Tennessee Department of Education | August 2020

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The Checkpoint can be used at the beginning of the school year to measure retention on key standard-
aligned skills that are most essential for students to be able to access, and engage in, on-grade-level
content for the current year. Because of this, the Checkpoints are smaller than a summative TCAP
assessment and do not cover all the standards from the previous year. Instead, as recommended by
experts1, they focus on fewer, prioritized vertically-aligned standards, with the intent of providing
educators more meaningful and actionable information about student needs so you can support your
students’ ability to access grade-level learning throughout the year.

The Grade 6 Math Checkpoint should be given to incoming

seventh grade students to help plan for students learning grade 7
math content this year.

To help students in their learning and teachers with their planning, Checkpoints come with fully annotated
questions that help to understand trends and pinpoint misconceptions that may inhibit student progress.
Using this Checkpoint Results Interpretation Guide (the Guide) and your student results data found in the
Schoolnet platform, you and your students can plan for great academic success this year.

It is best to use these results to identify any needed pre-requisite learning and incorporate it throughout the
year to ensure students can access grade-level content or can build upon their current strengths. After you
administer the Checkpoint and use this Guide to better meet student needs at the beginning of the year,
continue monitoring your students’ progress on grade-appropriate assignments for the rest of the year to
ensure that these core foundations are continually strengthened.

The Checkpoint IS: The Checkpoint IS NOT:

• an investigative tool to determine • a replacement for the performance

student readiness for the major work level determinaions a student would
of the current grade have received on the TCAP assessment
• aligned to the Tennessee State • predictive of, or comparable to,
Academic Standards, using TN- summative TCAP results
educator reviewed questions from • a replacement for RTI2 diagnostics or
previous TCAP exams universal screeners
• designed to identify student • used to evaluate teacher, school, or
misconceptions and learning needs district performance
• providing actionable next steps for • a tool to change student placement
informing instructional decisions decisions (e.g. retake a course,
advance to honors)

1 https://tntp.org/assets/covid-19-toolkit-resources/TNTP_Learning_Acceleration_Guide.pdf
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Contents of this Guide
THE CHECKPOINT ......................................................................................................2
CHECKPOINT DESIGN ..............................................................................................4
INTERPRETING AND USING RESULTS .............................................................................4
AUTOMATIC REPORTING IN SCHOOLNET ......................................................................4
OVERALL SCORES ...................................................................................................5
ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS: ANNOTATED QUESTIONS AND REPORTING TOOLS .............................6
ANSWER CHOICE RATIONALES IN EACH QUESTION ANNOTATION.......................................6
ITEM ANNOTATIONS AND PLANNING FOR INSTRUCTION ..................................................7
SAMPLE SET OF RATIONALES ..................................................................................7
GRADE 6 MATH CHECKPOINT ITEM ANNOTATIONS .........................................................8
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES ..........................................................................................58

“When the COVID-19 pandemic forced prolonged school building closures and
canceled spring assessments, it became even more important that districts and schools
can reliably gather student data and understand student readiness for the next school
year. These free and optional tools are one way the department can support the needs
of our district partners in serving all students”
-Commissioner Penny Schwinn

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Checkpoint Design
The Checkpoint assessments were designed using real TCAP questions from previous summative exams.
This ensured each question was aligned to Tennessee state standards and had been reviewed by Tennessee
educators. The Checkpoint was designed to be quick to access and administer, not requiring complicated
adjustments to existing school schedules; with flexibility for online or paper administration based on
school/district need.

The Math Checkpoint assessments:

1. are quick easy to administer: contain two subparts
Less than 60 minutes
(separated by a section break and new instructions
screen) in one short (less than 30 questions) assessment
in Schoolnet Less than 30 questions
2. include prioritized content: standards, concepts, and
skills from the designated grade-level/course that are
Two subparts: Calculator
considered essential pre-requisite content for accessing
the next grade-level’s work
& Non-Calculator

Automatic Reporting in Schoolnet

In order to support teachers in using these assessments, students who take the assessment online in the
Schoolnet platform will have their Checkpoints scored automatically. Teachers have multiple scoring options
for students who take the Checkpoints on paper, and you can find how-to documents and videos at
https://tn.mypearsonsupport.com/schoolnet/. Checkpoint assessment scoring in Schoolnet requires all
answers to be submitted by the student for results to be produced. The following automated reports can
be found in Schoolnet:
 Individual student results
 Classroom level reports
 Standards analysis reports
 Item analysis
 Test comparison reports (e.g., student, class, school, district, and state)
 Shared reporting (e.g., district to school admin, school admin to educators in same content/grade-
level)
 Aggregate and disaggregation of demographics

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Overall Scores
The score groups on the checkpoint assessment are not meant to represent performance levels or the
blueprints of the TCAP summative assessments (e.g., below, approaching, on track, and mastered). The
score groups were designed to share student preparedness for next grade level content and provide
guidance around the level of support students may need to access that content.

Score Group % Correct Results Recommended Next Steps

Use other sources of data for deeper insight; use

Likely Needs More identified misconceptions to offer targeted re-
Orange 0 – 53%
Targeted Support teaching, plan differentiation and intervention as
needed as grade-level concepts are introduced.

