Why does MCPS do both MCAP and MAP testing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCAP is state testing and is required by the gov't. It takes a long time to get results and they are more used to reflect the school, rather than the individual student. Schools have some choice on how to administer it, but in my 5th grade, we have 2 day of science, 4 days of reading, and 2 days of math (each day of math has 2 sessions). It is insane. It is NOT helpful for teachers, but parents like to see how their kids are doing compared to the rest of the state.

MAP is an adaptive test with results immediately after finishing. We use it to see growth throughout the year. It is actually helpful for parents and teachers. It takes about 1 hour for each of the math and reading tests and can be given 2-3 times a year.

As a teacher, I wish we could just give MAP and just focus on growth of the students, but that doesn't go with NCLB. I'm not sure how the dissolution of the Education Dept will change the testing requirements, but I absolutely agree that there are way too many days being devoted to tests!

Thank you for the explanation but what MCPS is doing makes little sense. Using MCAP to judge the school fine, but it takes so much time to administer and the results come too late to inform teachers, parents or students about how to improve. You say parents want to see how their school is doing in comparison to other school, but I would guess that most parents are more interested to see how their kid is doing in a timely fashion-not to get MCAP results a year later…

It's kind of like previous poster said, MCAP is state mandated testing. MCPS really has no say if they want to opt in or out of it, the test windows, turnaround time, etc.

They're integrating state tests into final grades now. I didn't want to respond to the previous thread because I'm not 100% sure. But for the Science scores, I think the state first sends school systems preliminary files of the grade equivalent for the science scores, so it can be accounted for in calculating final grades. Then the actual scores file comes a little bit later.

MAP is more local and often on the chopping block when it comes to the budget. But I think a lot of people find it more beneficial and useful in testing and measuring student's growth and knowledge. Some school systems don't administer the spring MAP to students that will take the spring MCAP due to testing fatigue. It sounds like MCPS has students take the MAP in the spring regardless and in more grade levels too.

DP. MCPS does have some control over turnaround. They get the results in the summer yet do not send them until the winter. Also, they have them electronically but do not upload them to parentvue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MCAP is state testing and is required by the gov't. It takes a long time to get results and they are more used to reflect the school, rather than the individual student. Schools have some choice on how to administer it, but in my 5th grade, we have 2 day of science, 4 days of reading, and 2 days of math (each day of math has 2 sessions). It is insane. It is NOT helpful for teachers, but parents like to see how their kids are doing compared to the rest of the state.

MAP is an adaptive test with results immediately after finishing. We use it to see growth throughout the year. It is actually helpful for parents and teachers. It takes about 1 hour for each of the math and reading tests and can be given 2-3 times a year.

As a teacher, I wish we could just give MAP and just focus on growth of the students, but that doesn't go with NCLB. I'm not sure how the dissolution of the Education Dept will change the testing requirements, but I absolutely agree that there are way too many days being devoted to tests!

Thank you for the explanation but what MCPS is doing makes little sense. Using MCAP to judge the school fine, but it takes so much time to administer and the results come too late to inform teachers, parents or students about how to improve. You say parents want to see how their school is doing in comparison to other school, but I would guess that most parents are more interested to see how their kid is doing in a timely fashion-not to get MCAP results a year later…

It's kind of like previous poster said, MCAP is state mandated testing. MCPS really has no say if they want to opt in or out of it, the test windows, turnaround time, etc.

They're integrating state tests into final grades now. I didn't want to respond to the previous thread because I'm not 100% sure. But for the Science scores, I think the state first sends school systems preliminary files of the grade equivalent for the science scores, so it can be accounted for in calculating final grades. Then the actual scores file comes a little bit later.

MAP is more local and often on the chopping block when it comes to the budget. But I think a lot of people find it more beneficial and useful in testing and measuring student's growth and knowledge. Some school systems don't administer the spring MAP to students that will take the spring MCAP due to testing fatigue. It sounds like MCPS has students take the MAP in the spring regardless and in more grade levels too.

DP. MCPS does have some control over turnaround. They get the results in the summer yet do not send them until the winter. Also, they have them electronically but do not upload them to parentvue.

+1 Why don't they upload them when they get them to parentvue? They upload the MAP test results that way? It's bizarre.

[Anonymous]

MCAP grading takes longer because it includes writing. MAP is only multiple choice questions. As a teacher, at least on the secondary level, I think MCAP results are more meaningful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCAP grading takes longer because it includes writing. MAP is only multiple choice questions. As a teacher, at least on the secondary level, I think MCAP results are more meaningful.

That's great--but why not share them when the school has them over the summer? Giving parents results of exams whose results are 7+ months old is pretty lame.

[Anonymous]

Teachers are able to see them over the summer. I agree MCPS needs to share them with parents as soon as they’re released.

[Anonymous]

How about the state mails them directly to parents? It's their test after all..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s horrific. I hate that they put the kids through MCAP. At the middle school our 8th graders have over a MONTH of testing and that doesn’t include the MISA in March. This month each week there is a different test- MCAP math, MCAP ELA, MCAP social studies, MAP M and MAP R. And all the class projects and assignments. Ugh!

