
Description
NWEA recently launched a new tool called College Explorer that enables middle school and early high school-age students to use their Measures of Academic Progress ® (MAP®) scores to see which colleges and universities they’re on track to enter long before they embark on the college application process. Below are some FAQs that we thought you would like to know. Go to this link to access all FAQs.
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Associated Research

Blog article
Help kids plan for the future with College Explorer

Data visualization
Mapping the road to college

Media mention
Upgraded program helps students map a pathway to college
Related Topics


It matters how you start: Early numeracy mastery predicts high school math course-taking and college attendance
Using data from the Applied Problems subtest of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement administered to 1,364 children from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Childcare and Youth Development (SECCYD), this study measures children’s mastery of three numeric competencies (counting, concrete representational arithmetic and abstract arithmetic operations) at 54 months of age.
By: Pamela Davis-Kean, Thurston Domina, Megan Kuhfeld, Alexa Ellis, Elizabeth Gershoff
Topics: Early learning, College & career readiness, Math & STEM


Identifying students who are off-track academically in 9th grade: The role of social-emotional learning trajectories
This study examined the stability of social-emotional learning (SEL) skills and the extent to which students’ initial level in SEL skills in 6th grade and growth in SEL skills from 6th to 8th grade are related to students’ successful transition to secondary school. Findings suggest that understanding how a student develops social-emotionally can improve identification of students not on track to succeed in high school.
By: James Soland, Megan Kuhfeld
Topics: Social-emotional learning, High school, Middle school


Variation in respondent speed and its implications: Evidence from an adaptive testing scenario
The more frequent collection of response time data is leading to an increased need for an understanding of how such data can be included in measurement models. Models for response time have been advanced, but relatively limited large-scale empirical investigations have been conducted. We take advantage of a large data set from the adaptive NWEA MAP Growth Reading Assessment to shed light on emergent features of response time behavior.
By: Benjamin Domingue, Klint Kanopka, Ben Staug, James Soland, Megan Kuhfeld, Steven Wise, Chris Piech
Topics: School & test engagement, Innovations in reporting & assessment


A method for identifying partial test-taking engagement
This paper describes a method for identifying partial engagement and provides validation evidence to support its use and interpretation. When test events indicate the presence of partial engagement, effort-moderated scores should be interpreted cautiously.
By: Steven Wise, Megan Kuhfeld
Topics: School & test engagement, Innovations in reporting & assessment, Measurement & scaling


Exploring the educational impacts of COVID-19
This visualization was developed to provide state-level insights into how students performed on MAP Growth in the 2020–2021 school year. Assessments are one indicator, among many, of the student impact from COVID-19. Our goal with this tool is to create visible data that informs academic recovery efforts that will be necessary in the 2022 school year and beyond.
By: Greg King
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Innovations in reporting & assessment


User guide for interpreting the NWEA state dashboard: Exploring the educational impacts of COVID-19
This guide explains the analyses, statistics, terms, and data included in the NWEA state dashboard, Exploring the Educational Impacts of COVID-19.
By: Greg King
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Innovations in reporting & assessment


Measuring middle school achievement trajectories for college readiness
This study identifies students’ academic trajectories in the middle grades relative to a set of college readiness benchmarks. We apply math and reading college readiness benchmarks to rich longitudinal data for more than 360,000 students across the nation. Student-level and school-level demographic characteristics significantly predict academic trajectories.
By: Angela Johnson, Megan Kuhfeld, Greg King
Topics: College & career readiness, Equity, Middle school