Investigate trends in student responses using the

Likely Able to Engage most important errors, to support differentiation on
in Grade Level grade-level assignments and scaffolding when
Yellow 54 – 69%
Content with Some introducing new content; provide opportunities to
Support check for understanding throughout the lesson to
determine differentiation needs.
Likely Ready for Grade
Green 70 – 99%
Level Content
Move directly into grade-level content.
Ready for Grade Level
Blue 100%
Content
Overall scoring is automatically available in the Schoolnet platform. This may help with you use the results of
the student and class level reports to develop an overall summary and conclusion about your students’
readiness for grade-level content. In responding to the Checkpoint assessments, we recommend addressing
the learning needs of students while engaging with on grade-level content. For more information and
tools for using assessment data to drive instructional decision making, review the Assessing Learning Toolkit,
pages 18-21, and the Learning Loss PLC Guide.

While overall scoring is provided and can be helpful in planning for group instruction, the most actionable
information in these Checkpoints can be found by analyzing at the question-level results.

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Each question on the Checkpoint is fully annotated with information that describes the questions as they
were used on previous TCAP tests, and automated scoring tools in Schoolnet that make getting that
information easier. The most helpful and actionable information is in the Item Annotations in this Guide
when combined with the Item Analysis reports in Schoolnet.

When we need more time in the school year, the best way to get it is to spend less time on
things they’ve already mastered and more time on the specific gaps that students need.

Answer Choice Rationales in each Question Annotation

It is possible that we have multiple students who may not have mastered some of the foundational content
required to fully engage in this year’s content. We are most effective at addressing these needs when we can
pinpoint, as specifically as possible, the conceptual understanding that would most efficiently close this gap.
That way we spend less time on previous content by focusing just on the piece that they need to be
successful with this concept during the year. The Question Annotations are designed to help with that
process.

To help teachers be more efficient in planning for the year, each question on the Checkpoint is accompanied
by a set of answer choice rationales which offers an explanation for each choice. These annotations are
not definitive: we know there may be many reasons for why students might select different answer choices.
However, each rationale listed provides an explanation for why students may have selected a given answer
choice, including what mis-steps may have caused them to select an incorrect answer (a “distractor”). These
distractor rationales provide an instructional target to improve student understanding by breaking down and
diagnosing the likely conceptual mistake, allowing you to follow up with targeted instruction based on the
most common mathematical errors you identify for your specific group of students. These annotations
assume that students tried their best and cannot provide information about whether students selected an
option at random.

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Item Annotations and Planning for Instruction
The department recommends in using this guide that educators look for trends in incorrect answers using
the Item Analysis reporting on Schoolnet and then use the annotations using this process:

1. Find the highest-leverage error trend,

A. This can mean comparing the frequency of each student error or understanding the group of
students represented by that trend.
2. Unpack the conceptual misunderstanding that led to the most important error, and then use the
annotations to support analyzing the incorrect answer by thinking through these questions in order:
A. What DO these students understand?
B. Based on what students do understand, why might a student think their error was a
reasonable choice?
C. What specific concept, if they had understood it clearly, would have made them recognize that
the error was not a reasonable approach?
3. Put it all together to check your thinking by restating the answers to each of the three questions to
articulate this sentence stem:

“Students understood [question A] but made the error of [student error], because they thought [question B] made
sense. If they had understood [question C], they would have avoided the error.”

This practice of pinpointing misconceptions and target understandings can help with long term planning to
support students in accessing year-long content and making the most of the start of year Checkpoint.

Sample Set of Rationales

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Item Information
Item Code: TN158129 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.EE.A.2.a Position No: 1
Standard Text: Write expressions that record operations with numbers and with variables.
Calculator: N
Correct Answer: B

Which expression is equivalent to the sum of 2 times y and 15?

A. 2y  15

B. 2y  15

C. 2  15y

D. 2  y  15

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 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students correctly combined 2 and y through multiplication as indicated
but did not associate sum with addition and incorrectly used
multiplication to combine 2y and 15. These students may need help
connecting operations with the vocabulary which describes their
mathematical relationships and solutions (e.g., addition and sum).
Correct – 2 This item requires students to correctly recognize how words describe
mathematical relationships. Students should have recognized that the
phrase “2 times y” creates a multiplicative relationship (product of 2y)
and subsequently apply the additive relationship with 15.
Incorrect – 3 Students correctly used multiplication and addition as called out in the
item but applied the operations to the incorrect terms. These students
may need help connecting operations with the vocabulary which
describes their mathematical relationships and solutions (e.g., addition
and sum).
Incorrect – 4 Students incorrectly applied “times” to indicate addition of 2 and y and
subsequently added all three terms. Students may need support with
combining numbers and variables through multiplication to create
terms. These students may need help connecting operations with the
vocabulary which describes their mathematical relationships and
solutions (e.g., addition and sum).

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Item Information
Item Code: TN182551 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.EE.B.6 Position No: 2
Standard Text: Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a
real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an
unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a
specified set.
Calculator: N
Correct Answer: A

Maria buys x books. Each book costs $5.

Which expression represents the amount of money Maria spends to buy x books?

