Coming directly from the nwea.org website, the MAP Growth test measures what students know and informs what they're ready to learn next. This Selected response assessment is given three times a year, during the Fall, Winter, and Spring portions of the school year. The goal of the test is to increase the Rasch Unit (RIT) score each time the test is taken. When the baseline is established in the Fall portion of the school year, teachers receive a report similar to what's shown in the image below:

Student Progress Report Example

The above image shows a sample report over the duration of several tests. From the report you can see the baseline score achieved in the initial test as well as the RIT scores on subsequent tests in the Winter and Spring. This report will also show a students Lexile score and projected RIT score. Teachers utilizing this information can plan for future instruction and group students based on their needs. Using the Lexile score, teachers can find appropriate text to assist the student in meeting their learning objectives. An example of a teacher report is shown in the image below:

Sample Teacher Report

The teacher report above is beneficial in that it takes each test area and breaks down the scores by sub categories. For example in this student's report, we can see the RIT score for the ELA category. Breaking that score down further, we can see the scores in the areas of Literature, Informational Text, and Vocabulary Acquistion and Use that are used to calculate the overall RIT Score. In this sample report, the teacher can determine that the student may need some additional support in the Vocabulary Acquisition and Use category.

From the students perspective, it was mentioned in one of the videos that scores create their own sense of motivation. From a personal perspective, my daughter is in 6th grade and recently received her Winter Map score for Math. Her teacher indicated that her score is equivalent to that of a student in 8th grade taking the Fall MAP assessment. Not only was my daughter impressed with her score, her teacher used it as motivation, by letter her know that she knows she can do better in class that what she shows. This self regulation strategy utilized by my daughters Math teacher is helping my daughter understand how she can perform in school.

References

Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2018, March 21). Interpreting Test Results. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=338&v=SknHk2m31_g&feature=emb_logo

Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2018, March 27). Select Reponse and Standardized Assessments. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=164&v=oYF8Yr0QKQg&feature=emb_logo

Nagle, C. E., Scheckly, B. G., & Allen, G. J. (2016). Enhancing urban students' use of self-regulated (SRL) stretegies in eigth grade science classes.  Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue , 18(1), 27–39.