MAP Results and What They Mean to Your Student

Des Moines Public Schools students take the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (or MAP) test to measure their academic progress three times a year (fall, winter, and spring). MAP is an adaptive online assessment that is aligned to the Common Core standards.

MAP provides a different, personalized test for each student. Depending on how a student answers each question, the test adjusts in difficulty. This allows students with widely varying skill levels – from struggling to advanced – to take a test that is well-suited to their needs. Teachers are able to access student scores immediately after students complete a test. Each test provides detailed teacher reports that show the skills students are proficient in and what they are ready to work on next.

You may receive a MAP progress report for your student in the near future. For more information about how to read the student progress report, click here to view a video.

MAP data allows teachers to differentiate and adjust instruction for individual students, groups of students, or entire classes based on results of the assessment. MAP also projects growth to support student goal setting. After taking the MAP test, students receive a RIT (Rasch Unit) score. The score reflects the student’s academic knowledge, skills and abilities. The RIT scale is a stable, equal-interval scale. Similar to measuring height on a yard-stick, the RIT scale is used to measure how “tall” a student is on the curriculum scale and scores can be compared to tell how much growth a student has made. It is important to remember that the RIT score is one of the most important pieces of information on a student’s report. This score is independent of the age or grade of the student, and reflects the instructional level at which the student is currently performing.

The MAP assessment information is only one indicator of how your student is doing academically. Please contact your student’s teacher or school with question about the MAP assessment.

Using MAP results, we will celebrate the growth and achievement of each and every student. Thank you for your partnership in supporting the learning of our students.