A. 5x

B. 5 x
5
C.
x
x
D.
5

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 Rationales
Correct – 1 Students correctly identified that the purchasing of books is a
multiplicative relationship and were able to identify the expression that
represents that relationship with an unknown quantity of books.
Incorrect – 2 Students may have recognized that as the number of books increases,
the cost will increase, but did not identify that the relationship of a total
cost requires multiplying the same price by the number of items
purchased. Students may need support in selecting appropriate
operations in various real-world contexts.
Incorrect – 3 Students may have misread the question as stating that the total cost
for x books was 5 dollars and asked for the price per book. Students
then divided the 5 dollars by x, which would be the correct answer for
the misread question. Students may need support in selecting
appropriate operations in various real-world contexts. Students may
need support in articulating the real-world units used within word
problems to better understand how the units of ratios can help
determine the reasonableness of an answer.
Incorrect – 4 Students may have misread the question as stating that the total cost
for 5 books was x dollars and asked for the price per book. Students
then divided the x dollars by 5, which would be the correct answer for
the misread question. Students may need support in selecting
appropriate operations in various real-world contexts. Students may
need support in articulating the real-world units used within word
problems to better understand how the units of ratios can help
determine the reasonableness of an answer.

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Item Information
Item Code: TN082639 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.RP.A.2 Position No: 3
Standard Text: Understand the concept of a unit rate a/b associated with a ratio a:b with b not
equal to 0. Use rate language in the context of a ratio relationship.
Calculator: N
Correct Answer: B

A truck travels 90 miles on 6 gallons of gas.

What is the rate the truck travels in miles per gallon?

A. 6
B. 15

C. 90

D. 540

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 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students may have incorrectly associated the last value provided in the
item with the last measurement indicated in the question. Students
may need support in making sense of problems to correctly ascertain
what they are asked to find.
Correct – 2 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and determined the unit rate by creating a ratio using the
values provided and subsequently using the correct operation of
division.
Incorrect – 3 Students may have correctly created a ratio using the value 90 to
represent miles but did not apply the next step in dividing by 6 to find
the unit rate. Students may need support in understanding the
operations required to calculate a unit rate after using values to create
a ratio.
Incorrect – 4 Students may have used the incorrect operation of multiplication to
determine the unit rate based on values provided. Students may need
support in understanding the correct way to set up a ratio using units
and then associate that ratio with division to calculate unit rate.

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Item Information
Item Code: TN858498 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.EE.B.7 Position No: 4
Standard Text: Solve real-world and mathematical problems by writing and solving one-step
equations of the form x + p = q and px = q for cases in which p, q, and x are all
nonnegative rational numbers.
Calculator: N
Correct Answer: A

Casey earns money, m, for doing chores. He puts that money with $5.50 he has in
his pocket. Casey now has a total of $35.50.

Which equation represents his total amount of money?

A. m  5.50  35.50

B. 5.50  35.50  m

C. 35.50  m  5.50

D. 5.50m  35.50

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 Rationales
Correct – 1 Students correctly identified the relationships described in the situation,
and then describe the relationship mathematically, using the values
provided to create an equation that represents the given situation.
Incorrect – 2 Students recognized that “total” represents an additive relationship, but
incorrectly associated the unknown value as the total. This can come
from an over-reliance on selecting operations based on specific words
(e.g. “total”), instead of seeking to understand how the operations
represent real-world relationships. Students choosing this answer may
need practice articulating the context of a problem prior to selecting an
operation to represent the real-world relationships.
Incorrect – 3 Students incorrectly created an equation in which the total value
resulting from the addition of positive values is less than the value of
one of the addends. Students choosing this answer may need additional
support interpreting and rearticulating the story described in real-world
problems.
Incorrect – 4 Students correctly identified that 35.50 is the result of an increase
but used the incorrect operation of multiplication in order to do so.
Students choosing this answer may need practice articulating the
context of a problem prior to selecting an operation to represent the
real-world relationships.

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Item Information
Item Code: TN246281 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.EE.C.9.a Position No: 5
Standard Text: Write an equation to express one quantity, thought of as the dependent variable, in
terms of the other quantity, thought of as the independent variable.
Calculator: N
Correct Answer: B

Drew has a job making pizzas. He can make pizza in 7.5 minutes.

Which equation can be used to find m, the number of minutes it takes Drew to
make p pizzas?

7.5
A. p 
m

B. m  7.5p
p
C. m 
7.5

D. p  7.5m

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 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students incorrectly created an equation in which they attempted to
find the number of pizzas. Additionally, they created a ratio of 7.5 to m
rather than using 7.5 as a coefficient to determine the number of
minutes. They may need additional support interpreting a proportional
relationships and how they are represented in real-world context.
Correct – 2 Students correctly identified the proportional relationships described in
the problem, and created an equation in which the coefficient 7.5 was
used to multiply by the independent variable p in order to determine
the dependent variable m.
Incorrect – 3 Students correctly distinguished between the dependent and
independent variable but applied the incorrect operation to determine
the value of m. Students choosing this answer may need additional
support interpreting and rearticulating the story described in real-world
problems.
Incorrect – 4 Students incorrectly identified the dependent and independent
variables while correctly using multiplication as the necessary
operation. Students choosing this answer may need practice
articulating the context of a problem prior to selecting an operation to
represent the real-world proportional relationships.

