Summer vacation has gone by and children are starting their new school year. For some children (and parents), this new year begins at a new school. Along with the excitement of meeting new teachers and friends, parents and children have to familiarize themselves with new assessments and how its scores will affect their child’s learning.
I would like to share some information about the NWEA (NorthWest Evaluation Association) assessments that many schools (Charter schools in particular) administer to their students at the beginning of the year to provide teachers data about each child’s academic strengths and weaknesses.
K-2 students take the MAP (Measurement of Academic Progress) test for Primary Grades. Students in grades 3-5 take the MAP test for Reading, Language Use & Mathematics.The tests are not timed, however, students doing the MAP for Primary Grades usually complete the tests in about 15-30 minutes. For grades 3 and above, the tests take about 45 minutes to an hour to complete.
These are computerized adaptive tests, which means the difficulty of each question will be based on how well the student answers the previous question. As the student answers correctly, questions become more difficult. If the student answers incorrectly, the questions become easier. In an optimal test, a student answers approximately half the items correctly and half incorrectly. The final score is presented as the RIT (Rasch UnIT) score or value. RIT scores can range from 140 to 300. Students typically start at the 140 range in kindergarten and reach mid 300s by the time they are in high school.
Here is a link to the 2011 Normative Reference data of all RIT scores: https://www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2014/07/MAP-Normative-Data-One-Sheet-Dec11.pdf
After you get your child’s RIT scores, you will be able to use the table to find the grade equivalent of your child’s achievement. You will also find the table useful in determining your child’s approximate RIT value to select the appropriate practice resources from the links below.
Please ensure that your child views the video and does the sample questions (links in bold).
Resources for test prep:
- Video & sample questions for MAP for primary grades: https://www.nwea.org/warmup/warmup_start_educators_mpg.html
- Video & sample questions for MAP: https://www.nwea.org/warmup/warmup_start_educators_map.html
- MAP Math: http://www.sowashco.k12.mn.us/ro/pages/studentlinks/map/ AND http://www.linnmar.k12.ia.us/schools/westfield/westweb/NWEA_Math_RIT_Sites.html
- MAP Reading: http://www.sowashco.k12.mn.us/ro/pages/studentlinks/map/reading.html AND http://www.linnmar.k12.ia.us/schools/westfield/westweb/NWEA_Rdg_RIT_Sites.html
- http://www.prepdog.org/free.htm
- http://clinton.k12.wi.us/maptest_sites/map_reading_rit.html