Mathematics
The Georgia Milestones mathematics tests are the grades 3–8 end-of-grade assessments and the Algebra I and Geometry end-of-course assessments, built on Georgia’s K–12 Mathematics Standards. Content ranges from place value and fraction operations through proportional reasoning, expressions and equations, linear functions and systems, quadratics, transformations and congruence, right-triangle trigonometry, circles and volume, and statistics. Tests mix selected-response items with constructed-response items, so the reasoning that produces an answer is scored, not just the answer itself.
Core rules
- Write the setup before calculating. Constructed-response credit depends on visible reasoning and labeled work.
- Proportional relationships use a constant unit rate; scale both quantities by the same factor.
- For a line, slope equals the change in y divided by the change in x, and y = mx + b. Parallel lines share a slope; perpendicular slopes are negative reciprocals.
- Solve equations by performing the same operation on both sides, and distribute before combining like terms.
- A relation is a function only if each input has exactly one output.
- Rigid motions (translations, rotations, reflections) preserve congruence; dilations produce similarity.
- Describe data by center, spread, and shape, and remember that association does not establish causation.
Worked example
Solve 3(x − 2) + 5 = 2x + 9. Distribute: 3x − 6 + 5 = 2x + 9, so 3x − 1 = 2x + 9. Subtract 2x from both sides: x − 1 = 9. Add 1: x = 10. Check: 3(10 − 2) + 5 = 24 + 5 = 29, and 2(10) + 9 = 29. Both sides match. The check matters: it catches sign errors that survive the algebra and confirms the solution satisfies the original equation.
Traps that cost marks
- Distributing 3(x − 2) as 3x − 2 instead of 3x − 6.
- Solving correctly, then giving the wrong quantity - for example, reporting a discounted price when the question asks for the discount.
- Rounding at each step instead of at the end.
- Assuming a figure is drawn to scale.
- Swapping a rate of change with an initial value in context.
- Expanding (x + 3)² as x² + 9.