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Item Information
Item Code: TN646530 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.NS.A.1 Position No: 6
Standard Text: Interpret and compute quotients of fractions, and solve contextual problems
involving division of fractions by fractions (e.g., using visual fraction models and
equations to represent the problem is suggested).
Calculator: N
Correct Answer: A

An equation is given.

1 2
x 
4 12
What value of x makes the equation true?

3
A.
2
2
B.
3
1
C.
8
1
D.
12

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 Rationales
Correct – 1 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and determined the value that would result in the given
quotient by correctly dividing the two given fractions.
Incorrect – 2 Students may have incorrectly divided 2/12 by 1/4 to result in 2/3.
Students may need support in applying the steps used to solve
equations in one variable to equations involving rational numbers.
Incorrect – 3 Students may have incorrectly subtracted 1/4 from 2/12 by subtracting
numerators and denominators. Students may need support in applying
the steps used in solving equations to include rational numbers.
Students may need support in applying steps to subtract fractions with
different denominators.
Incorrect – 4 Students may have incorrectly subtracted 2/12 from 1/4 using common
denominators. Students may need support in applying the steps used in
solving equations to include rational numbers.

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Item Information
Item Code: TN146191 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.EE.A.2.c Position No: 7
Standard Text: Evaluate expressions at specific values of their variables. Include expressions that
arise from formulas used in real-world problems. Perform arithmetic operations,
including those involving whole number exponents, in the conventional order when
there are no parentheses to specify a particular order (Order of Operations).
Calculator: N
Correct Answer: A,C,D

Which expressions are equal to 16 when x  4?

Select the three correct answers.

A. 2x  0.5

B. 4x  x  3

x3
C.
4
D. 5x  16  x

1
E. x8
2

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 Rationales
Correct – 1 Students correctly used the order of operations to calculate 16 for the
given value of x.
Incorrect – 2 Students may have incorrectly subtracted 3 from the coefficient of 4
before multiplying. Students may need support in using the order of
operations correctly in problems requiring multiple steps and
operations.
Correct – 3 Students correctly used the order of operations to calculate 16 for the
given value of x.
Correct – 4 Students correctly used the order of operations to calculate 16 for the
given value of x.
Incorrect – 5 Students may have incorrectly substituted 16 rather than 4 for the
value of x. The order of operations and calculations were applied
correctly but students may need support with making sense of
problems and using given information to correctly solve problems.

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Item Information
Item Code: TN842676 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.EE.C.9.a Position No: 8
Standard Text: Write an equation to express one quantity, thought of as the dependent variable, in
terms of the other quantity, thought of as the independent variable.
Calculator: N
Correct Answer: B

It takes Alia 7 minutes to run one mile.

Which equation can be used to show the relationship between Alia’s number of
miles, m, and the total time of her run, t?

A. 7t  m

B. 7m  t

C. 7  m t

D. m  7 t

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 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students incorrectly identified the dependent and independent variables
to create an equation using the correct operation of multiplication but
to find the incorrect unknown value. Students may need support
identifying dependent variables in a given context and associating them
with values to be determined upon calculation.
Correct – 2 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and identified the dependent variable as the value being
sought and the independent variable as the value being used in the
calculation to correctly set up the equation.
Incorrect – 3 Students correctly assigned the variables in this relationship but used
an incorrect operation to try to determine the total value. Students may
need support with the concept of using a coefficient to determine a
total dependent on the value of a variable thus requiring in this case
multiplication of 7 and the number of miles Alia runs.
Incorrect – 4 Students correctly assigned the variables in this relationship but used
an incorrect operation to try to determine the total value. Students may
need support with the concept of using a coefficient to determine a
total dependent on the value of a variable thus requiring in this case
multiplication of 7 and the number of miles Alia runs.

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Item Information
Item Code: TN846689 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.NS.A.1 Position No: 9
Standard Text: Interpret and compute quotients of fractions, and solve contextual problems
involving division of fractions by fractions (e.g., using visual fraction models and
equations to represent the problem is suggested).
Calculator: N
Correct Answer: C

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Three children divide of a pizza equally. Which fraction represents the part of
3

the whole pizza each child receives?

1
A.
2
1
B.
3
2
C.
9
6
D.
3

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 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students may have incorrectly divided the original whole pizza by 3 to
find 1/3 and then divided that value by 2/3 to get 1/2. Students may
need support in assessing the reasonableness of answers to realize that
their correct fraction calculations led to an answer that suggests 3
children can each receive 1/2 of a pizza.
Incorrect – 2 Students incorrectly disregarded the starting value of 2/3 of a pizza and
subsequently divided a whole pizza by 3 to get 1/3. Students may need
support in making sense of problems and assigning relevance to given
information in contextual problems.
Correct – 3 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and divided 2/3 by 3 to find the amount of pizza each of 3
children would receive is 2/9 of the original whole pizza.
Incorrect – 4 Students may have incorrectly multiplied 2/3 by 3. Students may need
support in understanding the steps required to compute quotients of
fractions.

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Item Information
Item Code: TN452634 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.EE.B.7 Position No: 10
Standard Text: Solve real-world and mathematical problems by writing and solving one-step
equations of the form x + p = q and px = q for cases in which p, q, and x are all
nonnegative rational numbers.
Calculator: N
Correct Answer: A

Abe earns $30.00 for raking his neighbor’s leaves. He bought lunch and has
$22.75 left. The equation x  22.75  30.00 can be used to determine x, the
amount of money, in dollars, Abe spent for lunch.