A test in every subject? And projects? And assignments? Whatever will these schools think up next?!

Tell me you’re clueless without telling me…. 🙄 just maybe next time don’t post unless you actually have an idea of what these “tests” entail.

+1. My 8 year old third grader just had 5 days of MCAP tests on reading and math. Next week they will have 3 days of MAP tests on reading and math. There has to be a way to streamline this. At the very least, MCPS should be using its billion dollar budget for better communications of what is being tested and why. They send such useless emails most of the time.

MCAP is actually streamlined compared with PARCC, which was even longer.

I wish they would just skip th spring MAP for students who are taking MCAP. (Fine to do it for grades where no MCAP is taken.)

This is the way! Along with limiting the grades the MCAP needs to be taken:

Spring MCAP- 3,5,8 - You must pass
Spring MAP -1,2,6,7
EOC-9-12 All graduation required courses unless substituted by AP/IB taking.

I would also ditch the Winter MAP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about the state mails them directly to parents? It's their test after all..

Too expensive for them to print and mail to every test taker in the state.

Also there can be a lot of movement (ie families moving) between the time they get the student's mailing information to the time they actually mail the reports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s horrific. I hate that they put the kids through MCAP. At the middle school our 8th graders have over a MONTH of testing and that doesn’t include the MISA in March. This month each week there is a different test- MCAP math, MCAP ELA, MCAP social studies, MAP M and MAP R. And all the class projects and assignments. Ugh!

A test in every subject? And projects? And assignments? Whatever will these schools think up next?!

Tell me you’re clueless without telling me…. 🙄 just maybe next time don’t post unless you actually have an idea of what these “tests” entail.

+1. My 8 year old third grader just had 5 days of MCAP tests on reading and math. Next week they will have 3 days of MAP tests on reading and math. There has to be a way to streamline this. At the very least, MCPS should be using its billion dollar budget for better communications of what is being tested and why. They send such useless emails most of the time.

MCAP is actually streamlined compared with PARCC, which was even longer.

I wish they would just skip th spring MAP for students who are taking MCAP. (Fine to do it for grades where no MCAP is taken.)

This is the way! Along with limiting the grades the MCAP needs to be taken:

Spring MCAP- 3,5,8 - You must pass
Spring MAP -1,2,6,7
EOC-9-12 All graduation required courses unless substituted by AP/IB taking.

I would also ditch the Winter MAP

This makes sense to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are able to see them over the summer. I agree MCPS needs to share them with parents as soon as they’re released.

Who in MCPS is in charge of that? That seems like a fairly quick fix relative to the other problems MCPS has to deal with. I'm happy to write and advocate for that. I have no issue with my kid doing both MCAP and MAP testing (particularly if the alternative is to drop MAP which is a nice regular testing piece of info for parents), but it does seem wasteful to have kids spend a week on testing and then do nothing with the results for months and then share them when the data are stale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teachers are able to see them over the summer. I agree MCPS needs to share them with parents as soon as they’re released.

Who in MCPS is in charge of that? That seems like a fairly quick fix relative to the other problems MCPS has to deal with. I'm happy to write and advocate for that. I have no issue with my kid doing both MCAP and MAP testing (particularly if the alternative is to drop MAP which is a nice regular testing piece of info for parents), but it does seem wasteful to have kids spend a week on testing and then do nothing with the results for months and then share them when the data are stale.

I'm not MCPS staff, but google tells me there's a testing and reporting unit, with a Blaney, Mrs. Donna as Director. Maybe try writing her?
https://ww2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/directory/directory_Boxoffice.aspx?processlevel=62501

[Anonymous]

They should do away with the 9th grade MAP-R testing. It's a stupid post-pandemic addition to the testing regime!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about the state mails them directly to parents? It's their test after all..

Too expensive for them to print and mail to every test taker in the state.

Also there can be a lot of movement (ie families moving) between the time they get the student's mailing information to the time they actually mail the reports.

If only there were this handy dandy tool called the Internet that could speed up this process. And a platform where schools could share test results with parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about the state mails them directly to parents? It's their test after all..

Too expensive for them to print and mail to every test taker in the state.

Also there can be a lot of movement (ie families moving) between the time they get the student's mailing information to the time they actually mail the reports.

If only there were this handy dandy tool called the Internet that could speed up this process. And a platform where schools could share test results with parents.

What is it about the MCAPs that the results can't be uploaded on Parentvue like the MAP tests?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about the state mails them directly to parents? It's their test after all..

Too expensive for them to print and mail to every test taker in the state.

Also there can be a lot of movement (ie families moving) between the time they get the student's mailing information to the time they actually mail the reports.

If only there were this handy dandy tool called the Internet that could speed up this process. And a platform where schools could share test results with parents.

What is it about the MCAPs that the results can't be uploaded on Parentvue like the MAP tests?

Nothing. MD provides MCPS access to the digital reports for all students. Other MD school districts do provide electronic access.