MAP® Growth™ data can be a powerful tool to help math, ELA, and science teachers identify where students are in their learning. It lets us compare student achievement to national norms, state linking studies, math-specific norms, and even biology norms. MAP Growth can also be used as a tool to track student growth, set goals with students (rather than for them), and afford educators opportunities to plan cross-curricular lessons and units.
I work as a professional learning consultant for NWEA, which means I get to work alongside educators and help them get the most out of MAP Growth every day. I was recently given the opportunity to work with a group of educators in my home state of Texas. During our time together, one gentleman pulled me aside and said, “I think MAP Growth is great. But I teach history, so this just isn’t relevant to me.” This wasn’t the first time I’d heard this sentiment during my time in various schools around the country, so I want to share some tips and tricks for how educators can utilize MAP Growth data across all units of study.
MAP Growth data is valuable for most teachers
Will a school’s music or PE teacher get a lot out of MAP Growth data? Probably not. But chances are the value the data provides is being overlooked by teachers outside of math, ELA, and science.
MAP Growth data can be analyzed and used across a wide range of subjects. Here are four important questions to ask when preparing to explore data as a department, grade, PLC, campus, or even district:
- What are the instructional areas within MAP Growth?
- How are we conveying student data to colleagues to create opportunities for meaningful student growth across all subjects?
- Are we having conversations with students about their MAP Growth data?
- How are we tracking student progress?
MAP Growth has numerous instructional areas
MAP Growth instructional areas are reporting categories that are aligned to state benchmarks or standards. The assessment contains a maximum of 15 questions related to each instructional area. MAP Growth provides scores by instructional area so teachers can better understand how students are performing in each one, making differentiation easier.
Sharing instructional area results with colleagues who teach other subjects can also provide insight as to where students may soar or need extra support. For example, a student who needs more scaffolding in vocabulary may find a geometry unit that is heavy in more advanced vocabulary difficult, even if they excel in math otherwise. That student may also benefit from a little more support in a history or science class for the same reason.
When I asked the history teacher who voiced his concerns if it would be nice for him to be able to see how his students were performing in vocabulary and informational text, he said he’d love to see that data. That opened a door for him to sit with the ELA teachers at his school, and meaningful conversations about student data ensued.
When teachers share assessment data, students benefit
I truly understand how it might seem that MAP Growth data isn’t relevant for teachers outside of math, ELA, and science. But my earlier example of the role of vocabulary in a geometry class is just one of many I could share.
It’s important for teachers to be encouraged to share assessment data with colleagues in other departments. It’s critical for all educators to ask, “How can I use MAP Growth data to support my content?” This can change the dynamic of a classroom, making differentiation in most subjects easier and providing more opportunities for student growth.
Carving out time to analyze this data may be difficult, but it’s well worth it. Whether you’re a teacher or school leader, I encourage you to first identify how MAP Growth data is currently being used. Chances are there isn’t a lot of cross-curricular collaboration happening—yet. How could teachers of all subject areas come together soon after each testing window to explore data? Looking at the scope and sequence of your curriculum as a larger team could help you find topics you could teach at the same time or in succession. Imagine what could happen if students were able to make connections to a subject across different classes!
Students must be part of the conversation
When I was in the classroom, I would have conversations with students regarding instructional areas. We would identify areas of strength and areas we could target to improve, and then set goals. As we worked through units, I would write the instructional area of focus on the board above our learning targets, and our small groups tutorial schedule was very fluid based on needs.
Last year, I had a conversation with one of my nephews regarding his MAP Growth data. He made tremendous growth, and everyone in my family was so very proud. When I asked him how he was able to grow so much, he told me that he put in the work. My follow-up question was this: “What did you do, specifically?” He replied, “I studied more.” That’s great, of course. But imagine the growth that could take place if our students knew their strengths and areas for growth.
I showed my nephew his MAP Growth Student Profile report soon after. (His teacher was gracious enough to share it via email.) We talked about the instructional areas related to ELA and how the report was showing his strength was “Multiple genres,” while he was middle of the road in “Author’s purpose and craft” and had room to grow in “Foundational language skills: Vocabulary.” After I repeated how proud I was of him, he looked me in the eye and asked, “Auntie, what does ‘Multiple genres’ mean?” I realized I was using very academic teacher-speak with him and was grateful for the opportunity to talk to him using language easier for him to understand.
My nephew and I had some great conversation about what instructional areas look like in various subjects. He was astonished that “Multiple genres” is something he encounters in social studies and science. We also discussed the fact that vocabulary is part of every subject. My nephew and I talked about how we encounter new vocabulary not only academically, but in sports, too, for example. The dots started to click.
Because our students are so much more than a RIT score, our conversations need to be meaningful, and we need to make connections for them regarding instructional areas and content. This creates a culture of learner empowerment that our students crave—and deserve.
MAP Growth is just one part of the big picture of student progress
Because MAP Growth is an interim assessment, that is, an assessment that is administered three times a year, we need to use additional data points to orchestrate continual conversations with colleagues, students, and families about student goals and growth. We cannot talk about how students are doing just those few times out of the year. We must constantly be identifying where kids are in their learning and doing everything we can to help them be successful.
There is no one size fits all for this. My personal favorites when I was a teacher were goal setting and formative assessment. Goal setting looked different from year to year and from class to class, but two things were always true: 1. Without a target, we would surely drift. 2. Without frequent check-ins, it would be hard to meet our goals on time.
Thoughts to leave you with
As you consider your role as an educator, I encourage you to answer the following questions:
- Am I aware of the instructional areas my students are tested on using MAP Growth?
- Can I align these instructional areas with my scope and sequence or curriculum map?
- Do my subject-area colleagues and I take the time to have conversations with colleagues who teach different subjects?
- Do we have departmental conversations about larger trends in data?
- Are we engaging students and families in conversations about MAP Growth data?
Assessment data can be an incredibly powerful tool. NWEA is here to support you in getting the most out of MAP Growth. Visit our professional learning site to read more about our workshops on using data to support instruction.
