Standardized Practice Test for Fourth Grade Students in California

How to Help Your Fourth Grader Get Ready

In the state of California, your child will be required to take California Standards Test (CST) every year from the second until the eleventh grade. These tests are in place to determine your child's education level in relation to other students in California and the nation.

What's on the California Standardized Test?

When your child's in the fourth grade, there's no need to worry about history, social studies or science. He or she won't be tested on science until fifth grade and, for social studies and history, your child won't be tested until the sixth grade. For now, your child needs only to focus on English, language arts and math.

English and Language Arts

The English and language arts fourth grade CST includes the following sections: reading comprehension, word analysis, literary response, literary analysis, writing strategies and conventions. It's approximately 70-pages long and your child will need to read a number of passages and answer a series of multiple-choice questions about each.

Mathematics

The mathematics fourth grade CST includes these topics: factoring, algebra, functions, decimals, fractions, measurements, negative numbers, operations, geometry, probability, statistics and data analysis. This test is multiple-choice and about 30-pages long.

How Can I Help My Child Get Ready for the CST?

There a number of ways that you can help prepare your child for the California Standardized Test throughout the school year as well as directly before the exam itself. Sit down with your child make sure he or she is doing well on all assignments. Stay in touch with your child's teachers to ensure that you know what needs to be done for your child and what he or she needs to improve.

Anytime your child is getting ready to take a standardized test, he or she will usually benefit from taking practice tests. By taking practice tests, your child can experience the types of questions that will be asked on the real test and practice concentrating for an extended period of time. Since your fourth grader probably hasn't taken many standardized tests yet, practice tests can help him or her get used to test-taking techniques, which often will improve your child's performance.

Where Can I Find Standardized Practice Tests?

You can find out about the California fourth grade standardized testing program from the California Department of Education. The Department of Education also provides sample questions that have been released from earlier tests and are free for you to download.

Don't forget to check with your child's teachers and school to find out what resources they can provide. It's likely that your child's school can give you practice tests to administer to your child at home. It's possible that your child's school lists the learning standards for each grade level on its website - many primary schools in California do.