Which value of x represents the amount of money, in dollars, Abe spent on lunch?

A. x  7.25

B. x  7.75

C. x  8.25

D. x  8.75

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 Rationales
Correct – 1 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and solved the given equation using the steps and correct
calculations required.
Incorrect – 2 Students used the proper steps required to solve the given equation
but incorrectly subtracted when calculating the value of lunch as the
result of their subtraction. Students may need support in using all the
operations with numbers involving decimals and in attending to
precision.
Incorrect – 3 Students used the proper steps required to solve the given equation
but incorrectly subtracted when calculating the value of lunch as the
result of their subtraction, specifically, a failure to reduce 30 to 29 when
subtracting the 0.75. Students may need support in using all the
operations with numbers involving decimals and in attending to
precision.
Incorrect – 4 Students used the proper steps required to solve the given equation
but incorrectly subtracted when calculating the value of lunch as the
result of their subtraction. Students may need support in using all the
operations with numbers involving decimals and in attending to
precision.

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Item Information
Item Code: TN358297 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.RP.A.2 Position No: 11
Standard Text: Understand the concept of a unit rate a/b associated with a ratio a:b with b not
equal to 0. Use rate language in the context of a ratio relationship.
Calculator: N
Correct Answer: B

Julie paid $18 for 6 notebooks.

How much did each notebook cost?

A. $0.33
B. $3.00

C. $6.00

D. $12.00

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 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students incorrectly created a ratio which used 18 notebooks at a total
cost of $6. Students may need support in understanding that when
creating ratios to determine unit price that cost per item dictates the
way the values should be assigned to the ratio.
Correct – 2 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and created a ratio to determine a unite rate to determine
the cost per notebook.
Incorrect – 3 Students did not create a ratio to determine a unit rate to find the cost
per notebook, but simply used one of the given numbers as the answer.
Students may need support with the concept of ratios as comparisons
of values of different units of measure, in this case dollars and
notebooks, and the operation of division required then to calculate the
cost of 1 notebook.
Incorrect – 4 Students may have subtracted the given values rather than creating a
ratio to determine a unit rate to find the cost per notebook. Students
may need support with the concept of ratios as comparisons of values
of different units of measure. In this case dollars and notebooks,
therefore they cannot be subtracted.

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Item Information
Item Code: TN146183 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.EE.A.2.c Position No: 12
Standard Text: Evaluate expressions at specific values of their variables. Include expressions that
arise from formulas used in real-world problems. Perform arithmetic operations,
including those involving whole number exponents, in the conventional order when
there are no parentheses to specify a particular order (Order of Operations).
Calculator: N
Correct Answer: C

What is the value of the expression 2  x 2  5 when x  3?

A. 125

B. 55

C. 47

D. 32

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 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students may have correctly substituted for the value of the variable
but incorrectly applied the order of operations by adding 2 and 3 then
applying the exponent of 2 before multiplying the resulting 25 by 5.
Students may need support with the conventional order of operations
and applying them in situations that require multiple steps.
Incorrect – 2 Students may have correctly substituted for the value of x and applied
the exponent of 2 but then incorrectly applied the order of operations
by adding 2 before multiplying by 5. Students may need support with
the conventional order of operations and applying them in situations
that require multiple steps.
Correct – 3 Students correctly substituted for the value of x and applied the order
of operations.
Incorrect – 4 Students correctly substituted for the value of x but incorrectly applied
the exponent of 2 as multiplying the base by 2 resulting in 6. From
there they correctly applied the order of operations, but the earlier
exponent error led to an incorrect result. Students may need support
with the rules of exponents and their application.

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Item Information
Item Code: TN657395 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.RP.A.3.c Position No: 13
Standard Text: Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means
30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part
and the percent.
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: C

A department store sold 20% of the dresses they had in stock. After the sale they
had 60 dresses left.

What was the original number of dresses before the sale?

A. 48
B. 72
C. 75
D. 80

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 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students calculated 20% of 60 as 12 and subtracted 12 from 60 to get
48 dresses. These students may need support understanding that a
value given as the result of the reduction of an unknown value should
result in a value larger than the given value.
Incorrect – 2 Students may have calculated 20% of 60 as 12 and added that back to
60 to get 72. These students may benefit from increased understanding
of how to create an expression or equation that will determine an
original, unknown quantity, the calculation of which would result in the
given value.
Correct – 3 Students identified the mathematical relationship described in the
problem and correctly calculated 60 as 80% remaining of the unknown
value, 75.
Incorrect – 4 Students may have added 20 to the given 60 to result in 80. These
students may benefit from increased understanding of how to create an
expression or equation that will determine an original, unknown
quantity, the calculation of which would result in the given value. They
may also need support in the use of percent as an equivalent rational
number for calculations.

33
Item Information
Item Code: TN572714 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.EE.C.9.b Position No: 14
Standard Text: Analyze the relationship between the dependent and independent variables using
graphs and tables, and relate these to the equation.
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: B

The graph shows the relationship between the time, x, and the distance, y, of a
running grizzly bear.

