The Decomposing test assesses a student's ability to put together and take apart numbers by using "parts" and a "whole." It is a timed subtest where the amount of responses that are correct per minute is the scoring metric. As the student verbalizes the number that represents the missing "part" the examiner marks any errors on his/her copy of the score form. The resulting score is the total number of items responded to correctly. This measure is designed for screening in kindergarten and for both screening and progress monitoring for first grade.
KG Test Construction
There are eight items representing the decomposing skill, and they are separated into two categories: decomposing from five and decomposing from ten. There are four items in each category, and all of the items are presented in either a five- or ten-frame format. For all items, the five and ten frames are filled with images of foods (e.g., cookies, and apples). During the example item, students are presented with the target number (the “whole”) verbally and visually, as represented by five images in a row. The examiner says, “There are five cookies, but I ate four. How many are left?” The test items are presented in a similar format. Students are presented with dots organized in a five- or ten-frame pattern and the examiner asks, “I ate X. How many are left?” The Decomposing assessment is designed to measure if students automatically know how to decompose numbers to five and ten and are therefore not allowed to use any counting strategies.
1st Test Construction
There are 24 items on this test and eight target numbers are used, each with three opportunities for responses. Target numbers include numbers between 5 and 20. The target number, the “whole,” is located at the top of the student stimulus page, and each of the three items is aligned vertically beneath the target number in a 2 x 1 matrix. The left side of the matrix contains the “part” represented by a numeral or set of dots. If a set of dots was used to represent the “part,” arrays did not contain more than five dots. The right side of each matrix is blank, and the student is required to determine what number is the missing “part.” Due to the focus on automaticity, students are not allowed to use any counting strategies.
Before administering the earlyMath English - Decomposing subtest be sure to download the student forms from the Training & Resources tab in the FastBridge system.
Select the Downloads tile under the Training & Resources tab.
Then select Download resources under earlyMath English.
Finally, click on the PDF icon under the DC column, in the Administrator row.
The student form looks like this:
To administer this assessment for the purpose of universal screening:
- Log in to the FastBridge system as a teacher.
- Go to the Screening tab.
- Select the earlyMath English assessment.
- Select the DC column from the earlyMath English Screening page.
To administer this assessment for purposes of progress monitoring:
- Log into the FastBridge system as a teacher or a specialist.
- Go to the Progress Monitoring tab.
- Use the filters to find the correct assessment group of students.
- Select Start for the desired student and choose a Form.
Here is what the teacher sees when administering the earlyMath English - Decomposing subtest.
For more information about the earlyMath English - Decomposing subtest complete the online earlyMath English course found in the Training & Resources section of the FastBridge system.
To do so, navigate to the Training & Resources tab, and click on the earlyMath English course tile.
Then select the Decomposing option on the vertical menu. Complete Lessons 1 through 8 in order to certify in the earlyMath English Decomposing subtest.