CAASPP Math Grade 3 Practice Test
Free CAASPP (Smarter Balanced) grade 3 math practice for parents and kids — multiplication and division, place value, fractions, measurement and data, shapes, and two-step word problems, with a parent-friendly explanation for every answer in English, Chinese and Spanish.
Choose a math topic
Practice questions written from the California Common Core State Standards for Mathematics for grade 3, the content the CAASPP Smarter Balanced math test measures. This site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the California Department of Education, ETS or the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, and these are not real test questions. The real test is taken on a computer and also uses question types such as typing a number, choosing several answers and dragging items; we practice the same skills with multiple choice. For the official interface, use the CAASPP practice and training tests.
About the CAASPP grade 3 math test
Grade 3 is the first year California students take the CAASPP Smarter Balanced math test, usually in the spring. It is a computer test that adapts to your child's answers, plus a longer performance task built around one real-world situation. It measures the grade 3 California Common Core math standards: multiplication and division within 100, adding and subtracting within 1000, fractions, measurement and data, and shapes, along with solving problems and explaining reasoning. These practice sets follow the same standards, one topic at a time, so you can see where your child is confident and where to spend a few extra minutes.
How to help your child prepare for grade 3 math
Multiplication and division are the first of grade 3's major focus areas in the standards, so start there. By the end of the year children are expected to know all products of two one-digit numbers from memory, and to see division as a missing-factor problem: 32 divided by 8 asks what times 8 makes 32. If a fact is shaky, build it from one they know, such as 8 × 7 = 8 × 5 + 8 × 2.
Fractions are new in grade 3 and are where many children lose points. Keep the denominators to 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8, as the standards do, and talk about equal parts: one fourth is one of four EQUAL parts. When comparing fractions with the same top number, a bigger bottom number means smaller pieces, so 1/8 is less than 1/4.
Area and perimeter are easy to mix up. Area counts the squares inside a shape and is found by multiplying the sides of a rectangle; perimeter is the distance around and is found by adding all the sides. A quick habit that helps: say the unit out loud, square feet for area and feet for perimeter.
The test also asks children to solve two-step word problems and to explain whether someone's reasoning is right. Practice by asking 'how do you know?' after an answer, and by reading a word problem twice before computing: once for the story, once for the numbers and what is being asked.
FAQ
Is this CAASPP practice really free?
Yes. There is no sign-up, no account and no payment, and we never ask for your child's name or any personal information. Progress is saved only in your own browser.
Are these the real CAASPP questions?
No. Real test questions are secure. These are original questions written to the same grade 3 standards, and each one is tagged with the standard it practices, such as 3.NF.3d for comparing fractions. To let your child try the official computer interface, use the free CAASPP practice and training tests as well.
How should we use these practice sets at home?
Short and regular beats long and rare. Try one topic for ten to fifteen minutes, let your child answer without help, then read the explanation together for any miss and ask them to explain the method back to you. Revisit missed questions a few days later on the Review Your Mistakes page.
What do the CAASPP score levels mean?
Starting with 2025–26 results, the score report places each student in one of four achievement levels: Advanced, Proficient, Developing or Minimal. These names replaced Standard Exceeded, Met, Nearly Met and Not Met; the cut scores did not change. Proficient means the student showed the grade-level skills the test measures. The report also rates each area of the test as Above Proficient, At or Near Proficient, or Below Proficient, a useful guide to which topics here to practice first.
Can my child practice in Chinese or Spanish?
Yes. Every question and explanation is available in English, Simplified Chinese and Spanish, and the numbers are identical in all three, so a parent can explain in the language they are most comfortable with. On the real test, schools can provide language supports for math such as translated glossaries or a Spanish translation; ask your child's school which ones are available.
Recommended study resources
- CAASPP Math Grade 3 study guides on Amazon ↗
Print study guides pair well with free drilling — read the theory there, test yourself here.
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