Yet another MAP R thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have 3 good student kids but only the oldest who is a voracious reader gets the top MAP R score. So reading seems to be what can improve it.

+1
Our experience too. Our child's scores soared during a sustained 9 month period where they spent a ton of time reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading books alone doesn’t help increase MAP scores. My DS reads quite a bit but he isn’t a bookworm and reading isn’t his favorite thing either. But he is above grade level and does well in school but still doesn’t get very high scores in fact sometimes his scores dip. What can we do to increase his scores?

What grade is your kid in? Are they old enough and compliant enough to make the test seriously? A low score on a computer test is a positive signal in a K-2 kid.

He is in 4th grade. Scores have ranged from 97th in 3rd to 85th in 4th, not sure why his performance is so inconsistent. I do read with him and he does workbooks too.

Remember that MAP is adaptive. Is your DS highly motivated to do well and takes time to analyze questions carefully? Or is he answering quickly what he’s confident in, but not pushing hard on questions that need more thinking? (Both styles are fine.) Having big swings in MAP scores sounds more like a focus or didn’t finish problem , rather than an actual knowledge problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading books alone doesn’t help increase MAP scores. My DS reads quite a bit but he isn’t a bookworm and reading isn’t his favorite thing either. But he is above grade level and does well in school but still doesn’t get very high scores in fact sometimes his scores dip. What can we do to increase his scores?

What grade is your kid in? Are they old enough and compliant enough to make the test seriously? A low score on a computer test is a positive signal in a K-2 kid.

He is in 4th grade. Scores have ranged from 97th in 3rd to 85th in 4th, not sure why his performance is so inconsistent. I do read with him and he does workbooks too.

Remember that MAP is adaptive. Is your DS highly motivated to do well and takes time to analyze questions carefully? Or is he answering quickly what he’s confident in, but not pushing hard on questions that need more thinking? (Both styles are fine.) Having big swings in MAP scores sounds more like a focus or didn’t finish problem , rather than an actual knowledge problem.

He is the latter. I do honestly think its a focus problem too. He tries to finish fast as the other kids finish the test he feels he is ‘behind’ and needs to speed up.

[Anonymous]

There is no "didn't finish" problem in MAP. It's untimed, and the test can be saved and completed the next day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no "didn't finish" problem in MAP. It's untimed, and the test can be saved and completed the next day.

True but rushing is not going to help.

[Anonymous]

OP here.. It might just be that my DC doesn’t care at all. Maybe I should stop focusing on his performance on tests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.. It might just be that my DC doesn’t care at all. Maybe I should stop focusing on his performance on tests.

What did his teacher say?

[Anonymous]

Keep your head high

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.. It might just be that my DC doesn’t care at all. Maybe I should stop focusing on his performance on tests.

What did his teacher say?

Teacher thought he doesn’t read much

[Anonymous]

What was the score

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.. It might just be that my DC doesn’t care at all. Maybe I should stop focusing on his performance on tests.

We’re in a similar position but regarding grades. It’s tough to know when to throw in the towel or when to keep trying to help. I was ready to throw in the towel but DD wants to struggle on. Maybe ask your child how they feel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here.. It might just be that my DC doesn’t care at all. Maybe I should stop focusing on his performance on tests.

What did his teacher say?

Teacher thought he doesn’t read much

So either the quality of the reading he's doing isn't rigorous enough to move the needle or the test is a lie or your son is intentionally (or unintentionally) bombing on the tests. It's one of those three things.

Even if you think your DS is reading enough, does that level of reading you say he's doing at home match the level of sophistication the teacher is observing from your son in the classroom?

You should be able to triangulate this with your son, your teacher and your own observations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading books alone doesn’t help increase MAP scores. My DS reads quite a bit but he isn’t a bookworm and reading isn’t his favorite thing either. But he is above grade level and does well in school but still doesn’t get very high scores in fact sometimes his scores dip. What can we do to increase his scores?

What grade is your kid in? Are they old enough and compliant enough to make the test seriously? A low score on a computer test is a positive signal in a K-2 kid.

He is in 4th grade. Scores have ranged from 97th in 3rd to 85th in 4th, not sure why his performance is so inconsistent. I do read with him and he does workbooks too.

Remember that MAP is adaptive. Is your DS highly motivated to do well and takes time to analyze questions carefully? Or is he answering quickly what he’s confident in, but not pushing hard on questions that need more thinking? (Both styles are fine.) Having big swings in MAP scores sounds more like a focus or didn’t finish problem , rather than an actual knowledge problem.

He is the latter. I do honestly think it’s a focus problem too. He tries to finish fast as the other kids finish the test he feels he is ‘behind’ and needs to speed up.

I’m PP. I wouldn’t worry about the exact score and would communicate to him that the exact score isn’t that important. But let him know that MAP is an opportunity for him to see his own improvement over time (he really is learning!) However, it’s not very good information if he changes how hard he tries or how quickly he goes each time he takes it. Suggest he strike a balance between working quickly but not rushing to finish because other kids are done.

Separately, just work on reading more with him and finding more books he likes. Discuss the characters and why they do what they do. Ask “what would happen if …” or “how would you change the story” types of questions. Other PPs have given good suggestions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Reading books alone doesn’t help increase MAP scores. My DS reads quite a bit but he isn’t a bookworm and reading isn’t his favorite thing either. But he is above grade level and does well in school but still doesn’t get very high scores in fact sometimes his scores dip. What can we do to increase his scores?

What grade is your kid in? Are they old enough and compliant enough to make the test seriously? A low score on a computer test is a positive signal in a K-2 kid.

He is in 4th grade. Scores have ranged from 97th in 3rd to 85th in 4th, not sure why his performance is so inconsistent. I do read with him and he does workbooks too.

Those scores don’t seem terribly inconsistent. Third grade is when a lot of lower ability readers are catching up to their peers. His drop in percentile may be partially a function of other kids making larger gains. He’s not going to be held back in reading instruction with 86th% MAP-R, but it could impact admission to a humanities magnet program in middle school if he’s in that range in 5th grade.

[Anonymous]

What magnet you trying to get in fool