5.16.19 A New Strategic Vision for NWEA Policy and Advocacy On one of my first trips to the Portland office I noticed a small plaque on the first floor that read: “NWEA is committed to providing the data and analysis that truly catalyzes kid-centric... Read more
5.14.19 How to Improve Your District End of Year Planning with Assessment Data In an earlier post – Teacher End-of-Year Planning Using MAP Growth Data – we shared three questions that many teachers contemplate after the school year ends, and that the assessment data... Read more
5.7.19 Teacher Appreciation Week: Making a Teacher Begins with a Mentor Recently I managed to orchestrate a personal trip to Target early on a Sunday morning. Just me and endless aisle of things I never knew I needed. As I walked in the store, I ran into my student... Read more
4.30.19 3 Teacher Tips for Driving Better Instruction with Data Tamassee-Salem Elementary is one of 10 elementary schools in the Oconee County School District in South Carolina, and they have been using the MAP® Growth™ interim assessment for more than 10... Read more
4.25.19 Three Ways to Right-Size Educational Assessments for Early Learners When we think about educational assessments, we most often think of elementary, middle, or high school students, but more and more K-3 students are being introduced to assessments. Assessing... Read more
4.23.19 Teacher End-of-Year Planning Using MAP Growth Data It doesn’t seem possible, but the end of the school year is closing in fast. Before you close the books on this year, some year-end reflection can help you build on your successes heading... Read more
4.18.19 LeBron James’ I Promise School Story Underscores Importance of Assessment to Close Educational Opportunity Gaps The New York Times featured a story on the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio and supported by the LeBron James Family Foundation, which highlighted encouraging initial results for its third and... Read more
4.16.19 Four Formative Assessment Strategies to Power Up Self-Regulated Learning Lately, I’ve been thinking about the connection between formative assessment and self-regulated learning. This idea of self-regulated learners has been around for a long time with implicit, more... Read more
4.11.19 Growth both ways: How can you assess the two types of growth in early literacy? At NWEA, we measure growth. Most of our partners know us for the MAP® Growth™ test, where overall growth is gauged by a RIT score on a continuous scale. But in early reading, we have an... Read more
4.9.19 Five frequently asked questions about MAP Spanish assessments Of approximately 4.8 million English Language Learners (ELLs) in US public schools, nearly 80% are native Spanish speakers. Educators are looking for better information on the largest subset of... Read more
4.4.19 Leveraging Growth Data for Teachers and Principals In an earlier post, we shared some insights into how teachers can use MAP® Growth™ assessment data to work with students. Students can leverage growth data to improve their learning and... Read more
4.2.19 Helping More Kids Win The most exciting thing I saw during the Super Bowl wasn’t the play on the field or the halftime show. It was this commercial from Microsoft. It’s not that I’m a big-time commercial buff.... Read more