NYS Integrated Algebra II / Trig – sources for sample exams

A whole bunch of teachers and, I don’t know, thousands of students? around New York State are scrambling. The very first Integrated Algebra 2 /Trig (IA2T) exam is coming two weeks from today, and there are no old exams to practice with.

Practice with old exams? Yup, that’s the favored flavor of test prep in New York State high schools. And we can’t do it!

But no need to climb the walls – there are sources for sample exams, mock exams, best guesses:

• NY State created a single exam, called the Test Sampler. Good chance that the exams match the “feel” and some of the content of the real thing.
• Topical Review sells a teensy booklet with made-up exams and the sampler. I felt the quality was mixed – some of the questions were not so well-written, and some are not in the right style, (and the margins are all wrong so you don’t get the test-taking with inadequate scrap paper experience), but you get what you pay for: $2.50 for six original exams, and a dime for the answer key. And they are overall the right length, something close to the right mix, etc.
• E-math Instruction has a freebie set of five exams. They are formatted right. They have the right feel. Use these.
• Some teachers upstate devised a group of three sample exams. Regents Prep from Oswego. The first one is just a rework of the State sampler, but the other two are original. They are good.

Finally, J-Map (Jefferson Mathematics Project) has a ton of worksheets keyed to individual skills and groups of skills, but no sample exams (that I can find)