Northwestern Evaluation Association

NWEA is a research-based, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators worldwide by creating assessment solutions that precisely measure growth and proficiency—and provide insights to help tailor instruction.

NWEA MAP Fluency

MAP Fluency is an online adaptive assessment that measures students’ oral reading fluency, literal comprehension and foundational skills. It uses advanced technology to enable a group of students to be tested in the lab at one time. These assessments automatically record and score each student and provide our teachers with useful instructional data. The MAP Fluency assessments take about 20-30 minutes to complete. Teachers may also listen to a recording of the student’s oral reading to help them identify any areas the student may be struggling with reading fluency.

NWEA MAP Growth

Like MAP Fluency, MAP Growth is a norm-referenced online adaptive assessment. This means that the questions change to meet each and every student where he or she is performing academically. The data we receive from MAP Growth informs us of the students’ proficiency and growth in comparison with millions of other students nationwide and is invaluable in helping us to determine school, grade level, classroom, and individual student strengths and weaknesses. As NWEA states, MAP Growth “provides teachers with accurate, and actionable evidence to help target instruction for each student or group of students regardless of how far above or below they are from their grade level.” Sharon Elementary students take this assessment three times a year in grades K-2 (fall, winter, and spring) and twice a year in grades 3-5 (fall and winter). The data is then reviewed and disaggregated by each grade level to aid us in making the best curricular and instructional choices possible for our students.

Dyslexia

In accordance with the BIll SEA 217, Sharon Elementary will universally screen all K-2 students to determine which students may have risk factors for dyslexia. Dyslexia is a reading disorder that involves difficulty in learning to read or interpret words and letters, but is not a reflection of a child’s intelligence or IQ level. All K-2 students will be given the following assessments as a universal screener; NWEA MAP Reading, NWEA MAP Fluency, Letter Identification, Arkansas Rapid Reader and Words Their Way encoding spelling test. If a student does not meet certain benchmark levels on these assessments, then a Level 1 or 2 Screener may be conducted with parent permission. If it is determined that a student is “at-risk” for dyslexia, the student will receive interventions at school.