Can I use a calculator on ParaPathways?

An on-screen four-function calculator is provided on the Mathematics subtest, so you do not bring one. At a test center, ETS lists calculators among the prohibited aids, so you cannot bring your own. ETS's documents describe that calculator for Mathematics only, and Mathematics includes single-selection multiple-choice and numeric-entry questions.

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What ETS publishes about the calculator

Two ETS documents say the same thing. The Study Companion says test takers have access to an on-screen four-function calculator. The Information Bulletin says an on-screen four-function calculator is provided. Both put the calculator on the screen for the Mathematics subtest (5759), and both mean you do not bring one.

Four-function is the whole of the description. A four-function calculator adds, subtracts, multiplies and divides, and neither document describes anything past that phrase, so this page does not invent keys for it. Plan for arithmetic on a screen, and keep your own arithmetic skills sharp, because choosing the operation is still your work.

At a test center, calculators are on the prohibited list

ETS's test-center rules list calculators among the prohibited aids, so a calculator of your own cannot go into the room with you. The on-screen calculator on Mathematics is provided by ETS rather than brought by you, which is the difference between an aid and part of the test.

So the list of what you bring is short: leave the calculator at home. Nothing about the rest of the test changes, and the screen in front of you already has what the arithmetic needs.

Where the calculator fits on the Mathematics subtest

The Mathematics subtest (5759) is 36 questions in 60 minutes, and it includes single-selection multiple-choice questions and numeric-entry questions. The calculator does the same arithmetic in either format. What is left for you is the setup: read what is asked, choose the operation, and enter the numbers in the order the problem intends.

Estimate before you type. If a question says a container holds about 40 kilograms and the screen shows 4, you know a digit went in wrong before you spend the question on it. And know when not to reach for it: adding two numbers, halving a number or multiplying by 10 takes less time in your head than in the on-screen calculator, and doing those in your head keeps the question moving.

Three practice problems

Each one is arithmetic a four-function calculator can do, written here to show the setup. Try them before you read the steps, then compare. They are not practice-test items, and nothing on this page predicts what a given version of the test will ask.

Sample 1 - Multiply, then add

A classroom order lists 4 boxes of folders at $2.75 each and 3 boxes of index cards at $6.40 each. What is the total before tax?

Folders: 4 times $2.75 = $11.00.

Index cards: 3 times $6.40 = $19.20.

Total: $11.00 + $19.20 = $30.20.

Answer: $30.20 before tax.

Sample 2 - Divide, then check

A paraeducator has 95 markers and packs them into bags of 8. How many full bags can she fill, and how many markers are left over?

95 divided by 8 = 11.875, and only the whole bags count: 11.

Markers packed: 11 times 8 = 88.

Markers left over: 95 - 88 = 7.

Answer: 11 full bags, with 7 markers left over.

Sample 3 - Estimate, then compute

A school already has 600 notebooks and receives 18 boxes with 32 notebooks in each box. About how many notebooks will it have, and what is the exact number?

Estimate: 18 boxes is about 20 boxes and 32 is about 30, so 20 times 30 = 600 more notebooks, and the total should land close to 1,200.

Notebooks in the boxes: 18 times 32 = 576.

Total: 600 + 576 = 1,176.

The estimate and the exact answer are close, so nothing was entered wrong.