Running Grizzly Bear

y
400
350
Distance (feet)

300
250
200
150
100
50
x
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Time (seconds)

Which equation shows the relationship between x and y that is represented by the
graph?

A. y  50  x

B. y  50x

C. x  50  y

D. 51  y  x

34
 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students assigned the variables correctly but incorrectly used division
to indicate the operation used to determine the impact of the coefficient
50 on the variable y. Students may need support with concept of using
the independent variable to find the dependent variable at each point in
the graph of the relationship.
Correct – 2 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and identified the relationship in the change in the value of
y as a result of the value of x changing and applied to the coefficient in
the situation.
Incorrect – 3 Students may have incorrectly calculated a slope of 1, disregarding the
scale on the y-axis, and used the first y-value to identify the intercept.
Students may need support in relating points on the graph to the
values of x and y to create an equation that is true for any point on the
graph.
Incorrect – 4 Students may have identified a relationship that agrees with the first
point away from the origin (1,50), but did not verify it holds for other
points in the graph. Students may need support in relating points on
the graph to the values of x and y to create an equation that is true for
any point on the graph.

35
Item Information
Item Code: TN720310 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.RP.A.3.b Position No: 15
Standard Text: Solve unit rate problems including those involving unit pricing and constant speed.
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: B

What is the unit price of a granola bar if 8 granola bars cost $4.16?
A. $0.42
B. $0.52
C. $1.92

D. $5.20

36
 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students may have created a ratio correctly and used it to divide in
order to find the unit rate but committed an error during the calculation
resulting in an incorrect value. Students may need support in attending
to precision.
Correct – 2 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and created a ratio comparing cost to number of bars and
solved correctly by dividing 4.16 by 8 to get 0.52.
Incorrect – 3 Students created a ratio incorrectly comparing bars to total cost by
reversing the values in context, finding the number of bars per dollar.
The subsequent correct application of division resulted in an incorrect
value. Students may need support in creating ratios to determine unit
rates as determined by what value is desired to be 1 in the rate.
Incorrect – 4 Students may have created a ratio correctly and used it to divide in
order to find the unit rate but committed an error in placement of the
decimal during the calculation resulting in an incorrect value. Students
may need support in attending to precision.

37
Item Information
Item Code: TN446559 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.NS.A.1 Position No: 16
Standard Text: Interpret and compute quotients of fractions, and solve contextual problems
involving division of fractions by fractions (e.g., using visual fraction models and
equations to represent the problem is suggested).
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: C

2
Benny uses gallon of gas to mow his entire lawn one time.
5

1
What is the maximum number of times Benny can mow his entire lawn with 3
2
gallons of gas?

A. 6

B. 7

C. 8

D. 9

38
 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students did not divide the given fractions correctly. Students may
need support with the concepts required to compute fractional
operations involving mixed numbers.
Incorrect – 2 Students may have disregarded the 1/2 gallon in addition to the 3
gallons available and divided correctly to find 7 1/2 which would lead to
a correct use of the whole number 7 which is an incorrect result.
Students may need support determining relevance of given values in
contextual problems.
Correct – 3 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and divided the amount of available gas by the amount
required for each use to get 8 3/4 which limits the maximum whole
number uses available to 8.
Incorrect – 4 Students may have correctly divided the amount of available gas by the
amount required for each use to get 8 3/4 but incorrectly rounded the
answer, rather than taking the whole-number portion. Students may
need support with the concept of contexts that require whole number
values.

39
Item Information
Item Code: TN058151 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.RP.A.3.c Position No: 17
Standard Text: Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means
30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part
and the percent.
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: B

What percent of 400 is 75?

A. 5.33%
B. 18.75%

C. 25%

D. 53%

40
 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students incorrectly reversed the placement of the given values to find
what multiple of 75 is 400. Students may need support in
understanding how to correctly create a ratio or expression to find the
unknown percent.
Correct – 2 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and used a ratio or equation to calculate the unknown
percent 75 is of 400.
Incorrect – 3 Students may have used estimation strategies to incorrectly determine
75 as approximately 25% of 400. Students may need support in
understanding how to correctly create a ratio or expression to find the
unknown percent.
Incorrect – 4 Students incorrectly reversed the placement of the given values to find
what percent of 75 is 400. Additionally, they may have converted the
decimal value found into a percent incorrectly. Students may need
support in understanding how to correctly create a ratio or expression
to find the unknown percent and how to express rational numbers as
percents.

41
Item Information
Item Code: TN946549 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.NS.A.1 Position No: 18
Standard Text: Interpret and compute quotients of fractions, and solve contextual problems
involving division of fractions by fractions (e.g., using visual fraction models and
equations to represent the problem is suggested).
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: B,C

3
The area of Natalie’s new bedroom rug is 3 square feet. The width of the rug is
4
1
2 feet. What is the length of Natalie’s rug?
2
Select all correct answers.

