Anonymous wrote:I went to their CES website to see what OP is talking about and am surprised that indeed they did not post criteria yet for 24–25. They are likely playing around with desired outcomes with and without cogat, among other factors.

I think they should include cogat and restrict ELC students to only those who meet the criteria for the lottery. Otherwise the curriculum is too watered down. Also tighten up the MAP criteria to the top 5%.

If a better ability-related metric, CogAT or other, was used as the principal testing tool, the locally normed 85th percentile in MAP would end up being much more appropriate, narrowing a bit the high-ability cohort identified (which, itself, then could be considerably less than top 15%, given the more direct measure) by providing something of an academic progress touchstone while mitigating to some degree an outside-exposure-related gaming of the system to which a top-5% MAP RIT score is more prone. Ideally, there would be some sliding scale heuristic between the two, with greater emphasis on the ability-related metric.

Also, more magnet seats or more reasonably equivalent local options -- there are many who might benefit from enrichment with rigor, not just the highest of high fliers of the moment. With individual development trajectories being far from straight-line, we should be looking to be inclusive over long periods of time, as outlier status will vary to a degree.

I went to their CES website to see what OP is talking about and am surprised that indeed they did not post criteria yet for 24–25. They are likely playing around with desired outcomes with and without cogat, among other factors.

I think they should include cogat and restrict ELC students to only those who meet the criteria for the lottery. Otherwise the curriculum is too watered down. Also tighten up the MAP criteria to the top 5%.

Anonymous wrote:Has a y mcps started the MAP winter test yet for 3rd graders? I don't even know when the testing window is.

Yes. The window started in mid-December and goes through the end of January. Difficulties scheduling vs. other assessments accounts for some variation in timing among schools.

Early in the window means less instruction prior to taking MAP, with a small, but measurable, deficit in expected score vs. peers taking MAP later in the window, per NWEA. Immediately after winter break offers its own learning retention challenges. Late January would be expected to result in marginally higher scores, but, again, might conflict with scheduling of other assessments.

It wouldn't matter so much if it wasn't used as a litmus for program placement. From a pure MAP growth perspective (a more true-to-intent use of the tool), it's best to be reasonably consistent with timing in the window from year to year.

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/sharedaccountability/calendar/estesting/

Testing is already underway and will complete by the end of this month depending on what school you are at. Likely, testing will be next week if your school hasn't tested yet.

Has a y mcps started the MAP winter test yet for 3rd graders? I don't even know when the testing window is.

Anonymous wrote:I would not have a problem if they did decide to use cogat. They have the scores on hand anyways and they did use it in the past.

They are unlikely ever to do this. However, I'd agree there's almost no point in the program if they don't since the kids who need this are almost never picked.

I would not have a problem if they did decide to use cogat. They have the scores on hand anyways and they did use it in the past.

It's a lottery of the top 15%. This means there are far fewer seats than students. Even if your child is in the top 1% it is unlikely they will be selected.

It's weird that they're a month late on this if all they had to do is put new dates on the documents from last year and re-post them (which is presumably all that's needed if the process isn't changing.) Did the department that handles this get re-organized or lose staff or something?

They will not use CogAT. Just MAP-R (locally normed), grades, and reading level

Anyone heard anything about when they’ll post for this year? Website says they should have posted in December. I know the winter MAP cycle has started… I’m curious to see if they may end up using the CoGAT with MAP (though I’ve seen folks adamantly say no)….