MAP Testing -- December 2, 6, and 9

During the week of December 2-9, your child will take tests called Measures of Academic Progress^® (MAP^®). We give students MAP tests to determine your child’s instructional level and to measure academic growth throughout the school year, and from year to year in the areas of reading, math, and science. Your child will take the tests on a computer.

These computerized tests are adaptive and offered in Reading, Language Usage, Mathematics, and Science. When taking a MAP® test, the difficulty of each question is based on how well a student answers all the previous questions. 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 an estimate of the student’s achievement level. As an alternative to MAP® tests, NWEA offers paper-pencil tests called Achievement Level Tests (ALT). These tests are created using the Level Test Design, which allows for individualized testing and reporting of growth scores.


MAP® assessments are used to measure your student’s progress or growth in school. You may have a chart in your home on which you mark your child’s height at certain times, such as on his or her birthday. This is a growth chart. It shows how much he or she has grown from one year to the next. MAP® assessments do the same sort of thing, except they measure your child’s growth in mathematics, reading, language usage, and science skills. The scale used to measure your child’s progress is called the RIT scale (Rasch unIT). The RIT scale is an equal-interval scale much like feet and inches on a yardstick. It is used to chart your child’s academic growth from year to year.

MAP tests are unique in that they adapt to be appropriate for your child’s level of learning. As a result, each student has the same opportunity to succeed and maintain a positive attitude toward testing.  And with MAP tests, we can administer shorter tests and use less class time while still receiving detailed, accurate information about your child’s growth. Over the next few days, your child will spend a total of about three hours completing these tests. Following each testing period, you will receive a report showing your child’s growth. 

Bath Elementary is truly excited to begin a new era that focuses on every child’s individual growth and achievement. Partnering to help all kids learn, parents and teachers can have a profound positive effect on the lives of our children.

For more information on resources for parents, download the Parent Toolkit at www.nwea.org >> Partner Support.