Agenda Item
b. Approval of the Renewal of Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Assessment Systems ( in an amount not to exceed $1,300,000.00) - (updated 07.08.2022)
Summary: Presented by: Mr. Oliver J. Lewis, III, Associate Superintendent, Office of Continuous Improvement (Accountability)
Request: In support of Board Policy II, it is requested that the Board of Education approve the renewal of the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Assessment for the 2022-2023 school year in an amount not to exceed $1,300,000.00.
The requested purchase is an assessment expenditure that does not require bid per the District’s Purchasing Board Policy (DJE).
Why: The DeKalb County School District currently utilizes Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) as a formative, interim assessment in grades K-10 in Reading, Language Usage, Mathematics, and Science. MAP also serves as the District’s universal screener to identify gifted and magnet students, as well as provides supplemental student achievement data to guide Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) at the local school level.
Additionally, the District requires a tool that:
Is Diagnostic (measures student growth and identify students in need of additional support)
Provides students with an online learning path/continuum-based students’ identified need
Allows the District to compare student performance against other students to determine growth and mastery percentile gaps (this is particularly important for our at-risk subgroups)
Allows the District to determine students level of mastery based on state standards and learning criteria (i.e., success criteria and learning targets) through the use of RIT scores
Can be used as a predictor towards the GA Milestones, SAT and ACT
Provides easy to understand data district, school and individual student reports (at the demographic level)
Provides Family Reports
In preparation for the 2022-2023 school year, the requested renewal is to permit the DeKalb County School District to enter into a continued agreement with NWEA to offer district-wide licenses for MAP assessments and to provide professional learning services to ensure all staff build efficiency in the instructional application of assessment data.
The renewal of MAP reduces the number of norm-referenced assessments offered in a single school year as it replaces the following assessments: Renaissance’s STAR Early Literacy, STAR Reading, STAR Math, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS).
Details: This proposed budget item is requesting funds not to exceed $1,300,000.00 to cover the costs associated with the District renewal of the NWEA MAP assessment system and professional learning services.
NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) is a suite of assessments that deliver data to make a difference in student progress. MAP Growth measures areas related to the Georgia Standards of Excellence in RIT (Rausch Unit) scores. As a result, educators can easily measure growth in learning through the school year, and from year-to-year in Reading, Math, Language Usage, and Science, which also affords educators the capability to differentiate instruction based on the tool’s functionalities. The tool is built on one of the most robust normative scales in the United States.
MAP assessments are computer-adaptive tests that increase in rigor as students answer items, correctly. When a student incorrectly answers a question, the test becomes less difficult as a means to match the next test item with the student’s academic aptitude. Therefore, a student takes an assessment created explicitly for his or her learning level. In addition, MAP Skills provides each student with his/her own specific learning path that identifies skill gaps and provides activities to help students master specific foundational skills.
The GA Department of Education is also closely determining the possibility of the NWEA MAP Assessment as a viable replacement of the year end summative assessment, currently known as the Georgia Milestones. A comprehensive pilot through the GA MAP Partnership has been underway and a stated decision is expected based on the pilot.
Financial impact: The financial impact is an amount, not to exceed, $1,300,000.00 for FY23.
The purchase amount will be paid using general funds budgeted to the Office of Continuous Improvement (Accountability), Department of Assessment Administration, charge code:
100.1000.530010.00011.7540.9990.8010.030.0000 (Other Purchased Services)
Contact: Mr. Oliver Lewis, Associate Superintendent, Office of Continuous Improvement (Accountability), 678.676.0300
Ms. Allison Q. Scott, Director of Assessment Administration, Office of Continuous Improvement (Accountability), 678.676.0300
Effective: July 2022
Status: Contract approved by General Counsel.
Measures of Academic Progress
(MAP)
An Overview of MAP and its Benefits to DCSD Stakeholders
MAP provides a full range of assessments for reading and math (grades K-2) for math,
reading, and language usage (grades 2-12), and for science (grades 3-8). MAP assessment
data is then used in MAP Skills Navigator to establish student-specific learning paths with
skills-based activities for students in grades 3-8 in reading and mathematics.
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MAP Skills Navigator
Schools in DCSD use MAP Skills Navigator activities to build missing foundational skills in math,
language usage, reading comprehension, and vocabulary. Through Skills Navigator, students
have access to open educational resources and free online activities. In addition, educators have
access to dashboards to assist with Response to Intervention (RtI) progress monitoring, and to
check for evidence of learning and student mastery. 3
MAP is a Comprehensive Assessment Solution
MAP is administered in the Fall,
Winter, and Spring as a formative,
interim assessment.
Administering MAP three times
throughout the year assists
educators with determining a
student’s current instructional
level, provides progress monitoring
information for acceleration and
remediation, and determines
year-end annual growth compared
to the fall and prior years. Spring
MAP data also helps to identify
summer learning activities and
potential fall placement.
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The RIT (Rausch Unit) Scale
The RIT score is an equal-
interval scale, like feet and
inches, that is independent
of grade level.
The RIT scale measures
student achievement,
so it allows educators to
measure growth
throughout the year and
from year to year.
The RIT scale also measures
test item difficulty.
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The RIT (Rausch Unit) Scale
Student: A B Student: A B
Student B has a higher RIT score Student A demonstrated more growth
than Student A than Student B
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MAP Assessments are Computer-Adaptive
The test adjusts as students
get answers correct or
incorrect, as illustrated by the
graph to the right.
As students get test items
correct, the RIT item difficulty
increases, and when a student
gets a question wrong, the RIT
item difficulty decreases.
The assessment will continue
to adjust to determine the
student’s RIT instructional
level.
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MAP Test Items
40,000 total test items
35,000 are multiple choice
5,000 are technology
enhanced items
Half of the total test items
(20,000) are at Depth of
Knowledge (DOK) 2 and 3
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Sample
MAP
Technology
Enhanced
Items
(TEIs)
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MAP Reports
Student Level
- Student Profile
- Family Report
- Student Progress
- Student Goal Setting Worksheet
- K-2 Screening and Skills Checklist
Class Level
- Class Report
- Learning Continuum
- Class Breakdown by RIT, Goal or Projected
Proficiency
- Achievement Status and Growth Summary
- K-2 Screening and Skills Checklist
School/District Level
- Grade Report
- Grade Breakdown
- Retest Recommended
- Projected Proficiency Summary
- Student Growth Summary
- District Summary 10
College and Career Readiness Connections
Besides Georgia Milestones End-of-Grade proficiency projections, MAP also provides
predictions for students to attain college and career readiness benchmarks as measured
by ACT and SAT. Students can also use their MAP scores to explore potential colleges.
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RIT Score Uses
MAP RIT scores can be used in a multitude of ways. Scores can be used for screening (RtI, gifted), to
determine differentiated instructional groups, to determine a student’s projected proficiency on state
assessments, to assess college readiness, and to pinpoint a student’s instructional level, including a Lexile
range for selecting text. In addition, MAP has several instructional content provider partners who can utilize a
student’s RIT score to establish learning pathways within their respective systems.
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Professional Learning Options
NWEA offers face-to-face
workshops, data coaching
services, and online learning as
part of our contract renewal.
Annually, the Office of
Assessment Administration offers
MAP training for all new teachers
and administrators, offers
refresher courses as needed, and
sends district coordinators to
school locations to assist staff in
using the MAP test administration
system and interpreting reports.
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