Killeen ISD Adopts NWEA’s MAP Growth Assessments to Maximize Instructional Time
Killeen, Texas (PRWEB) November 07, 2016 -- The not-for-profit education services organization NWEA™ announced today that the Killeen Independent School District (ISD) has selected the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) growth assessments for use with almost 30,000 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. The district piloted MAP as an assessment for English language learners (ELLs) during the 2015-16 school year and has expanded use of the assessments to include all K-8 students this fall.
“Our previous universal screeners didn’t provide us with the data we really needed to make good instructional decisions for students,” said Karen Hutchison, director of elementary curriculum & professional development at Killeen ISD. “The data we get from MAP is amazing and we are really able to use it to help our students. The ELL implementation helped us realize that we would have great support from NWEA when we rolled it out district-wide.”
Killeen is home to Fort Hood, the largest military installation in the continental United States. This high-mobility school district is one of the 30 largest in Texas, serving 44,000 K-12 students across 53 campuses. MAP is a nationally normed assessment with a stable scale, and therefore provides consistent, precise, and accurate results for each student, regardless of location – an asset when working with a high-mobility population.
MAP will play an important role in supporting the district’s focus on a comprehensive approach to student learning. An important element of this is streamlining the district’s assessment portfolio to include only those that deliver value for the time invested.
“Time is our most valuable resource, so our goal is for students to get the best instruction the first time around,” said Dr. John Craft, superintendent of Killeen ISD. “MAP growth assessments will support our teachers with the valid and reliable data they need to make instructional decisions that are right for each student, thus helping us achieve our goal of having all students learn to their maximum potential.”
MAP is the leading assessment of student academic growth. Its precise, valid, and reliable data can be used to project proficiency on state assessments and inform how educators differentiate instruction, evaluate programs, and identify professional learning needs. Its computer adaptive design provides a unique testing experience for each child and measures academic growth regardless of a student’s grade level. MAP is an efficient and trusted tool that gives teachers actionable information about what each student is ready to learn, and administrators insight into systemic needs.
“We have built MAP to deliver the relevant information teachers need to make instruction more targeted and efficient,” said Matt Chapman, CEO of NWEA. “NWEA is proud to partner with Killeen ISD as they serve the needs of all students, including many children of Americans serving in our armed forces.”
About Killeen Independent School District
The Killeen Independent School District (ISD) proudly serves the central Texas communities of Killeen, Fort Hood, Harker Heights, and Nolanville. Killeen ISD is committed to providing excellent educational opportunities to ensure all 44,000 students served are able to reach their maximum learning potential. Students within KISD attend 32 elementary schools (grades PK-5th), 10 middle schools (grades 6-8), four high schools (grades 9-12), Early College High School, two alternative schools, the KISD Career Center and several specialized campuses. Killeen ISD employs a phenomenal team of approximately 7,000 individuals dedicated to helping students attain success each and every day. Killeen ISD recognizes the importance of responding to the needs of our students and families and we welcome feedback and suggestions, as we believe this is an important part of the continuous improvement process.
About NWEA
NWEA is a global not-for-profit educational services organization with nearly 40 years of expertise in providing innovative assessment solutions, including our flagship interim growth assessment, Measures of Academic Progress (MAP); our progress monitoring and skills mastery tool, Skills Navigator; and the OECD Test for Schools (based on PISA). More than 8,500 schools, school districts, and education agencies in the US and abroad trust us to offer pre-K – 12 assessments that accurately measure student growth and inform instruction; professional development that fosters educators’ ability to accelerate student learning; and research that supports assessment validity and data interpretation. Educators currently use NWEA assessments with over nine million students worldwide. Visit NWEA.org to find out how NWEA can partner with you to help all kids learn.
Jessica Schwartz Hahn, NWEA, http://www.nwea.org, +1 (202) 266-4706, [email protected]
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