By using carefully constructed measurement scales that span grades, Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) interim assessments from Northwest Evaluation Association™ (NWEA™) offer educators efficient and very accurate estimates of student achievement status within a subject. Before achievement test scores can be useful to educators, however, they…

For more than a decade, Pewaukee School District Superintendent JoAnn Sternke has watched her district get better and better at its mission: opening the door to each student's future. The Wisconsin district began using Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) computer adaptive interim assessments from Northwest Evaluation Association™ (NWEA™) in 2004…

In 2014, South Bend's Our Lady of Hungary Catholic School welcomed its third principal in four years: Kevin Goralczyk, an Indiana native and seasoned educator. Together with the parish's pastor, Reverend Kevin Bauman, Principal Goralczyk began exploring how OLH could raise its pre-K-8 student achievement and better support teachers and staff…

Recently, the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) completed a study to connect the scale of the North Carolina State End of Grade (EOG) Testing Program used for North Carolina's mathematics and reading assessments with NWEA's Rausch Interval Unit (RIT) scale. Information from the state assessments was used in a study to establish…

In order to determine which test is more appropriate to administer to elementary grade students, it is important to consider the purpose of the test in conjunction with the ability and grade level of the students. Northwest Evaluation Association™ (NWEA™) designed Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) tests mindful of the amount of learning that…

On August 7th, 2013, the New York State Education Commissioner, John King, announced the initial results of the state's new assessment, which was designed to measure college and career readiness relative to the Common Core Learning Standards. Commissioner King noted that the proficiency rates on these assessments were significantly lower than…

This Fall report is an aggregated statistical analysis of Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) data from international schools. The report provides a consistent means of comparisons of specific sub-groups by subject and grade, which allows partners to compare their MAP® results with other schools within their region or membership organization.…

Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) released the first comprehensive study of assessment perceptions in 2012 that surveyed parents, teachers, and district administrators. In the intervening years, the landscape has shifted dramatically; indeed, it continues to shift every day. With new standards, accountability assessments, and ways of…

Recently, Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) completed a study to connect the scale of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) Testing Program used for Minnesota's mathematics and reading assessments with NWEA's RIT (Rasch Unit) scale. Information from the state assessments was used in a study to establish performance-level scores on…

In this follow-up to "Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude? Performance Trends of Top Students," the academic growth of 35,000 elementary and middle school students in 31 states, all of them high achievers within their own schools, were followed over a three-year period. Their achievement scores were matched with their associated…

This report describes the findings from a series of descriptive analyses seeking to understand the potential relationship between college access and school poverty for high-achieving middle school students, focusing specifically on potential access to state merit-based grant funding. Researchers monitored the academic achievement of more than…

This report is an aggregated statistical analysis of Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) data from international schools. The report provides a consistent means of comparisons of specific sub-groups by subject and grade, which allows partners to compare their MAP® results with other schools within their region or membership organization. There…

While many educators expect the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to be more rigorous than previous state standards, some wonder if the transition to CCSS and to a Common Core aligned MAP test will have an impact on their students' RIT scores or the NWEA norms. MAP assessments use a proprietary scale known as the RIT (Rasch unit) scale to measure…

Since 2000 the population in McKinney, Texas, has almost tripled. Remarkably, the school system has kept apace, opening a new school building almost every year. As the population of this Dallas-Fort Worth area bedroom community has diversified in recent decades, so has the student body of McKinney Independent School District (ISD). Despite the…

This report highlights the perceptions of parents, whose opinions are rarely sought and whose voices tend to be lost in decisions about how assessments are developed, administered and used. Parents are key consumers of assessment information--and, as taxpayers, they pay for assessments. Classroom teachers and district administrators have the most…