Georgia Milestones Practice Test + How to Ace the GMAS Test
/The Georgia Milestones Assessment System (GMAS) is designed to measure student mastery of state-adopted content standards in English Language Arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
The exams also provide students and parents with information about readiness for the next grade level or the next step in life, such as college or a career.
GMAS assesses students in 3rd grade through high school. While the exams are rigorous, working on Georgia Milestones practice tests can help your child prepare.
In this article, we’ll provide information, tips, and Georgia Milestones practice tests to help put you and your child on the path to GMAS success.
Click the relevant button below to get a GMAS practice test for a relevant grade level, plus you will receive a bonus PDF "5 Top Tips to Use Practice Tests Effectively"to help your child study for the test.
Georgia Milestones Basics
The Georgia Milestones Assessment System (GMAS) was implemented during the 2014-2015 school year.
The new state tests reflect the rigor of the updated content standards adopted by the Georgia State Board of Education in 2010. These standards are based on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), a national list of skills and knowledge that students should master at each grade level.
For elementary and middle school students, GMAS tests include the following:
High school students take end-of-course assessments in math, reading, science, and social studies courses.
All GMAS tests include constructed response items, which require students to briefly explain and support their ideas in writing. There is also a writing component on the ELA test at each grade level.
There are four achievement levels for each GMAS test:
In the following sections, we’ll take a closer look at each of the GMAS tests and the content your child will be tested on at each grade level.
GMAS English Language Arts (3-8)
This test measures students’ ability to read, comprehend, and analyze grade-level appropriate passages and to express ideas in writing, using evidence to support analysis.
There are four question types on all GMAS ELA tests:
Questions fall into two different domains:
On all GMAS ELA tests, students must answer 60 questions that are divided into three sections. Sections 1 and 2 are administered on the first day of testing, and students are given 75 minutes for each section.
Section 3 is administered the following day, and students have up to 90 minutes to complete this final section.
Below, we’ll take a brief look at content and sample questions for the ELA test at each grade level.
3rd Grade
For a third grade student, a reading question would resemble the following:
A language question might focus on basic grammar, such as correct word usage:
Additionally, students are expected to write two brief essays: an informational essay and an opinion essay. For both, test-takers must incorporate information from provided passages in their response to an assigned prompt like the following:
Students also write extended constructed responses related to narrative techniques such as completing a story, writing an alternate beginning, or adding dialogue.
4th Grade
4th grade language questions are more complex and challenging, like the following example:
A fourth grade informational essay prompt could look something like this:
While this is similar to the third grade sample prompt, it is also more advanced. The third grade prompt asked students to find only differences, while the fourth grade prompt asks students to identify both similarities and differences.
5th Grade
Below are examples of a 5th grade language and a 5th grade reading question, respectively.
The fifth grade opinion essay prompt will look something like this:
An extended constructed response question about narrative techniques could resemble the following:
6th Grade
Of course, language-based questions continue to grow in complexity, as you can see from the following example:
Reading questions are based on challenging pieces like Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Moon”:
Questions also require students to analyze at a deeper level, as in this constructed response question, which is also based on “The Moon”:
Beginning in 6th grade, the “opinion essay” is referred to as the more rigorous “argumentative essay”:
7th Grade
By 7th grade, students should have a more advanced command of language conventions, including the ability to correctly identify sentence types:
Passages continue to increase in difficulty. For example, 7th grade students could be asked questions based on an excerpt from the Jules Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days:
An extended constructed response question concerning narrative techniques would resemble the following example, also based on Around the World in Eighty Days:
Essay prompts use more advanced language, such as the mention of “claims” in the following argumentative essay prompt:
8th Grade
8th grade students should have an even more advanced vocabulary associated with language conventions, as in the example below:
Students may be asked to deal with more advanced narrative techniques in their extended constructed responses, such as theorizing about a character’s inner dialogue:
Informational essays have more requirements and may cover more abstract topics, as in this sample prompt:
These are rigorous assessments, but remember that there are plenty of resources available to help your child prepare. Be sure to spend some time working with Georgia Milestones practice tests prior to test day. There are GMAS practice tests available for each grade level.
GMAS Mathematics (3-8)
These exams contain three question types:
At all grade levels, students answer 73 questions divided into two 85-minute sections.
Let’s take a quick look at the basic content for each grade level math exam.
3rd Grade
Questions focus on the following four categories:
4th Grade
Fourth grade questions fall into five categories:
5th Grade
5th grade students respond to questions in the same five categories as 4th grade students.
The following is an example of a 5th grade question related to Numbers and Operations in Base 10:
A 5th grade Measurement and Data would resemble the following sample question:
5th grade Geometry questions include information about coordinate grids:
6th Grade
Sixth grade students answer questions in five different categories:
7th Grade
The 7th grade GMAS math test focuses on the same five question categories as 6th grade.
Below is an example of a 7th grade Ratios and Proportional Relationships question:
7th grade students should also be able to answer Geometry questions dealing with multiple three dimensional shapes:
7th grade Statistics and Probability questions look like the following:
8th Grade
For 8th grade students, the GMAS Mathematics test covers four question categories:
8th grade students must additionally be able to work with functions, exponents, linear models and tables, and systems of equations.
Although these exams are challenging, there are extremely helpful GMAS study guides and Georgia Milestones practice tests available through the GMAS website.
GMAS Social Studies (5, 8)
This test consists exclusively of selected response items. There are 75 questions total, and both 5th and 8th grade students are allowed 70 minutes per section.
For both grade levels, the four question categories are:
For comparison purposes, here is a 5th grade History question and an 8th grade History question, respectively. Both questions are testing basic recall of information studied in class:
To learn more about GMAS Social Studies, be sure to view the GMAS practice tests available through the testing website.
GMAS Science (5, 8)
On the GMAS Science test, both 5th and 8th grade students answer 75 selected response questions in two 70-minute sections.
5th grade students answer questions on the following topics:
8th grade students, on the other hand, are tested on:
To view additional questions for either grade level, review the GMAS study guides or Georgia Milestones practice tests offered on the testing website.
GMAS End of Course Exams (High School)
High school students take end-of-course exams for the following ten classes:
The GMAS EOCs have the same question types as other GMAS exams, and questions are based on the curriculums designed by the state of Georgia for each of these ten courses.
For more in-depth information and sample questions, check out the GMAS study guides and Georgia Milestones practice tests available on the GMAS website.
How to Ace the GMAS Test
Your child can achieve a high score on GMAS exams by following two simple steps.
First, it’s essential to work hard throughout the school year. Encourage your child to pay attention in class, take notes, study, and complete classwork and homework.
Because the curriculum of Georgia teachers is based on the same standards assessed on the GMAS, this is a crucial step in performing successfully on the test. If your child struggles in a key subject, ask the teacher for extra help or consider hiring a tutor.
The second step is to complete practice question and GMAS practice tests. Working on Georgia Milestones practice tests can help your child build confidence and familiarity with test content.
Be sure to spend time discussing why right answer are correct and wrong answers are incorrect. If your child has difficulty with a particular question type, spend extra time working on these questions and developing better approaches to solving them.
You can also find helpful Georgia Milestones study guides on the GMAS website.
By working hard throughout the year and devoting time to working on Georgia Milestones practice tests, your child will develop the necessary knowledge and confidence to ace the GMAS tests!