NWEA MAP Growth Update
Catholic Schools Office
We hope you’re having a restful summer and are enjoying a well-deserved break! During this down time, we wanted to reach out with a few updates regarding NWEA MAP Growth testing for the 2019-2020 school year.
As always, please feel free to contact our team if you have any questions or concerns.
Have a wonderful rest of your summer!
Annie Smith & Becky Mongeau
Resources
We continue to post updates and resources on our website at http://csotechteam.weebly.com. Please feel free to share our website with your teachers.
The CSO NWEA Manual should be your first resource as you test students and to answer any questions you may have.
NWEA Connection is an online community where you can connect with fellow educators and NWEA experts for assessment and instruction tips. You can find product updates, workshops (formerly Destination PD), and teacher resources. Teachers and administrators can create their own account here: https://community.nwea.org/welcome
2019-2020 Testing Windows
Fall: September 3 to October 4, 2019
Winter: January 2 to February 7, 2020
Spring: April 27 to May 29, 2020
The winter session will be mandatory this year for elementary schools. Please email Annie Smith at smith_a@rcab.org if you have an instructional reason you aren’t planning to test this winter.
Rostering
- For non-FACTS SIS schools, your Fall roster template was emailed to you on July 18. Please update and return by August 23 to csotechteam@rcab.org. You can access a step by step guide to update your roster here.
- For FACTS SIS schools, we will be pulling information from FACTS in mid-August. please make sure your student and staff information is as up to date as possible in FACTS.
Test Coordinator Training
Register now for a 30-minute webinar on August 6th and get prepped with the resources you need to plan a smooth fall testing season.
- Unable to attend on August 6? Sign up for the webinar to receive the on-demand recording and additional resources. The recording and resources will be sent approximately one week after the live webinar.
Rapid-Guessing
A rapid guess means the student answered well below the average response time measured by NWEA for each test question. The response is so fast that the student could not have viewed the question completely. Students who rapid-guessed on 30% or more of the test questions might receive a score that misrepresents their abilities. In order to address rapid guessing, NWEA has put in place the following measures:
- While waiting to be confirmed, students will see tips helping them understand the purpose of the test, the relevance of trying their best, and what might happen if they go too quickly.
- Most tests will pause when a student has rapid-guessed on multiple questions.
- Both student & proctor are notified.
- Proctor can reengage and resume test (from either student device or proctor console) or suspend test
- Test will pause two to three times during a test session if necessary
- Rapid-guessing information will be available for each student directly within the proctor console
- Test session information will show the number of rapid guesses while student is testing
- Number of rapid guesses will change to percentage once the test is completed
- Red flag will appear next to instances of excessive rapid guessing
- Before closing the session, the proctor has the ability to download a summary of that test session to capture information like testing status and rapid-guessing information
- The new Retest Recommended – Rapid Guessing report will show only students who reached or exceeded the 30% threshold for excessive rapid guessing
- The Grade breakdown report and student profile will continue to show this information
- Tests will not be invalidated due to rapid-guessing, but we recommend that students be retested if they reach the 30% threshold for excessive rapid-guessing to ensure the data reflects what a student truly knows before being used to inform decisions.
You can learn more about the new student test engagement features here.
Lockdown Browser
The minimum required version of the Lockdown Browser will be 5.4.117.0 which was released on June 8, 2018 for Fall 2019 testing.
Lockdown Browser version 5.4.148.0 which was released on June 17, 2019 will be required for Winter 2020 testing.
New Chromebook app (version 3.1.0)
As of June 17, 2019, the new Chromebook App is available for download.
Operating Systems, Browsers, Apps No Longer Supported:
The following iOS, browsers, and apps are no longer supported for NWEA Testing:
- iOS: iOS 9 and 10 will no longer be supported for iPad testing. This change will make testing on 4th generation iPads no longer possible.
- Browsers:
- Safari: 9.x and 10.x
- Firefox: Versions below 64
- Chrome: Versions below 71
- Mac Secure Testing Browser: Versions below 4.0.0.3
- Apps:
- iPad Secure Testing App: Versions below 3.2
- Chrome Secure Testing App: Versions below 3.0.2
MAP Spanish
Spanish versions of MAP Growth reading and math tests are now included with your MAP Growth license at no additional cost. Spanish MAP Growth tests allow you to measure growth for your Spanish-speaking students the same way you already do for your English-speaking students. You can watch a short video and read answers to frequently asked questions about MAP Spanish here.
Catholic Schools Office
Email: csotechteam@rcab.org
Website: csotechteam.weebly.com
Location: 66 Brooks Drive, Braintree, MA, USA
Phone: 617-779-3613
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSOBoston/
Twitter: @csoboston