Assessments

Prepare, Plan, Assess

Preparation, planning and assessment administration are critical steps is the process of using assessment data to improve teaching and learning. The resources on this page provide assistance with the requirements and best practices of assessment administration.

MAP^® Growth^TM

1. What are the MAP Professional Learning Opportunities in the 2020-21 school year?

2. When are the 2020-21 designated assessment windows?

In compliance with the Return to Learn requirements in state law, the following testing windows have been established:

Fall: First nine week of 2020-21 school year.
Winter December 14, 2020 – January 20, 2021
Spring:

If your last day of school is:	Your spring window is:
June 9 – June 15	May 3 – May 28
June 16 – June 23	May 10 – June 4

The Center provides all of the 2020-21 assessment windows and all assessment-related submission requirements in the Master Calendar of Reporting Requirements Assessment Guide. Revisions for this school year due to the pandemic are posted on our Master Calendar webpage.

3. What are the assessment administration requirements and best practices?

4. Which grade levels and subject areas must be assessed according to the charter contract?

5. Is administration of the winter assessment required?

No, administration of the winter assessment is not required.

The winter assessment window is highly recommended, but not required.
The Center does not calculate assessment participation during the suggested winter window, unlike the required fall and spring windows.
If assessment administration extends beyond the close of the suggested winter window, the Academy can adjust the window on the MAP site.

6. What accommodations can be utilized during the administration of MAP?

7. How does the Center calculate student participation rates during the fall and spring designated assessment windows?

The Center obtains the number of students who completed the assessments from the MAP site, enrollment provided by the academy on the Assessment Coordinator Verification form, as well as academy-entered enrollment information from MSDS to complete participation calculations.

Extenuating circumstances (hospitalization, incarceration, etc.) prohibiting students from completing the assessment must be noted on the Assessment Coordinator Verification form. The Center may require additional documentation during the participation calculation process for clarification.

8. What technical support is available before, during and after assessment administration?

9. How can one ensure leading zeroes on students’ Unique Identification Codes (UIC) are not dropped when creating rosters and opening data files?

When creating and uploading the Class Roster File (CRF):

Format the Student ID column as “Text” to ensure Excel does not automatically drop leading zeroes when saving, opening and/or uploading the CRF to NWEA’s MAP site.

Opening up a CRF

Save the file as a .csv file.
Right-click on the .csv file and select Open with… Select Notepad.
With the file open in Notepad, Select File => Save As.
Use the drop-down box to select the Encoding to be UTF-8.
Remove the .csv from the file name and make sure the type is text.
Close the file in Notepad.
Open Excel.
Go to File => Open => go to folder where the file has been saved. NOTE: if the file isn’t shown, select the file type (which will probably say All Excel Files…) and using the drop-down box, select All Files.
Select the text file and open. A Text Import Wizard will pop up. Select ‘Delimited’ as the file type. Check the box; ‘My data has headers,’ then Next.
Click on the ‘comma’ box under delimiters, then Next.
Scroll through the file to find the UIC field. It will probably be called ‘Student ID.’ Highlight the field and select ‘Text’ in the Column data format box. Click Finish.
In the spreadsheet that opens, find the Student ID field, and highlight the entire column.
Right Click, select ‘Format Cells.’
Go to the number tab and select ‘Text.’ Hit OK, then save the file as an Excel sheet.

10. What are the spring achievement measures?

Please note: Your school’s MAP Growth data for the 2020-21 school year will not be used for accountability purposes.

The NWEA MAP 2015 National Norms (spring benchmarks) are:

Grade	MAP Reading Benchmark (≥ RIT Score listed)	MAP Math Benchmark (≥ RIT Score listed)
3	198.6	203.4
4	205.9	213.5
5	211.8	221.4
6	215.8	225.3
7	218.2	228.6
8	220.1	230.9

Assessment Resources

Video Resources

Webinars

Forms

Form Requirements

What does one need to do before submitting the Assessment Coordinator Verification Form (A2 and A3) to ensure requirements are met?

To ensure achievement and growth reports on the annual Academic Performance Report accurately represent the academy’s performance, student data elements must be accurate and complete on the MARC website. For additional support in this process, please view the Filling Out Form A2 and A3 video.

Prior to submitting form A2 and A3, ensure accurate completion of all students’:

First and last names
10-digit Unique Identification Codes (UIC)
Birthdates
Grade levels
Gender
Ethnicity
School of Record
Class

If any of the required student demographic information is missing or incomplete, the Center will reject the form. Notification of the rejection and identification of the misinformation will be sent to the academy via email. Upon receipt of the email, the academy must correct the missing or incomplete student demographic information on the MARC site and resubmit the form. The form will only be accepted once all required information is correct.

Note: Submitting the form prior to the deadline will ensure the Center’s compliance coordinator has the opportunity to check the form and follow up with the academy if necessary. Timely completion of the A2 and A3 forms ensure the academy meets the compliance requirements of the charter contract.

If you need additional assistance, contact the Center at (989) 774-2100.