Most parents are aware when “testing season” begins for their child at school. Most states have standardized tests that students take each spring. But some school districts are conducting additional assessments with their students to better gauge needed areas of learning as the school year begins. Once such popular assessment is the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) test, and over 9.500 districts world-wide have implemented it. So, what is MAP?
Uplift Education, a charter school network serving the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, knows that to truly meet students where they are instructionally, they need to have a solid understanding of where students are when they start school in the fall, and how they are progressing throughout the year. For students in kindergarten through 10th grade, the network administers the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test each fall, winter, and spring.
Here’s why:
MAP tells educators what a scholar is ready to learn.
MAP tests are available for math and reading for all grades, with the addition of language usage and science in 3rd – 10th grade. The information educators receive from MAP tells teachers what skills students already know, what skills they are ready to master, and what skills they’re ready to start learning.
MAP is computer adaptive.
When a student takes the MAP test, the testing system actually adjusts to the level of the student by giving a slightly harder question after a correct answer, and a slightly easier question after an incorrect answer. In this way, educators can pinpoint exactly what a student can already do, and where to focus their teaching effort to help them succeed.
MAP measures growth.
Growth is incredibly important to educators for all students. Three administrations of MAP every year help teachers and scholars keep track of their progress toward and even exceed their growth goals. With each MAP score, a teacher can see where students have grown the most and use their progress to motivate them to continue to excel.
MAP scores (RIT) mean the same thing at every grade level.
The RIT score received from MAP is a scale score, but the scale doesn’t change from grade to grade like other tests. MAP measures what a student is ready to learn, and that is not something an educator can determine by grade level alone. If a 5th-grade student and a 7th-grade student have the same score in a subject, then they are ready to learn the same information.
MAP scores can be compared nationally.
MAP helps educators see how their students compare to those same students through National Norms and Test Percentiles. Using these tools, they know if a student is at the average score for their grade level, or if they are college-ready and significantly above their national peer.
