Time Limit for Map-M Testing

[Anonymous]

Please... does anyone have actual evidence that the county is asking schools to limit MAP testing times?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please... does anyone have actual evidence that the county is asking schools to limit MAP testing times?

I'm a 5th grade teacher and was told to limit the kids to one 60 minute block. This is the message we are bring given, though based on this thread it seems that it is not consistent throughout the county which makes it even more frustrating.

[Anonymous]

So the test designers recommend twice that amount of time for advanced students who can start answering more complex questions. Stopping at one hour would block these kids from receiving a higher score.

So fifth graders coming from schools with the one hour limit will score lower and not be admitted into magnets or enriched classes. How is this ethical?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please... does anyone have actual evidence that the county is asking schools to limit MAP testing times?

I'm a 5th grade teacher and was told to limit the kids to one 60 minute block. This is the message we are bring given, though based on this thread it seems that it is not consistent throughout the county which makes it even more frustrating.

Wow. Thank you for sharing this. Who should we ask about this policy at our school? Principal? Teacher?

[Anonymous]

If the kids don't rush, they won't be finished in an hour and the admins will have to let them continue to completion to obtain a score.

That said, I think MCPS under Smith has started monitoring this board and is probably alerted to the problem at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please... does anyone have actual evidence that the county is asking schools to limit MAP testing times?

I'm a 5th grade teacher and was told to limit the kids to one 60 minute block. This is the message we are bring given, though based on this thread it seems that it is not consistent throughout the county which makes it even more frustrating.

What school? Time to name and shame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your school's test coordinator should refer to page 7 of the MCPS MAP Test Coordinator's Manual for 2018. It states that it is up to the school's discretion to allow students to take longer than the suggested testing times. The manual does indicate that students who take longer don't necessarily perform better which has been the exact opposite message schools have been sent by central office for the last ten years.

And from the testing company itself. They clearly state that the test is designed to be untimed, and their data show that the test times for the highest-performing students average more than an hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your school's test coordinator should refer to page 7 of the MCPS MAP Test Coordinator's Manual for 2018. It states that it is up to the school's discretion to allow students to take longer than the suggested testing times. The manual does indicate that students who take longer don't necessarily perform better which has been the exact opposite message schools have been sent by central office for the last ten years.

And from the testing company itself. They clearly state that the test is designed to be untimed, and their data show that the test times for the highest-performing students average more than an hour.

That's shameful. Who should we write to get the official MCPS answer on this? Because it's not right that kids around the county are offering different testing conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your school's test coordinator should refer to page 7 of the MCPS MAP Test Coordinator's Manual for 2018. It states that it is up to the school's discretion to allow students to take longer than the suggested testing times. The manual does indicate that students who take longer don't necessarily perform better which has been the exact opposite message schools have been sent by central office for the last ten years.

And from the testing company itself. They clearly state that the test is designed to be untimed, and their data show that the test times for the highest-performing students average more than an hour.

However, they do not say over multiple sessions.
I think the county is more moving away from kids coming back to the test day after day for more time.
It is different if you have 90 minutes in one sitting or 45 minutes one day, then 25 minutes the next day and 25 minutes the day after that. Kids can't go back to finished questions so it's not looking up things they didn't know, but there is a difference in how you preform when you are fresh and when you are tired. The test is designed to be taken in one sitting and some schools have not been administering it this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your school's test coordinator should refer to page 7 of the MCPS MAP Test Coordinator's Manual for 2018. It states that it is up to the school's discretion to allow students to take longer than the suggested testing times. The manual does indicate that students who take longer don't necessarily perform better which has been the exact opposite message schools have been sent by central office for the last ten years.

And from the testing company itself. They clearly state that the test is designed to be untimed, and their data show that the test times for the highest-performing students average more than an hour.

However, they do not say over multiple sessions.
I think the county is more moving away from kids coming back to the test day after day for more time.
It is different if you have 90 minutes in one sitting or 45 minutes one day, then 25 minutes the next day and 25 minutes the day after that. Kids can't go back to finished questions so it's not looking up things they didn't know, but there is a difference in how you preform when you are fresh and when you are tired. The test is designed to be taken in one sitting and some schools have not been administering it this way.

Banning multiple sessions is very different from instructing teachers that the test should be limited to 60 minutes, when evidence from the test maker shows that the highest scorers take 80 minutes.

[Anonymous]

My child has accommodations for extra time and sometimes takes several days to finish MAP test, because neither he nor his teachers wish him to miss lunch or instruction time.

***He tells me doing it in little chunks bothers him because he can’t get into a good concentration groove.***

However he realizes that for him there is no other option. Instruction time is more important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

My child has accommodations for extra time and sometimes takes several days to finish MAP test, because neither he nor his teachers wish him to miss lunch or instruction time.

***He tells me doing it in little chunks bothers him because he can’t get into a good concentration groove.***

However he realizes that for him there is no other option. Instruction time is more important.

Posted too soon.

He’s in 8th grade, so has been doing this for a while. He tends to score better when his MAP test isn’t so partitioned, when the next class is doing review, for example, and he decides to continue with his MAP. So in his experience, the test partitioning does seem to make a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

However, they do not say over multiple sessions.
I think the county is more moving away from kids coming back to the test day after day for more time.
It is different if you have 90 minutes in one sitting or 45 minutes one day, then 25 minutes the next day and 25 minutes the day after that. Kids can't go back to finished questions so it's not looking up things they didn't know, but there is a difference in how you preform when you are fresh and when you are tired. The test is designed to be taken in one sitting and some schools have not been administering it this way.

Do you have evidence of this? It would be great if there were a transparent and universal policy for MAP testing. My child takes a long time, and scores high. But he is very young still, and I would want them to let him take a break for lunch and recess, or come back the next day, or acknowledge that he doesn’t really need this constant testing. It seems cruel to make a seven year old sit through hours of testing several times a year. The school makes a big deal about the scores to the kids, so they do feel pressured to do as well as possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

My child has accommodations for extra time and sometimes takes several days to finish MAP test, because neither he nor his teachers wish him to miss lunch or instruction time.

***He tells me doing it in little chunks bothers him because he can’t get into a good concentration groove.***

However he realizes that for him there is no other option. Instruction time is more important.

Posted too soon.

He’s in 8th grade, so has been doing this for a while. He tends to score better when his MAP test isn’t so partitioned, when the next class is doing review, for example, and he decides to continue with his MAP. So in his experience, the test partitioning does seem to make a difference.

How is this remotely getting him ready for the real world?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

However, they do not say over multiple sessions.
I think the county is more moving away from kids coming back to the test day after day for more time.
It is different if you have 90 minutes in one sitting or 45 minutes one day, then 25 minutes the next day and 25 minutes the day after that. Kids can't go back to finished questions so it's not looking up things they didn't know, but there is a difference in how you preform when you are fresh and when you are tired. The test is designed to be taken in one sitting and some schools have not been administering it this way.

Do you have evidence of this? It would be great if there were a transparent and universal policy for MAP testing. My child takes a long time, and scores high. But he is very young still, and I would want them to let him take a break for lunch and recess, or come back the next day, or acknowledge that he doesn’t really need this constant testing. It seems cruel to make a seven year old sit through hours of testing several times a year. The school makes a big deal about the scores to the kids, so they do feel pressured to do as well as possible.

What school makes a big deal? Mine sure doesn’t. If you don’t care, just refuse for your child to take the test. No big deal.

Most of the time it is only the tiger moms who make a big deal.