MAP testing...

[kpa1b2]

We're taking it starting next week at my school. Not sure when my class will go. Since we're K, I expect that we will be last.

[kinderkids]

I HATE the thought we are doing this to kindergartners. It makes me SCREAM! Here is some food for thought. I hope you share it with the powers that be. I have.
http://www.education.com/magazine/ar...ities-dangers/

[waterfall]

Originally Posted by FourSquare

One of my kids made a 28 point jump. I wish those gains were real!

Me too! Two of mine went up 40 points! When those kids inevitably score lower in the spring (how do you top a 40 point gain?) does that mean I was doing such a great job teaching them in the fall, and then slacked off in the winter? The data that we got from MAPs doesn't match what I'm seeing in the classroom at all, and we spent practically a full week taking those stupid tests. My class did extremely well so I'm not just being bitter either...I still hate them!

[kpa1b2]

Originally Posted by kinderkids

I HATE the thought we are doing this to kindergartners. It makes me SCREAM! Here is some food for thought. I hope you share it with the powers that be. I have.
http://www.education.com/magazine/ar...ities-dangers/

We used to do the OLSAT & SAT tests.

My kinders rarely get in the computer lab & when they do it's either me or the TA working with them. I hoping next week to get in there & do the practice test with them.

We did it a couple of years ago at the end of the year. I watched one of my kinders answer the question "Which number comes next?" Her answer choices were the next 4 numbers in order. She clicked on each number in order. Her answer was wrong.

[newbie23]

Just seeing the topic of this thread made my stomach flip-flop. My 3rd graders take the winter MAP test at the end of the month. Our scores from the fall weren't great but I felt like it was atleast an accurate picture.

I feel bad for the kiddos but we work to prepare them for the test and try to stress the importance of giving it their all.

Secretly I feel bad for myself. I have a 3" binder full of the fall data that I'm still trying to make sense of and now there will be a whole new set. This is our first year taking the MAP so the administration is trying to decide how we should use the data and their edicts on that seem to change weekly. What a mess!

[Rabbitt]

I am so sorry you are using MAP.
We gave it up for AIMSWEB.
It still is not ideal but sooooo much better than MAP.
I feel your frustrations.

[FourSquare]

Originally Posted by waterfall

Me too! Two of mine went up 40 points! When those kids inevitably score lower in the spring (how do you top a 40 point gain?) does that mean I was doing such a great job teaching them in the fall, and then slacked off in the winter? The data that we got from MAPs doesn't match what I'm seeing in the classroom at all, and we spent practically a full week taking those stupid tests. My class did extremely well so I'm not just being bitter either...I still hate them!

Same. And I "like" data. I was trained in a very data-driven program. I've spent 3 years all about numbers numbers numbers!

I have since realized that you have to be cautious with individual tests. They are one data point. MAP is not useless, but it has its limitations. And it really is almost useless for SPED. There is very little authentic assessment that my kids take outside of my daily observation notes of them and their progress.

And the 28+ growth kid? In my books he's grown from about a mid-second grade reading level to a solid 3rd grade reading level. He still needs a ton of comprehension work, but he's got phonics down, which is helpful.

MAP's not gonna tell me all that.