State tests, grades 3 to 8
Which grades 3 to 8 state math test does my child take?
The one your public school’s state gives, in your child’s enrolled grade. Every page below covers one state test in depth: its question types, calculator rules, score report and an original practice set.
California. CAASPP math practice is for California families decoding a score in the 2,000s: the untimed adaptive section, the separate performance task and the state’s scale bands.
Any Smarter Balanced state. Smarter Balanced math practice reads the shared consortium blueprint rather than one state’s manual, so it suits families outside California whose state uses the same design under another name. Its focus is the four claims and the reasoning questions most families never practice.
Colorado. Colorado CMAS math practice covers the four subclaims Colorado reports, with particular attention to the written reasoning and modeling tasks. It is the page for a child whose report shows a Met or Approached level and a weak reasoning score.
Illinois. Illinois IAR math practice deals with the strictly timed 60-minute units and the state’s scoring expectations for a written answer, where a bare correct number does not earn the top point.
Massachusetts. MCAS math prep spans grades 3 to 8 and the grade 10 test, and is built around the constructed-response question and the two-session structure in which the calculator arrives only in grade 7.
North Carolina. NC EOG math practice is about the calculator-inactive part of the End-of-Grade test, so it leans on mental arithmetic and fraction sense, and it explains the end-of-year window.
New Jersey. NJSLA math practice explains what changed when New Jersey’s test became adaptive in 2026: why the first answers matter more, and why going back later is limited to the same session.
New York. NYS math test prep for grades 3 to 8 concentrates on partial credit in the two- and three-credit questions of Session 2, and on the two-day testing pattern New York schools follow.
Pennsylvania. PSSA math practice scores sample open-ended answers against the state’s four-point guideline, which is the clearest way to see what separates a 2 from a 4.
Texas. STAAR math tutoring reads the six grade-level blueprints, the no-calculator rule up to grade 7, and the switch to the Student Success Tool from 2027 to 2028.
Calculator rules on grades 3 to 8 state math tests, by state (each from the state’s calculator policy, test manual or test design document, read 31 October 2026)| State | Grades 3 to 5 | Grade 6 | Grades 7 and 8 |
|---|
| California (CAASPP) | No embedded calculator | Four-function | Scientific |
| Colorado (CMAS) | None, unless an approved accommodation | Five-function, with square root and percentage | Grade 7 five-function; grade 8 scientific |
| Illinois (IAR) | Accommodation only | Four-function with square root and percentage, calculator parts only | Grade 7 the same; grade 8 scientific |
| Massachusetts (MCAS) | None in either session | None in either session | Session 2 only |
| New Jersey (NJSLA-A) | Not permitted | Four-function, embedded | Grade 8 Desmos scientific and TI34 |
| New York | Not permitted | Session 2 only: four-function with square root, or scientific | Scientific; graphing not permitted |
| North Carolina (EOG) | Four-function with memory key, in the calculator-active section | Calculator-active section only | Calculator-active section only |
| Pennsylvania (PSSA) | Grade 3 none; grades 4 and 5 none on questions 1 to 4 | None on questions 1 to 4 | None on questions 1 to 4 |
| Texas (STAAR) | Not permitted | Not permitted | Grade 7 not permitted; grade 8 graphing calculator required |
So a grade 7 student in Texas works by hand while one in California has a scientific calculator on screen.
