Next Assessment Window Begins After Break

As we quickly approach the winter holiday, please take time to think about all the ways you can help support your child at home with reading, writing and mathematics...  Here are a few ideas to help.

1.  Read, read, read.  Twenty minutes a day of reading is a huge gift you can give to your child!

Parent Conferences

If you are an elementary parent, you recently had your parent conference and received your MAP Student Progress Report.  I thought this would be a good time to repost the link that describes how to read the student progress report.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact your child's teacher or principal.  

Understanding Student Progress Reports

Read About Westfield-Washington Schools...

Read about Westfield-Washington Schools in Hamilton County, Indiana and how MAP assessments define and unify their district's academic culture.

WESTFIELD-WASHINGTON SCHOOLS

For Every Child, Multiple Measures...

Check this site out for information about a research study that gauged the assessment needs of parents, teachers and district administrators - those with the most practical and personal experience with the impact of assessments and accountability.  The MAP assessment fits as one part of a balanced assessment system.

FOR EVERY CHILD, MULTIPLE MEASURES

Read About Bulloch County Schools...

Read about Bulloch County Schools in Georgia and how they use data to focus their curriculum and differentiation within the classroom...

STORY OF BULLOCH COUNTY SCHOOLS

DesCartes: A Continuum of Learning

DesCartes is a learning continuum resource aligned to standards.  It is designed to help teachers translate the data from your child's assessments into a plan for instruction, the next steps for them in their learning.  Read more about the DesCarte - this extremely helpful tool.

DESCARTES ARTICLE

Fall MAP Data in Power School!

Take a look at your child's Power School account.  The fall MAP data is loaded into your child's account.  For information on how to access the fall assessment results, please follow directions in the link.

HOW DO I VIEW MY CHILD'S RESULTS?

Fall MAP Data Soon!

I wanted to let you know that the fall window for MAP closed Friday.  Your child's results will be loaded into Power School soon, probably by Friday.  To view your child's results, please read the earlier blog entry (link below).  It will provide information about how to obtain results through your Power School account.

HOW DO I VIEW MY CHILD'S RESULTS?

*Please note, Gastineau and Auke Bay were unable to assess in the fall due to construction issues.

Find the Right Book for Every Reader!

Do you want to improve your child's reading ability? With the free, Find A Book search tool, you can use your child's Lexile range and build a list of books just right for them!  Check it out...

FIND THE RIGHT BOOK

Vocabulary

Are you looking for a series of vocabulary words that are found on the MAP assessment to help your child learn at home?

Check out this site...

NWEA VOCABULARY

What Has MAP Done for Schools?

Are you interested in learning more about what MAP has done for schools?  If so, visit the NWEA website and read about real schools, and the real impact MAP has helped them to obtain...  meaning more success for kids!

PROVEN RESULTS - REAL SCHOOLS, REAL IMPACT

Sample Test Items by RIT Range

Have you wondered what test items look like for various RIT levels?  You can take a quick look.  The link below will provide access to RIT Reference Charts for reading, math, and language usage.  You will also see MPG Math and Reading.  MPG stands for Map for Primary Grades, our K-1 students.

RIT REFERENCE CHARTS

MAP Student Powerpoint Presentation

Here is a powerpoint presentation for students.  Students are either shown the presentation, or the topics are discussed prior to testing.  You will note, the presentation gives students a basic understanding of what they are doing and why.  How the results will be used is so important for our students to understand.

Student Powerpoint Presentation

MAP for Primary (K-1) - Warm Up

Are you interested in learning more about MAP for the Primary Grades?  Click on the link below to try a warm up.  This is a warm up done with our kindergarten students before they take the assessment to help familiarize them with following directions and listening.  You will need a headset to hear the audio, or speakers.

ONLINE K-1 WARM UP

Finding a Book Using Lexile!

So, you are trying to find a "just right" book for your child.  What do you do?  Try the Lexile "FIND A BOOK" tool!  It is simple to use, and very helpful.

1.  Enter your child's Lexile score. You will find this on your child's Student Progress Report.  The Lexile range appears.  Hit SUBMIT.
2.  Select INTEREST CATEGORIES.  SUBMIT.

The next screen that appears is your list of books, at your child's reading level, based on your child's interests!  It is very user friendly, and provides a tailor made book list for your child.  Give it a try!

LEXILE FIND A BOOK

Lexile Framework for Reading

Did you know you will find a Lexile range included on the MAP Individual Student Progress Report?  This is a great piece of information about your child's reading level.  It will assist as you find books or magazines!  If your child receives an 880L on the MAP, she is an 880 Lexile reader.  Higher Lexile measures represent a higher level of reading.  A Lexile reader measure can range from below 200L for beginning readers to above 1600L for advanced readers.  Your child may receive a BR for Beginning Reader.  Lexile is a good starting point in the book selection process.
Lexile Overview Video

Don't forget - read twenty minutes every day...  the gift that will last a lifetime.

Understanding Student Progress Reports

In looking for additional resources for you, our families, I ran across a simple video on how to interpret your child's student progress report.  It is my hope this video will assist you as you look at your child's student progress report.  Parent conferences are approaching and many of you will be receiving this report.  If you do not receive the report during conferences, this report is available to you, so simply ask your child's school for the report.  They are always more than happy to help.

Understanding MAP Reports - Video

How do I view my child's results?

You can find your child's results in a few different ways.  Simply set aside time to talk to your child's teacher.  Ask to see the MAP Progress Report.  This is a report designed for you as a parent and will show how your child is doing in reading, mathematics and language usage.  The report will also show how your child is doing compared to other children in the district and/or country.  The report will look at the different content areas, and show areas of strength and areas that may need some extra support.  Talk with your child's teacher to get ideas how to support your child at home.

Also, you can log in to your Power School account.  If you do not know your password, call your child's school.  They will quickly and easily be able to provide you that information.  The first time you log in, you will be guided through a process to create an account.  Once you log in, you will be taken to your child's grade and their attendance report.  On the left side, find TEST HISTORY.  Click on the link and you will be taken to the Test Score page.  Look for MAP.  You will find sections for MAP reading, mathematics and language usage.  You will see the grade level in which the assessment was taken, their RIT score (explained in an earlier posting), the national percentile and a proficiency level.  The newest MAP results are posted after the district MAP window closes.  Our fall window closes mid-October, so check back for your child's fall results.

Very simple and LOTS OF INFORMATION!

Ways To Help Your Child With Testing

•   Meet with your child's teacher as often as needed to discuss progress.  Ask the teacher to suggest activities you and your child can do at home to help move your child to the next level.

•   Provide a quiet, comfortable place for studying at home.

•   Make sure your child is well rested on school days.  Children who are tired are less able to pay attention in class.

•   Give your child a well-rounded diet.  A healthy body leads to a healthy, active mind.

•   Provide books and magazines for your child to read at home.  By reading new materials, a child learns new words that might appear on a test.  Ask your child's school to suggest outside reading.  Visit the library often.

•   Read 20 minutes with your child each day.  Take turns - read to them, have them to read to you!

(From the NWEA Parent Toolkit)

How MAP Assessments Are Used

MAP assessments are used to measures 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 math, reading and language useage.  The scale used to measure your child's progress is called the RIT scale.  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.

What is MAP testing?

MAP was introduced to students in grades kindergarten through ten during the 2009-2010 school year. MAP stands for Measures of Academic Progress.  It is a computerized adaptive test which helps teachers, parents, and administrators improve learning for all students and make informed decisions to promote a child's academic growth.  Students take the MAP assessment three times during the year - fall, winter and spring.

When taking the 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, questions become easier.  This continues until the assessment finds the student's "just right" level.