Faith Howard

April 29, 2022

#2: MAP Testing

MAP, or the Measure of Academic Progress is a test used to measure growth and adaptive
achievement over a period of time. The test provides RIT scores, a measurement that qualifies a
student’s academic performance. The MAP test is only nationally norm-referenced on a three
or four year basis to compare student scores to the “average” scores of other students across
the nation. The is test widely used for summative assessment for a range of students.

The MAP test measures content areas for language arts, math, studies, and science. It is an
approved test in alignment with GaDOE since the test measures students in core concepts and
is nondiscriminatory. Since it is a norm-referenced test, students are allowed to receive
automatic referrals to the gifted program dependent on their criterion score. Generally,
students to be considered for the gifted program, students testing data should be sourced and
evaluated from other norm-referenced tests taken outside of the school. For Fulton Science
Academy Private School, they do not require this since they are a private institution. During
admissions, the school uses the MAP Test as the sole evaluation source for the eligibility
process. They do not follow the necessary rules required by GaDoe for a student to correctly be
considered eligible for the gifted program.

Students are required to take the MAP test in the fall, winter and spring. The school often
wants to view if the student was able to score within a higher percentile than the previous
season. During testing, students are advised to give their best effort and take precious time to
understand each question. Since the test is not timed, they have more time to carefully and
cautiously assess each individual question. Paper and pencil are provided for all subjects, but
students often only use it for science and math. Students are provided log in information when
they are required to take the test prior to being accepted into the school, and then when
testing comes around in the class setting, they are provided a session name and passcode to
promptly begin the test. Since the test is taken on the computer, there may be a technical issue
such as their name not being on the list to test, but teachers are able to let administration
quickly know and it is an easy fix. While others are testing, once a student has finished, they are
not allowed to complete other school work. Students are only allowed to read a book or sit
quietly while others finish to not cause distractions and possible material that may be viewable
on the test.

After a student takes the assessment, they are provided detailed, actionable data about where
they are on their unique learning path. The website allows students to practice at different
levels including: skills, locator and mastery. Videos are provided for students to watch
substantial content for content they may lack in. These enrichment activities are meaningful
ways to provide a student the possibility to increase their testing scores. Due to the eligibility
process required at Fulton Science Academy, if a student were to leave the school to attend
another institution, they would have to have additional testing done to be accepted into the
gifted program.