Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) for Primary Grades Fall 2011 Scoring Correction
Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) is a global not-for-profit organization that partners with educational organizations worldwide to provide computer-based assessment suites, professional development and research services. Our Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) and MAP for Primary Grades (MPG) adaptive assessment tools are used by over 5,000 school districts and education agencies across the globe to track student growth and inform instruction. Both MAP and MPG are generally administered in the fall, winter and spring.
In November 2011, some of our partner school districts contacted us to report discrepancies in their student scores from the fall 2011 administration of MPG. Some students appeared to be performing significantly better or worse than they had been in spring 2011.
Our research team immediately examined the data and found that these discrepancies were a result of a technical issue in our fall 2011 assessments. Because these are adaptive computer tests, a miscalibration of the difficulty level assigned to each question resulted in scoring errors for a subset of students. This miscalibration affected only the Survey with Goals tests, one of the three types of tests included in the MAP for Primary Grades package.
We immediately addressed this issue by providing corrected scores and an upgraded test package, developed by our Quality Assurance and Research teams, to all affected school districts. Each affected partner school and district received the corrected scores, along with detailed information, live support and guidance from our Technical Support team. Partner schools and districts, in turn, have reached out with corrected scores to parents and students.
We regret any negative impact this issue has had on our partner communities and, in addition to providing an upgrade that resolves this issue, have instituted tighter quality control measures to ensure that it does not happen again.
As with any assessment tool, MAP and MAP for Primary Grades represent one set of data and should be used by educators and school leaders in conjunction with other measures to examine student growth and inform instruction.
NWEA is deeply committed to our mission of partnering to help all kids learn, and we are honored to work with school communities across the country and the world in support of this mission. We are committed to quality and continuous improvement of our products and services in order to best serve our partners.
Donna Schultz
Vice President of Product Management and Test Services
For more information on this issue:
- NWEA Partner Schools and Districts: Please contact your partner representative if you have additional questions or need additional support.
- Parents and Community Members: Please contact your child’s school, who will be able to provide updated information if they have not already done so.
- Members of the Press: Please contact Julie Newport at Collaborative Communications Group (202-266-4718 or newport@collaborativecommunications.com)