Eureka Math Squared Equip is a suite of assessments and instructional resources that provide seamless supports for students’ access to grade-level content. Eureka Math Squared Equip has three main components:
- Pre-Module Assessments that show student proficiency with foundational knowledge
- Assessment Reports that guide planning
- Supporting Activities that provide targeted instruction
Eureka Math Squared Equip works in conjunction with the pacing of the Eureka Math Squared modules and lessons. The goal is to support students’ access to on-level content without disrupting the pace of instruction.
Starting at grade level 1, Eureka Math Squared Equip resources, including Pre-Module Assessments and Supporting Activities, appear in the Great Minds Digital Platform.
Pre-Module Assessments
Pre-Module Assessments are designed to give teachers a clear picture of students’ current proficiency with the foundational knowledge from previous grade levels or from earlier modules in the grade. Each grade has six modules, but only four Pre-Module Assessments. This structure reduces the number of potential assessment days.
- Modules 1 and 6 each have their own Pre-Module Assessment.
- Eureka Math Squared Equip provides one Pre-Module Assessment for modules 2 and 3 and one Pre-Module Assessment for modules 4 and 5. The combined Pre-Module Assessments appear in module 2 and module 4, respectively.
A best practice is to give Pre-Module Assessments 1 to 2 weeks before a new module begins to allow time to use the data to select and teach just-in-time supporting activities.
- If it’s not possible to give the module 1 Pre-Module Assessment before instruction, give priority to teaching module 1 lessons rather than delaying engagement with the content to assess or review assessment data. Eureka Math Squared lessons include embedded practice and accessibility features designed to provide students support with the content of the lesson.
- You may want to give the Module 1 Pre-Module Assessment within the first weeks of instruction. The data may still be useful for selecting activities that support students with later lessons in the module.
Other assessments, such as Topic Quizzes, Module Assessments, and Benchmark Assessments, provide feedback about student performance with grade-level content. The example below shows where each assessment in modules 2 and 3 could take place.
The Pre-Module Assessments address foundational knowledge that is essential for students to access material in the upcoming module or modules.
Achievement Descriptors
Eureka Math Squared Equip lists foundational knowledge as described in each grade level’s Achievement Descriptors.
- Achievement Descriptors, or ADs, are standards-aligned descriptions of what students should know and be able to do after having completed a given module.
The chart below appears in the Eureka Math Squared Equip Teacher Guide for modules 2 and 3 of grade level 4.
- Each item on the Pre-Module Assessment is aligned with one Achievement Descriptor.
- The Timeline column indicates when this knowledge is needed in the upcoming module.
- The Number of Supporting Activities column indicates how many supporting activities are provided for each item.
Please note that the items appear according to the complexity of essential foundational knowledge, not the order in which they appear in the module.
Teachers may arrange to deliver the Pre-Module Assessment digitally to student devices through the online platform. When administered and scored digitally, branch logic is used to create a custom experience for each student, which helps pinpoint conceptual gaps and misunderstandings.
- A correct response on a core question automatically moves the student to the next core question.
- An incorrect response on a core question may activate a related follow-up branching question, providing even more targeted information for planning instruction.
You may also choose to use a print version of the Pre-Module Assessment. The print version is intended to be downloaded, printed, and given as a paper-and-pencil task. The print version includes only core questions, not branching questions.
For teacher reference, the answer key includes distractor rationales and branching items. In addition to the digital and paper-based assessments, Eureka Math Squared Equip provides Interview Assessments for grade levels 1 and 2. As this example from grade level 2 shows, the Interview Assessment contains questions or short activities that invite students to demonstrate their proficiency with the same concepts and skills that the other formats assess. The Interview Assessment is intended to be given individually to each student.
Teachers may use the Interview Assessment in place of the other assessment formats or in addition to the other formats when more data is needed about how a student interacts with the content. User-added image The Interview Assessment comes with a recording sheet for handwritten notes. Consider printing the directions and recording sheet for your own use as you deliver the assessment.
Beyond grade level 2, consider using the print version of their Pre-Module Assessment to conduct interviews if you need more information about a student’s thinking.
