Press Releases March 21, 2024

New Case Studies Highlight the Value of NWEA’s Innovative MAP Reading Fluency Assessment

Naperville, IL, and Houston County, GA, educators share their insights on how this early literacy assessment tool is pivotal in driving better student outcomes.

Portland, Ore. — March 21, 2024 — NWEA, a K-12 assessment and research organization, announced three new case studies today highlighting the value of its innovative, early literacy assessment tool, MAP® Reading Fluency™. Naperville, IL, and Houston County, GA, educators shared how they use the assessment tool in their early grades and the value it has brought to their classrooms.

For Naperville Community School District 203 in Illinois, understanding their students’ reading and fluency skills required a time-consuming practice. A student would read with their teacher one-on-one while the teacher tracked errors, asked comprehension questions, and determined the student’s reading level. Leaders at Naperville 203 sought an efficient, objective solution that could provide valuable data to their teachers while not absorbing days of instructional time.

“We wanted a more contemporary early literacy assessment… It felt like we needed to move toward something a little more sophisticated and informative in terms of instruction and more reliable, too,” said Dr. Patrick Nolten, Assistant Superintendent for Assessment and Accountability at Naperville 203. “I mean…you and I could give the previously used assessment to the same student and come up with different results in some ways. And we would spend a lot of time one-on-one assessing students, which consumed instructional time.”

For the Houston County School District, reliability was a significant factor in their decision to add MAP Reading Fluency as a critical assessment tool in its elementary schools. Two schools in the Georgia district shared their perspectives.

“Traditional literacy assessments presented a consistency problem. Some teachers may score the same child differently, based on their teaching experience, to no fault of their own,” said Angienik Allen, Principal at Westside Elementary School in Houston County. “Sometimes, if a child came from a different school or different teacher, they may see nonfiction text in one administration and then nonfiction again in the next administration. It can skew your results.”

For these districts, the most significant value of having a reliable, time-saving early literacy assessment was the actionable data it provides. They shared how quickly they can have results to drive student grouping and differentiate instruction efficiently.

“I had a class test that morning, and by that afternoon, those foundational skills were already scored. The immediate feedback is wonderful. We can begin intervening the next day,” said Dr. Christie Bergh, Assistant Principal at Bonaire Primary School in Houston County.

MAP Reading Fluency continues to evolve into one of the most trustworthy assessment tools in the market. The CODiE award-winning tool launched in 2018 as a first-of-its-kind adaptive universal screening and progress monitoring assessment for grades pre-K to 5 and is now used by more than 1.4 million students in more than 2,000 districts nationwide. It recently received high ratings from the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) for its technical rigor, specifically as a universal screening tool helping to identify students who may need additional support to make progress.

About NWEA

NWEA® (a division of HMH) is a mission-driven organization that supports students and educators in more than 146 countries through research, assessment solutions, policy and advocacy services, professional learning and school improvement services that fight for equity, drive classroom impact and push for systemic change in our educational communities. Visit NWEA.org to learn more about how we’re partnering with educators to help all kids learn.

Contact: Simona Beattie, Communications Director, simona.beattie@nwea.org or 971.361.9526