2
A.
3
3
B.
2
1
C. 1
2
1
D. 2
2
1
E. 3
2

42
 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students may have incorrectly divided the width by the area, instead of
dividing the area by the width. Students may need support in applying
given values in situational problems to create expressions or equations
to find values.
Correct – 2 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and created an equation that used steps for solving that
resulted in dividing the total area by the width to get a length of 3/2 or
1 1/2.
Correct – 3 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and created an equation that used steps for solving that
resulted in dividing the total area by the width to get a length of 3/2 or
1 1/2.
Incorrect – 4 Students did not correctly create an equation that would be used to find
an unknown side length given an area. Students may need support in
applying given values in situational problems to create expressions or
equations to find values.
Incorrect – 5 Students may have correctly calculated the value of 3/2, but
interpreted the mixed number as a product. Students may need
support in applying given values in situational problems to create
expressions or equations to find values.

43
Item Information
Item Code: TN120333 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.RP.A.3.c Position No: 19
Standard Text: Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of a quantity means
30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a part
and the percent.
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: A

Of the 220 tickets available for a school play, 45% have been sold.

What is the number of tickets that have sold?

A. 99
B. 175
C. 489

D. 990

44
 Rationales
Correct – 1 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and created an equation or a proportion to find an
unknown part of a whole given the percent.
Incorrect – 2 Students may have subtracted 45% as a whole number from the total
tickets available to get 175. Students may need support understanding
the mathematical operations required when finding percent of a whole
as well as using percent as rational numbers.
Incorrect – 3 Students may have correctly calculated using an equation or proportion
that incorrectly applied the given values in the situation. 220 is 45% of
489. Students may need support understanding the assigning of values
as either the part or the whole in contextual problems.
Incorrect – 4 Students may have correctly created an equation or proportion to find
the unknown part but committed an error in the conversion of the
percent to a rational number. Students may need support in using
percent and equivalent rational numbers and converting between the
two for required calculations.

45
Item Information
Item Code: TN846208 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.EE.A.4 Position No: 20
Standard Text: Identify when expressions are equivalent (i.e., when the expressions name the
same number regardless of which value is substituted into them).
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: C,E

Which expression is equivalent to 3y  6? Select two correct answers.

A. y 2  2y  6

B. 3(y  6)

C. 5y  1  2y  5

D. (y  3)  6

E. 3(y  2)

46
 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students may have used 1 as the value for y which would incorrectly
lead them to believe the expressions were equivalent for all values of y.
Students may need support in using greater values for substitution and
subsequent multiple operations in given expressions.
Incorrect – 2 Students may have incorrectly used the distributive property as
applying only to the first value in the enclosed portion of the
expression. Students may need support in understanding of the
distributive property and its application.
Correct – 3 Students correctly applied the order of operations using a substituted
value greater than 1 which would make the expression equivalentfor
all values. Students correctly combined like terms to verify that this
expression is equivalent to the given one.
Incorrect – 4 Students may have committed an error in which they equated the
associative property with the distributive property which led them to
incorrectly decide the expressions were equivalent for all values of y.
Students may need support in understanding of the distributive
property and its application on given values.
Correct – 5 Students correctly applied the order of operations using a substituted
value greater than 1 which would make the expression equivalent for
all values. Students correctly applied the distributive property to verify
this expression is equivalent to the given one.

47
Item Information
Item Code: TN420347 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.RP.A.3.a Position No: 21
Standard Text: Make tables of equivalent ratios relating quantities with whole number
measurements, find missing values in the tables, and plot the pairs of values on
the coordinate plane. Use tables to compare ratios.
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: B

Marcus is making a ratio table to use when mixing pints of paint colors. He will
use this table to mix an identical color.

Color A (pints) Color B (pints)

5 8

10 ?

15 24

20 32

What is the missing value in the ratio table?

A. 13

B. 16

C. 18

D. 19

48
 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students may have incorrectly applied the increase in each value by 5
for the values of Color A to the values of Color B to add 5 to 8 for a
result of 13. Students may need support understanding ratio
relationships and the application of proportionality to discover
equivalent ratios.
Correct – 2 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and used the values to apply the concept of proportionality
to determine the value which would create an equivalent ratio.
Incorrect – 3 Students may have incorrectly applied the increase in each value by 8
for the values of Color B to the values of Color A to add 8 to 10 for a
result of 18. Students may need support understanding ratio
relationships and the application of proportionality to discover
equivalent ratios.
Incorrect – 4 Students may have incorrectly applied the increase in each value by 5
for the values of Color A to the values of Color B to subtract 5 from 24
for a result of 19. Students may need support understanding ratio
relationships and the application of proportionality to discover
equivalent ratios.

49
Item Information
Item Code: TN258359 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.EE.B.5 Position No: 22
Standard Text: Understand solving an equation or inequality is carried out by determining if any of
the values from a given set make the equation or inequality true. Use substitution
to determine whether a given number in a specified set makes an equation or
inequality true.
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: C,D,E

Select all of the values of x that make the inequality 4x  8 true.

A. 0

B. 1

C. 2

D. 3

E. 4

50
 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students may have incorrectly reversed the inequality sign when
dividing by 4, leading to an incorrect application of the given value
when solving the inequality. Students may need support using
inequality signs and their meanings for the values they compare.
Incorrect – 2 Students may have incorrectly reversed the inequality sign when
dividing by 4, leading to an incorrect application of the given value
when solving the inequality. Students may need support using
inequality signs and their meanings for the values they compare.
Correct – 3 Students correctly solved the inequality to determine the value made
the inequality true.
Correct – 4 Students correctly solved the inequality to determine the value made
the inequality true.
Correct – 5 Students correctly solved the inequality to determine the value made
the inequality true.

