"MAP Testing" in Texas. What Fresh Hell is This?

[Seymour Flops]

Or I should say, "What fresh opportunities for profiteering and kickbacks is this?"

MAP Testsing is yet another statewide test, to be given to students who are already being pressured to do well on the STAAR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness).

For some students, especially students with anxiety, this may well be worse:

So, if a really smart fifth grader who gets grades in the high nineties in Math gets all of the 5h grade and 6th grade level questions correct, the program (AI, I'm sure) will throw questions at him about Pythagorean Theorem, and polynomial equations that he has not even been exposed to in order to force a wrong answer.

The idea is literally for every student to get a fifty on the test, no matter how smart or dumb a given student is.

That's annoying to infuriating for most students who will realize to one degree or another what the test's game is. For at least one of my students, this will border on torture. AI agrees with me.

She's in SpEd for au, so I asked if the ARD committee could excuse her from this.

Nope.

Of course not. Like the STAAR, it's an expensive test that lawmakers mandated for every child. Can't let the educators and parents who know the student have a say in it, or the bottom line would be affected.

I am contemplating advising the parents to keep this student at home. I could lose my job for that, but me losing this job would be less stressful for me than taking that test would be for the student.

 

[Winco]

I did MAP testing for decades in WA State.
And it was by far the easiest, least stressful for the student, and the most accurate.
Now, you may be talking about something totally different, but I doubt it.

When did it start?​

• MAP was created by NWEA in the early 2000s and has been used widely across the U.S. since then.
• Washington districts began adopting it over the past 10–15 years as a local assessment tool, not a statewide mandate.

Important:
MAP is not required by Washington State—individual districts choose to use it.

---

How MAP is scored​

MAP does NOT use Levels 1–4.

Instead it uses a RIT score:

• Scale roughly 140–300
• Higher number = higher achievement level
• It’s designed to measure growth over time, not just grade-level proficiency

Schools often also show:

• Percentiles (how a student compares nationally)
• Growth targets

There is no “pass/fail” or official proficiency level on MAP.

 

[Winco]

So, of a really smart fifth grader who gets grades in the high nineties in Math gets all of the 5h grade and 6th grade level questions correct, the program (AI, I'm sure) will throw questions at him about Pythagorean Theorem, and polynomial equations that he has not even been exposed to in order to force a wring answer.

The adaptive part is fine.
I tell students ahead of time that if they encounter problems above their current curriculum level, that is a GOOD thing, it means they are doing well, and to think of the higher level problem(s) as a reward and a challenge.
I've done this testing for years.

The idea is literally for every student to get a fifty on the test, no matter how smart or dumb a given student is.

Not in WA at least, in WA the scale is a RIT score on a scale of 140-300.
Nothing to do with the score of 50, as you claim.

 

[Seymour Flops]

The adaptive part is fine.
I tell students ahead of time that if they encounter problems above their current curriculum level, that is a GOOD thing, it means they are doing well, and to think of the higher level problem(s) as a reward and a challenge.
I've done this testing for years.

Not in WA at least, in WA the scale is a RIT score on a scale of 140-300.
Nothing to do with the score of 50, as you claim.

I like that line, thanks. I will tell that to my student.

Unfortunately, she will easily understand it but find it almost impossible to internalize due to her disability.

She is in all advanced classes, and scores "Master" on the STAAR every time. But she still stresses out about it and takes until the very last minute trying to make sure every answer is correct.

 

[Winco]

Is the MAP testing in WA the same as the MAP testing in TX?

Yes—MAP testing is essentially the same in Washington and Texas, with a small caveat.

---

The core test is identical​

MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) is created and run by NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association), and it is:

• The same adaptive test nationwide
• Delivered on the same platform
• Scored using the same RIT scale (about 140–300)
• Normed against a national student sample

So a student’s MAP score in Washington means the same thing as a score in Texas.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Or I should say, "What fresh opportunities for profiteering and kickbacks is this?"

MAP Testsing is yet another statewide test, to be given to students who are already being pressured to do well on the STAAR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness).

For some students, especially students with anxiety, this may well be worse:

View attachment 1251216

So, if a really smart fifth grader who gets grades in the high nineties in Math gets all of the 5h grade and 6th grade level questions correct, the program (AI, I'm sure) will throw questions at him about Pythagorean Theorem, and polynomial equations that he has not even been exposed to in order to force a wrong answer.

The idea is literally for every student to get a fifty on the test, no matter how smart or dumb a given student is.

That's annoying to infuriating for most students who will realize to one degree or another what the test's game is. For at least one of my students, this will border on torture. AI agrees with me.

View attachment 1251217

She's in SpEd for au, so I asked if the ARD committee could excuse her from this.

Nope.

Of course not. Like the STAAR, it's an expensive test that lawmakers mandated for every child. Can't let the educators and parents who know the student have a say in it, or the bottom line would be affected.

I am contemplating advising the parents to keep this student at home. I could lose my job for that, but me losing this job would be less stressful for me than taking that test would be for the student.

Really nothing new here. My grandkids have been taking this testing program in KY for years.

 

[Seymour Flops]

Really nothing new here. My grandkids have been taking this testing program in KY for years.

In Kentucky, I'm sure the tests are pretty quick.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

In Kentucky, I'm sure the tests are pretty quick.

Why would you say that?

 

[Seymour Flops]

Why would you say that?

From what i read, it is the advanced, high achieving students who are slowed down by the test seeking that 50% equilibrium.

But Monday will be the first time I see it administered.

 

[DGS49]

I have heard it said (by people who should know) that some people "just don't do well on tests," and hence their relatively low scores should be discounted.

I suppose there are such people.

 

[jacksonlamb]

MAP-testing is an updated version of benchmark testing a decade old.

It is used to map learning in ESL classes, which has the opposite effect. The testing hurts the learning curve.

 

[LibertyWeeps]

If the public school system wasn't CORRUPT.......
If the public school system hired ACTUAL teachers instead of pedophiles..........
If the public school system allow professional teachers and administrators to run their school like they used to..........
If politicians kept their fukking hands out of the public schools accounts..........
If public school boards had more in depth background checks for people running for the board, and jail time sentences for those that broke the publics trust in managing public schools........

There wouldn't be any NEED for these stupid "tests". The "tests" which aren't anything more than political scams for the worst schools to get more free government funding that the board members shovel into their pockets, whiles the schools continue to fall apart.