9486 in the collection
NWEA Adds New Capabilities to K-2 MAP(TM) Assessment
Ohanian Comment: The proliferation of bad data will cause the meltdown of the classroom teacher, and most skills data gathered in school is bad. There is plenty of evidence that standardized testing of young children is both inappropriate and invalid. "Young" is defined as children under the age of 8, i.e. third grade. So we should not sign hosannas at the feat of computerizing a test for children in K-2. Professional organizations should denounce this, but don't hold your breath.
Press Release
Instructional Data and Sub-Skill Performance Reports Inform Teachers on Placement of Students in Curricula in Early Primary Grades.
PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA), a national non-profit organization focused on improving K-12 education, today announces new features in its MAP for Primary Grades. As part of its comprehensive MAP(TM) Growth Measures assessment system, the new primary grades assessment offers teachers improved tools to place young students in appropriate curricula, in addition to accurately identifying student abilities.
"Educators today face difficult challenges in helping students attain grade level proficiency by grade three," said Raymond Yeagley, vice president of product and business development at NWEA. "MAP for Primary Grades is the first computerized adaptive assessment developed specifically for K-2 students. The survey with goals tests adapt to the individual student's achievement level, giving teachers highly accurate information about what each student has learned and is ready to learn next. Additionally, MAP for Primary Grades includes diagnostic tests that provide a quick reference for gauging student readiness for reading and mathematical instruction. Teachers can target instruction without spending hours conducting one-on-one testing."
As with all of NWEA's assessments, MAP for Primary Grades provides a wealth of reporting options, including a variety of teacher reports, student progress reports, and reports for use at the administrative level. Plus, reports for the diagnostic tests include data for specific content objectives that teachers can use to group students for instruction, curriculum planning, and reporting student achievement to parents and school administrators.
New to this version of MAP for Primary Grades:
* Teachers are now able to access instructional data linked to student performance on the assessment. This reference guide is a collection of instructional data statements that translate test scores into skills and concepts students are ready to learn, and helps guide instruction during the first three years of school.
* New teacher and sub-skill performance reports, based on diagnostic test data, provide teachers direct insight into overall class performance on specific skills or concepts, while sub-skill reports highlight an individual student's instructional level.
* New student reports are an at-a-glance visual display of a student's performance across time, highlighting their understanding within goal and sub-goal areas presented in the diagnostic test.
* The all-test report displays the class performance in each of the diagnostic tests given to the students for a quick visual assessment of class understanding in the specific test goal areas.
"Implementing MAP for Primary Grades has given us the ability to assess the needs of primary grade students," said Clayton Collins, director of instruction at Beech Grove City Schools, Beech Grove, IN. "The new features in MAP for Primary Grades are very welcome additions, for their ability to inform instruction for each student, and to better prepare them for third grade where we start testing for NCLB grade level proficiency."
MAP for Primary Grades includes a computer-based adaptive assessment, based on NWEA's equal-interval RIT scale that is designed to measure growth of individual students. NWEA's MAP for Primary Grades features enhanced items such as pictures and sound to engage early learners. It includes two early reading and two math assessments. The assessment package also includes diagnostic tests in order to facilitate intake testing, student placement, and instructional design.
These additional capabilities for MAP for Primary Grades are available now.
About Northwest Evaluation Association
Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to helping all children learn. NWEA provides formative assessment, research-based educational growth measures, and professional training to improve teaching and learning. Partnering with school districts, states and other education organizations, NWEA delivers computer-adapted assessment services to two million students nationwide. Additionally, containing multiple years of academic assessment records for millions of students, its Growth Research Database (GRD) is one of the most extensive and accurate collections of individual student growth and achievement information available. More information is available at http://www.nwea.org.
Contact:
YRG (Young & Roehr Group) for NWEA
Laura Danna, 503-222-0626
ldanna@yrgcommunications.com
— Press Release
The Northwest Evaluation Association
2007-06-20
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