Salaamu Alaikum MCS Parents,
We will begin completing the fall term of MAP Growth testing next week. MAP stands for Measure of Academic Progress. This test is given to about 10 million students in the US and is commonly used in private schools, like us. MAP is a computer based adaptive test – not a standardized test. The questions will ‘adapt’ to how your child answers them – the more questions are answered correctly = more challenging questions will start to appear. In this way, we hope to get as accurate as possible a measure of how much each student knows, regardless of their grade level, and over time we can see how much they have ‘grown’. We will test the students in reading, math, language arts (for 2nd – 8th), and newly added for this year is science (for 3rd – 8th).
These MAP scores are then translated into an RIT score which is an estimate (after all, these tests can only give us estimates) of each students’ instructional level. The key for us is to see growth in all of our students over time. We will repeat the tests again in April to help us paint that picture. I will spare you more details and have included two links that can help you better understand the MAP tests.
All you and your child(ren) in grades K thru 8 need to really know is:
– One low test score is not reason for immediate concern. We all have good and bad days so let’s not put a lot of emphasis on the scores but still use them as best and as fairly as we can to give us an idea of overall individual and class growth.
– Be well-informed of your child’s school performance by checking Gradelink and meeting with teachers as needed.
– Provide extra support if needed, early on – tutors, online resources, etc.
– Be sure study time and spaces at home are adequate for your child.
– Children should be well-rested and well-fed at all times, but especially at testing times.
– Do lots of reading and less screen time.
We do ask parents to encourage their children to take the MAP tests serious. Some students arrive to the testing session not too thrilled to be there and as though it were a race to see who finishes first. These tests are not timed and there is NO prize for the first one done. We do wish to have them completed in the most perfect way so we can use the data and scores as a measure for our own performance too. But that can only be done when the test is taken seriously and without pressure to be the first one done. These are matters all schools deal with and they come with the territory. But we would like to lessen then as much as possible and your help is appreciated.
We will send home score reports once all testing is complete in the coming weeks.
Thank you,
Sr. Somayyah
https://www.nwea.org/content/
https://montgomeryschoolsmd.
