Educators want to meet the unique needs of their students, but most share two common roadblocks: a lack of time and not enough high-quality resources.
Manually connecting assessment data to instructional content is a terrific way to personalize learning, but it is often time-consuming and difficult. That’s why we partnered with Khan Academy™ to develop MAP® Accelerator™, an intuitive classroom tool designed to simplify differentiation in math and support student growth.
I sat down with our CEO, Chris Minnich, to learn more about this exciting partnership and how it will benefit teachers and students.
How did MAP Accelerator come to be?
We’ve heard from our partners about some of the challenges they face after an assessment is over. They say things like, “We took MAP Growth. We have this great information, but how can we connect it to what we teach in the classroom?”
[MAP Accelerator] simplifies differentiation so teachers can help students at every level make learning gains in math.”
So we joined forces with Khan Academy to develop MAP Accelerator, a tool for grades 3–8 that connects MAP® Growth™ data to personalized learning pathways with Khan Academy math content. It simplifies differentiation so teachers can help students at every level make learning gains in math.
How will MAP Accelerator help educators?
As we speak, classroom teachers are doing the manual work of connecting our data to curriculum content. We recognize that this commitment, while important, may infringe on valuable instructional time.
MAP Accelerator solves this pain point by generating personalized pathways for each student based on their MAP Growth results. And because a great tool can’t replace a great teacher, teachers can implement MAP Accelerator throughout their classrooms and adjust goals or pathways as students learn new concepts.
With 30 or more minutes of learning each week, students can drive their own learning.”
Additionally, school and district-level administrators can track usage and monitor the effectiveness of MAP Accelerator with easy-to-use dashboards. Seeing this data at a glance is really helpful when it comes to replicating best practices or celebrating school-level successes.
And how about students? What will they notice about MAP Accelerator?
From the start, we hope students will notice that the content is customized to be in their zone of proximal development: not too easy, not too frustrating. With 30 or more minutes of learning each week, students can drive their own learning with a clear, inviting interface featuring personalized goals and celebrations of progress. It’s a really interactive, engaging tool.
What is the value of this partnership?
Khan Academy is really a natural partner for us. Both of our organizations are trusted not-for-profits driven by a shared mission to help students, teachers, and districts succeed. Our partnership helps teachers make better decisions about the next instructional step for every student by connecting MAP Growth results with personalized Khan Academy resources.
What are you most excited about with MAP Accelerator?
Saving teachers time, keeping them in the driver’s seat, and helping kids grow. It’s always all about the kids.
To learn more about MAP Accelerator, visit nwea.org/map-accelerator.
