In addition to state assessments such as ISATs, School District 21 has chosen assessment tools to guide decisions in order to meet the needs of all students. One such measure is the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) assessment from NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association). MAP is a computer-based assessment tool that is adaptable to the responses of individual students. In other words, depending upon how a child answers specific questions, the “test” will adjust itself in difficulty in order to “zero in on” the child’s actual ability based on the standardized scale that this test uses. Such a scale can provide teachers and parents with a wealth of information over time as it documents growth by an individual student. Additionally, with a sample of over 2,000,000 student respondents from around the United States, MAP also can provide data that seeks to compare a student to this sample of his or her peers using a normal curve scale.

Each fall, students in grades 3 – 8 will participate in a single reading test and a single math test. Each test takes approximately 60 minutes, and it is unlikely that any student will take both tests during the same school day. Thus, the impact on taking away from a student’s instructional time is minimal. Testing will take place again in the spring, for all students, grades 2 – 8, including students in bilingual and ESL programs. This spring testing window will provide another measure of the growth of each child as we look at our students’ fall and spring results.

Teacher teams use the information available from this assessment to identify patterns of strengths and weaknesses for individual students, and for entire groups of students. Then, with this information, teachers are able to differentiate instruction in order to best challenge each child according to his or her own needs. Each year, parents will receive assessment results at fall conferences, and again, with end-of-year report cards, along with information to explain the meaning of those results. MAP is one of a number of assessment tools that we utilize to assist us with making decisions that will positively impact each student.