Agenda Item
b. Renewal of Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Assessment Systems for 2026-2027 (Not to Exceed $2,500,000)
Summary: Presented by: Dr. Candace Alexander, Chief of Accountability and Research, Division of Accountability and Research
Request: It is requested that the DeKalb County Board of Education approve the renewal of the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Assessment for the 2026-2027 school year in an amount not to exceed $2,500,000.
The requested purchase is an assessment expenditure that does not require bid per the District’s Purchasing Board Policy (DJE). It is aligned with Strategic Goal Area 1: Student Success with Equity and Access.
Why: The DeKalb County School District currently utilizes Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) as a formative, interim assessment in grades K-12 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 2026-2027 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 $2,500,000 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 $2,500,000 for FY27. The purchase amount will be paid using general funds budgeted to the Division of Accountability and Research’s Department of Assessment Administration GL code:100.1000.530010.00011.7540.9990.8010.030.0000 and
the Division of Student Services GL code: 404.2213.530000.05021.7340.2824.8010.094.2026
Contact: Dr. Candace Alexander, Chief of Accountability and Research, Division of Accountability and Research, 678.676.0300
Mrs. Kiana King, Interim Chief of Student Services, Division of Student Services, 678.676.0418
Effective: August 2026
Status: Approved by the Office of Legal Affairs