Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734)994-2209
In September, your child took the Northwest Evaluation Association’s (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment in both mathematics and reading. This adaptive, computerized assessment is given three times per year in the fall, winter and spring for students in grades K-5, and for both the Ann Arbor Open at Mack and Scarlett-Mitchell K-8 campuses. The purpose of the assessment is to provide data on students' growth over time in the areas of Math and Reading so that teachers can use it to inform instruction.
There are two versions of the assessment being administered: MAP for Primary and the MAP. MAP for Primary is administered to all K-1 students, while the MAP is administered to students in grades 2-8. Both assessments are computerized and use adaptive technology to create a test unique to each student. K-1 students take 4, 30-minute modules: two in Reading and two in Math. Students in grades 2-8 take 2, 60-minute modules: one in Reading and one in Math. The resulting data allows teachers to see the instructional ranges within their classrooms and begin to target their teaching to specific skills students need. This allows for more differentiated instruction within the classroom to meet the needs of all learners. Parents
NWEA has created a Parent Toolkit that does an excellent job of explaining the assessment, as well as provides additional at-home support sites students can use for practice. From www.nwea.org:
"Among other things, the MAP testing provides a standard measurement called a RIT score. RIT stands for Rasch unIT, which is a unit of measure that uses individual item difficulty values to estimate student achievement. RIT scores create an equal-interval scale. Equal interval means that the difference between scores is the same regardless of whether a student is at the top, bottom, or middle of the RIT scale; it has the same meaning regardless of grade level.
The RIT scale is used to measure how "tall" a student is on the curriculum scale and scores can be compared to tell how much growth a student has made, similar to measuring height on a yard-stick. [...] This may be the first indication that teaching the same thing to all students in a given lesson may not be very effective."
Testing windows for 2011-2012:
Please contact your individual schools for more information on exact dates and times your student(s) will test.
Data Below is a timeline of when you can expect to see your child’s data throughout the 2011-2012 school year:
On the report home you’ll see a RIT score, which is used to measure your student’s academic growth and progress throughout his/her career with the Ann Arbor Public Schools. RIT stands for Rausch Unit and is a scale developed by a Danish mathematician to measure growth over time.
Please note that the RIT score is a snapshot of how your student performed on the MAP assessment on a single day in time and is one of many pieces of data we use to develop the whole picture of your child. Assessments can be impacted by items such as student familiarity with a computer, perceptions about testing, anxiety, and student engagement. This data is just once piece of the picture; other measures of academic progress include: report card outcomes, Benchmark Running Record Assessments, Checking Progress unit assessments in math for grades 1-5, MEAP results and individual teacher assessments. Click here to view a video explanation of the Student Progress Report. (If you have difficulty viewing this video, you may need to update your Flash player). Click here to read a transcript of this video.
Teachers |