Assessment Reports
When students complete the Pre-Module Assessment digitally, the platform automatically generates data and uses it to create reports. Eureka Math Squared Equip reports make it easy to identify students’ specific needs, create flexible student groups, and select targeted supporting activities.
The Summary report shows trends in class performance. The chart shows the class’s proficiency with the foundational knowledge for this module.
The Student Performance report shows each student’s overall score, their level of proficiency with the foundational knowledge for the module or modules, and their score by item.
Finally, the Recommended Supporting Activities report shows groups of students sorted according to the item or items they answered incorrectly. You may use the item-aligned supporting activities with a student, a small group, or the whole class.
Supporting Activities
Eureka Math Squared Equip includes both module-embedded practice and additional supporting activities that teachers can assign according to the foundational work each student needs based on their assessment data.
Each item in the Pre-Module Assessment has a corresponding item overview and at least one supporting activity.
- The essential foundational knowledge section appears next to the item and provides a narrative of the Achievement Descriptor and the related standard.
- It also states where in the curriculum the foundational knowledge appears.
- The overview also provides a rationale for why the knowledge is foundational to this module. Additionally, it shows which lessons in the module use the foundational knowledge to develop grade-level concepts.
Finally, the overview lists specific places in the upcoming module or modules where Eureka Math Squared already provides lesson-embedded practice with foundational knowledge.
The current module lessons are the first line of support. The Eureka Math Squared curriculum was designed to provide practice through fluency and lesson problems. Teachers can study the embedded practice throughout the module to determine whether it provides enough support. They may want to mark these opportunities in their Teach books for future reference.
After the item overview, you will find the item-aligned supporting activities. Supporting activities are just-in-time short bursts of instruction. They are brief, taking 5 to 15 minutes. Each activity is built to support students’ proficiency with the foundational knowledge indicated by the corresponding Pre-Module Assessment item.
Activity A was developed to support a student who did not demonstrate proficiency on the core item but did on the branching item. Activity B typically supports the student who did not demonstrate proficiency on either the core or branching item.
The level of support increases with each subsequent activity. Activity A is less scaffolded than Activity B, and so on. Often, Activity B supports Activity A.
Teachers can use any combination of the activities to develop students’ proficiency with the indicated foundational knowledge.
Supporting activities are intended to be sprinkled into instruction just before teaching the foundational knowledge. Teachers can have students engage in these activities during or outside the math period. Because the targeted instruction is incorporated in the lesson, students can make connections between previous learning and new content. These connections deepen student learning and ensure its permanence.
Keep in mind that Eureka Math Squared grade levels and courses have fewer lessons than the typical number of instructional days in a school year. This schedule provides approximately 30 days for assessment and responsive teaching. These days may be used flexibly to determine and address instructional needs without disrupting the pace of instruction.
Planning for Instruction
Preview and Plan
- First, look at the Pre-Module Assessment and review all the item overviews to get a sense of which concepts and skills should be familiar to students.
- Consider annotating the Teach book by marking the necessary foundational knowledge for a particular lesson and noting where Eureka Math Squared already provides lesson-embedded practice with the foundational knowledge.
Assess and Analyze
- Decide whether to assess all or some students, and determine which delivery format, or formats, to use.
- Analyze the data that the Pre-Module Assessment returns.
Plan Supporting Activities
- Look at the item overview for each core assessment item that students answer incorrectly. Glance back through the lesson-embedded support that is already built into Eureka Math Squared lessons and determine whether students need more instruction.
Assign
- If students do need more instruction, review the supporting activities that correspond to that item. Determine when to deliver the instruction, assign student pages digitally or print and copy them for students, and gather any needed lesson materials.
Great Minds® believes that all students are capable of greatness and understands that learning looks different for every student. Supportive instruction should look different for every student too. Eureka Math Squared Equip ensures that every student can engage with high-quality, rigorous, grade-level mathematics by identifying areas of proficiency and offering just-in-time supports.
See the Eureka Math Squared Equip User Guide for more detailed information and the walkthrough video for step-by-step guidance on navigating Eureka Math Squared Equip.