WHAT IS THE CAPT?

At the beginning of every March, Connecticut issues their series of standardized tests.  One of those tests, the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT), is administered to the tenth grade class. The CAPT assesses student achievement in four major content areas: Writing Across the Disciplines, Reading Across the Disciplines, Mathematics, and Science. The knowledge and skills tested in these areas are established by the Connecticut curriculum frameworks.

What Parents and Students Should Know (CT State Department of Education):  English  :  Spanish

2009 Interpretive Guide (CTSDE)

THE (4) FUNDAMENTAL COMPONENTS OF CAPT:

Science:

The Science test assesses students’ understanding of important scientific concepts from five different content strands, as well as their abilities to apply those concepts to real-world issues. In addition, there is a major focus on scientific inquiry and using scientific reasoning to solve problems. The test includes a combination of multiple-choice and short-answer questions, which may require students to create graphs.  This test requires that students have completed or be familiar with a few core 'embedded tasks'

Science State Released Items: 2009   2008   2007

Additional Resources:

CAPT Prep Tutorial       Acid Rain Review      CT Brownfields Review     Understanding Polymers      Practice Science Questions                    

Mathematics

The Mathematics test assesses how well students can compute and estimate, solve problems, and communicate their understanding. The test focuses on applying important mathematical concepts to solve problems that are relevant to everyday life. The test includes a combination of grid-in and short-answer questions from four different content strands.

Mathematics State Released Items: 2009   2008   2007

Writing: Writing Across the Disciplines

Students’ writing skills are assessed in two ways. The Interdisciplinary Writing (IW) test requires students to use knowledge and skills gained through many disciplines. On the IW test, students must read two articles representing different perspectives on a controversial issue and use the information to write a persuasive essay. Students are required to complete two separate IW tests based on two different issues. 

The Editing & Revising test requires students to read samples of student writing and answer multiple-choice questions to correct common errors in organization, word choice, syntax, capitalization, punctuation, usage, and spelling.

Editing and Revising State Released Items:   2009   2008   2007

Note: Due to copyright agreements, Reading for Information, Response to Literature, and Interdisciplinary Writing materials are not available online. To request these released items, please contact the CAPT Office at (860) 713-6890.

Reading: Reading Across the Disciplines

Students’ reading skills are assessed using two tests. The Response to Literature test requires students to read a short story and respond to four essay questions. This test measures how well students demonstrate understanding, interpret meaning, make connections, and evaluate the way the author wrote the story.  The Reading for Information test requires students to read three short nonfiction articles and answer multiple-choice and short-answer questions. This test measures how well students understand information and can evaluate the way authors wrote the articles.

Note: Due to copyright agreements, Reading for Information, Response to Literature, and Interdisciplinary Writing materials are not available online. To request these released items, please contact the CAPT Office at (860) 713-6890.

Older CTSDE Released Items: Click Here