Agenda Item
b. Renewal of Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Assessment Systems for 2025-2026 (Not to exceed $2,100,000)
Summary: Presented by: Dr. Candace Alexander, Chief, Accountability & Research, Division of Accountability & Research
Request: 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 2025-2026 school year in an amount not to exceed $2,100,000.
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) using 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 2025-2026 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.
Details: This proposed budget item is requesting funds not to exceed $2,100,000 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 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.
Financial impact: The financial impact is an amount, not to exceed, $2,100,000 for FY26. The purchase amount will be paid using general funds budgeted to the Division of Accountability and Research’s Department of Assessment Administration charge code:100.1000.530010.00011.7540.9990.8010.030.0000
Division of Curriculum and Instruction and charge code: 100.2210.530000.00011.7480.9990.8010.035.0000
Federal Programs charge code: 414.2213.530000.37821.7590.1784.8010.030.2026
Contact: Dr. Candace Alexander, Chief, Accountability & Research, Division of Accountability & Research, 678-676-0300
Dr. Felicia G. Rhone, Director, Assessment Administration, Accountability & Research, 678-676-0300
Effective: August 2025
Status: Approved by the Office of Legal Affairs
Measures of Academic Progress
(MAP)
An Overview of MAP and its Benefits to DCSD Stakeholders
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D'eKalb County
Assessments
: Is this student What skills has
growing as expected? this student developed?
What comes next?
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Guide instruction throughout the year
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MAP provides a full range of assessments for reading and math (grades K-2) for math,
reading, and language usage (grades 2-12L 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
• Skills locator saves time in the classroom by
quickly finding discrete missing skills
• Identify skills in math, language usage, reading
Skills Navigator" comprehension, and vocabulary
• Indivkiualize learning with professionally
evaluated free online student activities
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• Dashboards allow students to view and access
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all assigned resources anywhere, anytime
• Mastery Checks quickly and easily measure skills
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to ensure mastery
[ducat o:1dl .. Use as often as needed to gain useful data in as
few as 5 minutes
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.. Dashboards support and inform Response to
Intervention (RTI) progress monitoring
.. Easily track effectiveness of interventions for
individual students
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Schools in DCSD use MAP Skills I\lavigator 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 (Rtl) 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.
4
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.
5
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
gra ph to the right.
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correct, the RIT item difficulty --o
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item difficulty decreases.
The assessment will continue
to adjust to determine the r (1)6 answ.:: r StilncJarll Hor
student's RIT instructional
level. CD The Test "W~/I,
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MAP Test Items
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40,000 tota I test items
MAP TEST ITEMS
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Total Items in ~C TF~ " '.,
MAP Item Pool !l 35,000 are multiple choice
40k 35 k 5k 20k
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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MAP Reports
Student Level
- Student Profile
- Family Report
- Student Progress
- Student Goal Setting Worksheet
- K-2 Screening and Skills Checklist
• 5 udems use MAP results· 0 set. g,rowth goats tor themselves - cf€.e pE ni rg
t heir engagement a d ownershi p o~ earning_
Class Level
- Class Report
- Learning Continuum Teachers
- Class Breakdown by RIT, Goal or Projected • T" achers difl"erentiate jnstruai-on,. identify i:nstrllll:tional resmwees. and
col.labofate I Ii he chi ld's 'I hoi learning tea m to wooni lo r gr ow
Proficiency
- Achievement Status and Growth Summary
- K-2 Screening and Skills Checklist
Sdloot and01strict leaders
mmistra t-ors use t he dat a for fleJ(ible gm~ ng . progrllm evaluations.,.
School/District Level resource aUocation and proficiency projections.
Grade Report
Grade Breakdown
Retest Recommended
Projected Proficiency Summary
Student Growth Summary
District Summary 10
College and Career Readiness Connections
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NW~_ll CoUege R'eadiness B': nch:marks :
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Usc your MAP score to explore coll"tJos
and universities
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• Provides predications for students to achieve
ACT benchmarks in grades 5-9
MATl-IEMATICS
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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 .
11
RIT Score Uses
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• Screen for RTI/G&T/3td Grade ReDding
noredink ( las. \\V rks
Scale
• Dtfferentiate Instruction/Flexible ;d~
Adult
LiIEr.lCy Grouping .~ f-ompd learning Edgenuity
• Assess College Readiness
• Predkt results on state tests
klstructJonai le ve I
tnump a r u
200 • ladder Lesson s AC IEVE3000
• Lexile Levels for Reading
RJT
Selection
Study Island
Knowledge _
and Skills ·klstructional Content
• RIT to Resource
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Khan Academy
(leaming • Compass Learning
Beglnning
Reading Continuum) • Achieve 3000
MAP RIT scores can be used in a multitude of ways. Scores can be used for screening (Rtl, 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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