General Information
Test Item Specifications
Students will determine which measures of central tendency or variability should be used to best describe the given data.
Students will identify one missing data point in a data set given the mean, median, and/or mode of the data set and all other data points.
Students will identify which question can be answered from a given measure of central tendency or variability.
Items may include data sets that are presented as lists, frequency tables, and charts.
The number of data points may not exceed six when the mean is being calculated.
The number of data points may not exceed ten when the median or mode is being determined.
Graphical displays are limited to line graphs, double bar graphs, bar graphs, pictographs, and line plots.
Items will not assess the vocabulary measures of central tendency or variability.
Items may include, in both stem or answer options, the vocabulary word outlier.
Items should be set in a real-world or mathematical context.
Graphics should be used in most of these items, as appropriate.
Sample Test Items (1)
Test Item # | Question | Difficulty | Type |
Sample Item 1 | Noreen took 5 tests in her science class. Her test scores are shown in the table below.
Noreen’s teacher calculated the mean, median, mode, and range of Noreen’s set of test scores. Which of these measures has the highest value? |
N/A | MC: Multiple Choice |
Related Resources
Lesson Plans
Name | Description |
Calculating the Mean, Median, Mode, and Range from a Frequency Chart | This lesson lasts a total of two hours: 15-minute pre-lesson, 90-minute lesson, and 15-minute follow up lesson or homework. Students will need the two worksheets, a mini-whiteboard, a pen, and an eraser. Each small group will need both card sets, a large sheet of paper, and a glue stick. Students will generate responses to a question about favorite computer games and use this data for the lesson. Students will then work collaboratively to display different data and discuss various strategy approaches. |
Flipping the house | The Gonzalez family is moving to Florida and they need our students' help deciding which neighborhood to live in. To help them, the students will calculate the mean and median of home prices in the neighborhood and trends in price changes. Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx |
Exploring Central Tendency | Students will review measures of central tendency and practice selecting the best measure with real-world categorical data. This relatable scenario about ranking the characteristics considered when purchasing a pair of sneakers, is used to finally answer the age-old question of "When will I ever use this?". |
Data Doctors | Have your students become "Data Doctors" by examining and analyzing means of central tendency. This lesson is a great introduction to mean, median, mode and range. Students will be sets of data, get to work in small groups examining the sets, view a poem that will help them remember each term, and take surveys to get real data sets. |
Candy Colors: Figuring the Mean, Median & Mode | In this lesson, students will count candy of different colors and use the data to calculate the mean, median, and mode. Groups of students will work together to share their data and calculate the measures of central tendency again. At the end of the lesson, they will apply their learning to another data collection. |