Independent Study Concludes More Than 97 Percent of NWEA's MAP Growth Assessment Items Align to Common Core State Standards
PORTLAND, Ore. (PRWEB) February 27, 2018 -- NWEA, the not-for-profit assessment solutions provider, today announced that an independent study finds near total alignment between items in its MAP Growth and MAP Growth K-2 assessments and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts and Mathematics. MAP Growth is often used by school districts to measure progress toward the CCSS or state-adopted standards.
The study evaluated a random sample of MAP Growth and MAP Growth K-2 items for alignment to the CCSS in terms of categorical concurrence and depth, range, and balance of knowledge. More than 97 percent of the items across all grade levels K-12 and all content areas were found to be aligned to the CCSS. NWEA enlisted Karla Egan, Ph.D., principal of EdMetric, LLC, to conduct the study. Egan is a nationally recognized expert in state-level assessment and in standard setting. She served on the National Academy of Sciences committee that evaluated the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) achievement levels.
"We know how important it is for school districts and individual teachers to be confident that the assessments they use are aligned to their curricula and academic standards," said Fred McDaniel II, Ph.D., senior vice president of Product Management & Publishing, NWEA. "By commissioning an independent study to verify that our assessments are tightly aligned to the Common Core State Standards, we can provide those assurances."
MAP Growth provides the most precise measure of a K-12 student's academic growth. A computer-adaptive assessment, it adjusts to each student's responses to provide personalized results about what each student knows, is able to do, and is ready to learn next-whether on, above, or below grade level. Teachers receive immediate and actionable information in easy-to-use reports to help differentiate instruction for students in need of remediation and those high performers requiring additional enrichment. Because MAP Growth tracks individual student growth over time, it can help predict each student's proficiency and college readiness.
MAP Growth is noted for its stable, equal-interval vertical scale and the accurate, valid, and reliable data it provides. It is the only interim assessment that provides school-level norms based on recent data from more than 1.5 million students and 5.5 million test events.
MAP Growth includes innovative features to help teachers connect assessment data to classroom instruction, and ensure that all students can benefit from assessment activities. Through partnerships with the industry's most extensive array of curriculum and instructional providers, teachers have the flexibility to use MAP Growth results with their current curricula and instructional tools. MAP Growth also supports the district-, school-, and class-level need for educational technologies to provide accessibility and accommodation features.
MAP Growth, MAP Skills, and MAP Reading Fluency comprise the MAP Suite from NWEA, a comprehensive assessment system with multiple ways to utilize assessment to improve instruction. More information on MAP Growth can be found here.
About NWEA
NWEA® is a mission-driven, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators worldwide by creating assessment solutions that precisely measure growth and proficiency-and provide insights to help tailor instruction. For 40 years, NWEA has developed innovative Pre-K-12 assessments, professional learning that fosters educators' ability to accelerate student learning, and research that supports assessment validity and data interpretation. Educators in 140 countries and more than half the schools in the US rely on our flagship interim assessment, MAP® Growth™; our progress monitoring and skills mastery tool, MAP® Skills™; our reading fluency and comprehension assessment, MAP® Reading Fluency™; and the OECD Test for Schools (based on PISA). Visit NWEA.org to find out how NWEA can partner with you to help all kids learn.
Jessica Hahn, NWEA, http://www.nwea.org, 571-970-6440, [email protected]
Share this article