearson does not offer practice exams. Google to the rescue! There are many practice tests available that are similar in content to the MTLE Basic Math -- but no single program will be an exact match. Depending on one's finances, choices must be made about which substitute practice programs to use. I personally found the online system at MTLEMath.com very helpful. (While the content and scoring may not perfectly match Pearson, it approximates the experience of taking a timed general math exam.) A combination of resources is needed to meet the MTLE's broad knowledge base.

Seven Objectives
I.	Understand the principles of geometry	(0015)
II.	Apply principles of algebra to expressions and equations	(0012)
III.	Apply principles of algebra to linear and nonlinear functions	(0013)
IV.	Understand measurement concepts	(0014)
V.	Demonstrate knowledge of data, statistics, probability, and discrete math	(0016)
VI.	Understand mathematical processes and perspectives	(0017)
VII.	Understand numbers and the number system	(0011)

Acronym for areas covered:

Game Spin!
I.	Geometry Principles
II.	Algebra: Expressions / Equations
III.	Algebra: Linear / Nonlinear Functions
IV.	Measurement Concepts
V.	Statistics, Probability & Discrete Math
VI.	Processes & Perspectives
VII.	Number System

Time Over Distance

While speed is obviously a factor to consider in the effective negotiation of a timed assessment, speed is not nearly as important as accuracy. Moving too quickly may, in fact, lead to oversights, mistakes and mechanical errors. The better strategy is to move through the test at a brisk but very steady, even pace. Anticipating a wide range of prompts – some simple, some tricky, some perhaps confounding – it is critical to plan for and maintain a consistent pace, neither rushing past the easy items, nor agonizing over the tough ones.

The insistent tick, tick, ticking of the clock is a potentially debilitating source of stress and tension -- negatively influencing testing experiences and outcomes, but through the architecture and articulation of a personal assessment performance management plan, awareness of the regulating element of time is also revealed to be a powerful tool -- offering test takers a relaxing reliability. 

Map out the number of test questions and the exact amount of time you will spend on each. Use practice exams to check your timing. 

A clarifying sense of control and confidence emerges from the purposeful, practiced, rhythmic manipulation of cognitive activity. Along with ordering the memory building, mind stretching, brain searching mental kinesthetics -- time’s metronomic repetition provides the measurement against which discipline is defined as the ability to sustain an effort over time.

The Process of Illumination

Multiple choice test takers can greatly benefit from the process of elimination. Knowing which choices are not the right answer (the distractors) is the same as knowing the right answer. The given choices then, should be considered valuable clues. 

So, one technique to approaching a multiple choice test is to first examine the answers – then examine the question in light of the possible solutions. This technique emphasizes the importance of eliminating the distractors. It also emphasizes that you are not being asked to figure out an answer, only to identify the best possible answer from the choices given. It is important to note that, depending on the wording of the question (the stem), none of the choices may actually be “the correct solution,” which means the choice closest to correct is “the right answer.”

What's the Question?

Test takers very often lose points, not because they didn't know the correct answer -- but because they didn't correctly read the question. (I recall one MTLE prompt that began with a confusing jumble of details but then asked for the median -- not the mean -- of the numbers given.) Pearson promises there will be no trick questions, but many of the MTLE prompts are tricky -- and demand a close reading. Focus on what is being asked. 

Sample Question:
A farmer has a silo that can hold 240 bushels of corn.  He estimates that it is about 6/7 full of corn.  Which value is closest to the number of bushels of corn in the silo?
A.) 200
B.) 210
C.) 225
D.) 250

Doing the math gets you to the number 205 -- but 205 is not one of the choices offered. The mathematical answer differs from the correct answer in this case. Carefully reading that the prompt actually asks for the closest value, this turns out to be a question, not on farming, but on the process of rounding! 

The question not asked is: Does the number 205 round up or down? The number 205 rounds up to 210 . . . so the right choice is "B."

I don't know that this sort of prompt can be classified as a "trick question." I know that this one question finally involves a second question that is not explicitly asked. I know that the "correct" answer is only correct in the context and specific verbiage of this particular test prompt -- which tripped me up with the overall concept of farmers and silos! However one sees this culturally clunky sort of thing -- it's clear that a careful and concise reading of each word is important.

Intuition

Test preparation involving content knowledge and reasoning must be done in tandem with preparation for a lengthy and extended excursion into the intuitive. The mind must be clear and receptive, free and open, in a meditative mode, yet fixed on the task at hand. Even with practice, exercising this level of sustained deep receptivity – total immersion into the intuitive – is extremely difficult. The setting of time limits in this regard is, ironically, extremely beneficial.

There are three during test concentration points:

• approaching each test item with fresh eyes;
• focusing fully on the intention and implication of the prompt;
• having registered a response, critically review the question's key words to confirm that your response directly expresses the specific concept, skill, reasoning or rule being assessed.

Return Policy

Ideally, you will move smoothly through the test at a consistent pace and then have plenty of time remaining for a review. Do not agonize and eat up time on a difficult prompt. If a question is overwhelming or confusing, mark it for review and quickly move on.

Of course, all doubted choices should be reviewed, but it’s important to prioritize. Selecting questions for review must be done in a way that maximizes the time available upon test completion. A difficult and unfamiliar question that requires a wild guess is not as critical as double-checking the answers to questions where there is a possibility of finding the correct answer if given time. In other words, mark for top review only those items that are difficult but doable. Points are awarded for each correct answer - so misreadings, misunderstandings and technical mistakes must be eliminated.

It may be advantageous in so broad an assessment, to maintain a written note of the MTLE math question numbers to any particularly perplexing prompts for secondary review should time permit.

Objectives Outline