How much should MAP-R improve in a year?
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Anonymous
| DD is a fifth grader -- a good reader but I feel she's stagnating. I looked at her MAP-R scores and they've only improved 10 points over the course of a year. |
Anonymous
| Our DC is in 3rd grade. On the literature given out with the scores, if I remember correctly they indicate a 7 pt improvement is normal. I am not sure if the same is true for 5th grade. |
Anonymous
| From what I've read about MAP-R (which you can google and find out a lot about, BTW), the amount of change expected shrinks as the kids get older. About 7 points is what's expected in grade 3/4, which is what I researched several weeks ago. |
Anonymous
| Have you asked your teacher for these numbers or is the school providing the info? I know my child (3rd grade, MCPS) has taken the MAP-R tests (most recently, this week) but I've never seen the scores. |
Anonymous
PP here - Our DC's teacher provided literature on the MAP-R with the scores and how to interpret them. |
Anonymous
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See this link for complete 2011 NWEA normative data on the MAP scores.
http://www.nwea.org/sites/www.nwea.org/files/resources/NWEA_2011_RIT_Scale_Norms.pdf You can look up your child's scores at each of the three points in the year and check percentiles for each grade level. Look at Appendix B for the data tables. |
Anonymous
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Thank you, that was very helpful, although depressing. My kid is 97th % in reading, straight As, working two years ahead in math, stellar teacher recs, and didn't get into MS magnets.
She doesn't do well on paper tests and her scores for the admission test were good but just under or at the mean. |
Anonymous
Support your child no matter what. FYI-there are kids in the 99th percentile in reading, straight As, working four or five years ahead in math. In a way it is the easy curriculum that makes us think our kids should be in magnets. |
Anonymous
| Of course I support her no matter what. I have another kid in the MS magnet and I know how amazing and enriched it is, and I wanted my second child to have the same access to the peer group, the enriched curriculum, and the highly motivated teachers. I am well aware that the regular school curriculum isn't challenging enough. |
Anonymous
A realistic approach is to join in demanding more rigorous regular school instruction. |
Anonymous
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How do the kids get MAP-R scores? Is it a computer assigned score or teacher assigned score? Is the reading level (such as H, L, N etc.) derived from MAP-R score or is that a separate process?
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Anonymous
Well certainly, I do that too. And of course, we all know how effective it is to demand things of MCPS. 
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Anonymous
Good for you!! What and how did u do it? |
Anonymous
For MAP-R kids take a computerized test that (for us anyway) flashes the score at the end of the test. The guided reading level scores result from teacher/reading specialist one-on-one, non-computerized testing exercises. |
Anonymous
The alphabet system used in elementary school is definitely separate. I think it comes from the Fountas-Pinell Benchmark system. All these FP readers are alphabet graded and teachers typically use this system for forming reading groups. It fits with the MClass tests that are given three times a year (initial fall, mid-winter/Jan., and May). In the MClass,, which has 3 parts, the teacher listens to a child read an alpha-graded reader and marks the errors, thus producing fluency and accuracy stats. Second, the child answers a computer-based multiple choice test on reading comprehension. Third, the child writes a BCR reading comprehension question. Starting in 2nd grade, the child must pass all 3 components to be considered as having passed a reading level. In first grade, the kids do the BCR, but it doesn't "count". And kids reading levels are just documented on the basis of fluency/accuracy/multi-choice reading comp. I think FP reading levels can be sort of tied to lexiles which can also be tied to MAP-Rs, I've seen various comparison charts when I've googled. Sorry I can't provide a link. The difference between FP and the MAP-R is that the MAP-R scores can be read against a nationally normed sample. So, from the MAP-R you can tell how your kid is doing vis-a-vis a national population. Also, the MAP-R tests out of grade level reading. So, a third grader who is reading at an 8th grade level should get a MAP-R score that reflects that. Conversely, in the school system, teachers frequently only test a kid's FP level up to the level of their highest reading group. In that kind of situation, a 3rd grader might be in a reading group that is working on level T, which is one grade ahead, even though they are reading on an 8th grade level, because there aren't enough kids left to form a higher reading group. I think MAP-R is a much more accurate reading assessment. IMO I actually can't remember if the kids in 3rd grade get MClass AND MAP reading tests or whether MCPS just moves to MAP-R at that level. |