Three times a year, students from kindergarten to tenth grade sit down in front of computers to take MAP tests, Measures of Academic Progress. These assessments track students’ growth in reading and math and are mandated in the Clark County School District. The point of this testing is to provide information to students, teachers, families, schools and the school district. Some find this information to be incredibly useful. However, some think that the class time used for MAP testing could be far better spent with teaching.
MAP testing uses a great deal of time that would otherwise be spent on class instruction. According to one teacher in an anonymous survey by the Silverado Star, “It takes up to six days of class time.” In this time, teachers could cover a considerable amount of material. MAP testing should be as valuable through the data it provides as the equivalent time in class.
The data from the assessment is conveyed with a RIT score. This number is meaningless for many students without context. However, when compared to a student’s scores from different tests over time, it can be helpful in showing how a student has progressed over the course of their education and how they compare to their grade level standard.
Millions of students around the country take MAP testing. Because of this, data can provide a valuable comparison to other students of the same grade level across a wide data pool. Students can also see their percentile rank, which shows how well they did compared to students in their grade level for that test.
Students can also see their scores in different areas. For example, in math the areas are algebra, geometry, statistics and probability. Seeing which things they are struggling with can help students and teachers identify what they need to work on.
“I use MAP data primarily to focus on where students need more practice in order to achieve grade level reading proficiency or above,” said English teacher Lori Notaro. “If students score high on a certain type of text, then I know I don’t need to focus on that as much.”
Scores from MAP testing are used in the program Exact Path, which takes the information of students’ current understanding levels to customize a route to help students learn what they need to know. It pushes accelerated students to higher levels than they could regularly find in the classroom.
Data from MAP testing is also used heavily at the district level. The school district uses it as impartial data to compare students’ scores in many ways to identify where students need more support.
MAP testing can also be used to identify which students should be placed in honors classes. MAP testing is a way to determine this without bias.
It is district policy that MAP testing cannot be used for any sort of grade. This alleviates pressure off students to do well, but can also be frustrating as teachers cannot directly utilize the assessment.
“I don’t like MAP testing because we can’t use it for much,” one English teacher said. “It’s a great indication of a student’s level or ability, but it doesn’t count for final exams or student learning goals.”
Because it does not count for a grade, some students do not care about how well they do on the MAP test, and they don’t try very hard. When students do not perform to the best of their abilities, which they have little reason to do, the test cannot provide accurate data about the full extent of their knowledge.
Some teachers said that MAP testing does not help them gain useful data about what students know, and that they are able to determine students’ knowledge themselves.
“I already have an idea of what my students know and don’t know,” one math teacher said. “[It] is completely unnecessary to give me some vague categories my students are and aren’t proficient in.”
MAP testing also does not really change some teachers’ plans for what they will cover.
“We can only teach what’s missing,” one English teacher said. “And we will do that anyway.”
The data from the MAP test can be beneficial to those who use it, but it is not a perfect system.