51
Item Information
Item Code: TN646490 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.EE.C.9.a Position No: 23
Standard Text: Write an equation to express one quantity, thought of as the dependent variable, in
terms of the other quantity, thought of as the independent variable.
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: B

One type of soft drink contains 9.3 teaspoons of sugar per can.
Which equation can be used to show the relationship between the number of cans
of soft drink, c, and the total number of teaspoons of sugar, s?

A. 9.3s  c

B. 9.3c  s

C. s  9.3  c
c
D. s
9.3

52
 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students incorrectly assigned the variables according to dependent and
independent, which may have come from placing each variable in the
order listed in the first sentence. Students choosing this answer may
need additional support interpreting and rearticulating the story
described in real-world proportional relationship problems.
Correct – 2 Students correctly identified the proportional relationship and were able
to represent it in an equation which assigned the variables
appropriately in order to find the total sugar, s.
Incorrect – 3 Students incorrectly determined to find the total value of c and
additionally used addition as the operation required for calculation.
This can come from an over-reliance on selecting operations based on
specific words (e.g. “total”), instead of seeking to understand how the
operations represent real-world relationships. Students choosing this
answer may need practice articulating the context of a problem prior
to selecting an operation to represent the real-world relationships.
Incorrect – 4 Students recognized that s was the variable they were solving for, but
misunderstood the proportional relationship described, swapping the
dependent and independent variables. They may need additional
support interpreting a proportional relationships and how they are
represented in real-world context.

53
Item Information
Item Code: TN358203 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.RP.A.1 Position No: 24
Standard Text: Understand the concept of a ratio and use ratio language to describe a ratio
relationship between two quantities.
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: C

There are 15 boys and 10 girls in Ms. Rogers’ class. What is the ratio of boys to
girls?
A. 2:3

B. 2:5
C. 3:2

D. 3:5

54
 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students found the ratio of girls to boys, rather than that of boys to
girls. While there are many ways of representing proportional
relationships, these students may need support understanding that the
description of the relationship helps clarify the placement of numbers or
variables in mathematical expressions (e.g. conceptually, what is the
difference between “boys to girls” and “girls to boys” in this case).
Incorrect – 2 Students found the ratio of girls to the total number of boys and girls,
rather than that of boys to girls. These students may not have
recognized that ratio relationships can be numerically simplified and still
represent the same relationship, and that these relationships can be
represented in many ways. They may need support recognizing
equivalent mathematical and verbal representations of the same real-
world relationships.
Correct – 3 Students correctly identified the ratio relationship and simplified the
relationship to create an equivalent ratio of boys to girls using the given
values.
Incorrect – 4 Students found the ratio of boys to the total number of boys and girls,
rather than that of boys to girls. These students may benefit from
additional support in understanding the difference between part-to-part
and part-to-whole ratio relationships in real-world problems.

55
Item Information
Item Code: TN546605 Grade Level: 6
Standard Code: 6.NS.A.1 Position No: 25
Standard Text: Interpret and compute quotients of fractions, and solve contextual problems
involving division of fractions by fractions (e.g., using visual fraction models and
equations to represent the problem is suggested).
Calculator: Y
Correct Answer: D

Suzy is taking a class at the community college. The class will meet for a total of
3 1
18 hours. The class will meet once a week for 1 hours. For how many weeks
4 4

will the class meet?

A. 23

B. 20

C. 18

D. 15

56
 Rationales
Incorrect – 1 Students possibly multiplied the two values in the problem. Students
choosing this answer may need practice articulating the context of a
problem prior to selecting an operation to represent the real-world
relationships.
Incorrect – 2 Students may have added 5/4 rather than dividing. This can come from
an over-reliance on selecting operations based on specific words (e.g.
“total”), instead of seeking to understand how the operations represent
real-world relationships. Students choosing this answer may need
practice articulating the context of a problem prior to selecting an
operation to represent the real-world relationships.
Incorrect – 3 Students possibly used estimation strategies to create an expression
approximating 18 (e.g. 18 divided by 1). These students may need
additional support in understanding how different representations of
fractions can help make the use of operations easier.
Correct – 4 Students correctly identified the mathematical relationship described in
the problem and created an expression using the context provided and
computed the resulting quotient correctly by dividing 18 3/4 by 1 1/4.

57
  Information on Tennessee’s Assessment Program
 Tennessee Academic Standards for Mathematics
 The eight Standards for Mathematical Practice
 Best for All Central
 Assessing Student Learning Reopening Toolkit
 Assessment Development LiveBinder Resource Site

Casey Haugner-Wrenn | Assistant Commissioner, Assessment

(615) 290-2864
[email protected]

Clay Sanders | Director of Assessment Development

(615) 308-9298
[email protected]

Dennete Kolbe | Sr. Director Assessment Logistics

(615) 330-3741
[email protected]

Eric Wulff | Director of Formative Assessment

[email protected]

Erin Jones Ed.S, Ed.D | TCAP Development Coordinator

(629) 221-0118
[email protected]

Scott Eddins | 6-12 Math Coordinator

(615) 979-1070
[email protected]

Lisa Choate | K-8 Math Coordinator

(615) 708-0416
[email protected]

58