NWEA MAP Growth Assessment
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The NWEA MAP Growth is a computer-adaptive test. That means every student gets a unique set of test questions based on responses to previous questions. As the student answers correctly, questions get harder. If the student answers incorrectly, the questions get easier. By the end of the test, most students will have answered about half the questions correctly, as is common on adaptive tests. The purpose of MAP Growth is to determine what the student knows and how they are growing academically.
The MAP Growth test is administered at the start of the school year, middle of the year (typically in January), and at the end of the school year. MAP Growth tracks students’ individual growth over time, wherever they are starting from and regardless of the grade they are in.
When students finish their MAP Growth test, they receive a number called a RIT score for each subject they are tested in: reading, math, or science. This score represents a student’s achievement level at any given moment and helps measure their academic growth over time. The RIT scale is a stable scale, like feet and inches, that accurately measures student performance, regardless of age, grades, or grade level. Like marking height on a growth chart and being able to see how tall a child is at various points in time, you can also see how much they have grown between tests.
