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NWEA MAP® Test Overview


Free practice questions for NWEA MAP test

The NWEA MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) Test is an advanced tool designed to evaluate and promote your child’s academic growth and learning achievements. What makes this test special is its adaptive nature, ensuring a personalized testing experience that adjusts to your child’s unique learning level.

The result? You, along with your child’s teachers, get valuable insights into your child’s learning trajectory. These insights can identify areas of strength and pinpoint where additional support might be beneficial. This can help tailor your child’s learning experience, keeping it challenging enough to foster growth, yet achievable enough to maintain confidence and motivation.

Simplified Explanation for Parents Regarding the NWEA MAP test:

NWEA MAP Test ComponentExplanation for Parents
What is it?The NWEA MAP test is a computer-adaptive standardized test that measures a student’s reading, language usage, math, and science skills. It’s designed to measure a student’s progress and growth over time.
PurposeThe test helps educators understand where your child’s academic strengths and weaknesses are, so they can tailor instructions to meet your child’s unique learning needs. It also helps track your child’s academic growth over time.
FormatThe test is taken on a computer. It’s an adaptive test, meaning the difficulty of questions adjusts based on the child’s answers. Correct answers lead to harder questions, while incorrect answers lead to easier ones. This makes the test tailored to your child’s learning level.
FrequencyMost schools administer the NWEA MAP test three times a year: fall, winter, and spring. This allows teachers to monitor your child’s progress throughout the school year.
ScoringMAP scores, also known as RIT scores, are used to measure your child’s academic growth. There’s no passing or failing. Instead, the scores provide a snapshot of where your child is academically compared to their peers, and show how much they’ve grown over time.
PreparationThe best way to prepare your child for the MAP test is to encourage a love for learning and curiosity. Regular reading and problem-solving can help. Remember, the MAP is a growth measure, so it’s not about studying specific content.
ResultsTest results provide a detailed picture of what your child knows and is ready to learn. They can be used by teachers to customize learning plans and set goals. As a parent, you can use them to understand your child’s strengths and areas for improvement.

How Adaptive Questions Work

Imagine the test as a dynamic conversation between the computer and your child, where the difficulty of the questions adjusts based on your child’s responses. This interaction allows the MAP test to measure your child’s academic progress and growth more accurately than a conventional test.

Here’s how it works: If your child answers a question correctly, the test dynamically adjusts and presents a more challenging question next. This allows the test to gauge if your child’s understanding extends beyond their grade level. Conversely, if your child answers a question incorrectly, the test adapts to present an easier question, ensuring it is within their grasp.

This adaptive testing approach is beneficial in two significant ways. Firstly, it ensures your child isn’t discouraged by continuously encountering questions beyond their understanding. Secondly, it provides a detailed and nuanced picture of what your child already knows and what they are ready to learn next.

This table illustrates how the difficulty of the questions might adjust based on the student’s answers.

Question NumberQuestion DifficultyStudent’s AnswerNext Question Difficulty
1MediumCorrectHard
2HardIncorrectMedium
3MediumCorrectHard
4HardCorrectVery Hard
5Very HardIncorrectHard
6HardCorrectVery Hard
7Very HardIncorrectHard

In this example, if the student answers a question correctly, the difficulty of the next question increases. If the student answers incorrectly, the difficulty of the next question decreases. This table represents how the adaptive nature of these tests works to constantly adjust to the student’s current performance level.

The MAP Test is published by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) and is given via computer to children in grades K-12. Its structure is cross-grade, which provides measurement of students who perform on, above, and below grade level.

The test is multiple choice and provides MAP questions that are depth of knowledge, so that you can see if your child performs at level 1, 2 or 3 of difficulty. The MAP test is untimed, but students generally spend about 60 minutes per subject area. Feedback results are available in 24 hours.

Looking to prepare your child for their upcoming MAP test? TestingMom.com has MAP Reading, MAP Math, MAP Language, and MAP Science practice test questions. Become a member and gain access to 10,000+ NWEA MAP practice test questions, plus resources for parent success! Try us out for free by downloading our 100 Free Practice Questions!

What kind of MAP testing is my child taking?

If your child is taking a MAP test during his or her school year, it is likely they will be taking a MAP Growth test, which is a version of the MAP designed to assess a student’s academic growth from benchmark to benchmark.

The MAP Growth assessment is not a high-stakes test, but is given to students at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year to measure a student’s academic achievement and calculate academic growth. The MAP test scores give teachers a way to focus and plan for how they use time for either intervening with students or providing enrichment (if your child qualifies) to challenge higher-level students.

The MAP Test assessments reveal precisely which academic skills and concepts your child has acquired and what he/she is ready to learn. MAP assessments are grade independent and adapt to each student’s instructional level so that you can track your child’s achievement and notice trends to help with setting objectives.

What is MAP testing scored with?

Every item on a MAP assessment is anchored to a vertically aligned equal interval scale, called the RIT scale for Rasch UnIT—a stable measurement, like inches on a ruler, that covers all grades. Because the measurement is reliable and accurate, RIT scores serve as an essential data point in a student’s learning plan; educators can see their precise learning level and respond accordingly.

The RIT is an especially helpful way for teachers to align concepts with their students’ scores. For instance, if a student were to score a 172 RIT for their mathematic sub-test, the teacher would know that the student is ready to learn about fractions, estimation, and rounding, as shown by the NWEA’s Match RIT to Concepts guide.

NWEA MAP Skill Assessment for Primary Grades – Reading and Language Usage

The NWEA MAP for Early Learners (students kindergarten to first grade) tests contain 2 types of tests that you child may encounter before taking the MAP Growth test, or subsequently after taking their MAP Growth test. These tests are the Screening Assessment and the Skills Checklist Assessments.

Note: While it is unlikely, MAP Early Learners material may be used for 2nd graders.

What is the MAP Testing Screening Assessment?

The MAP Screening Assessment is a test used to get early, baseline information on a student. This test can be given pre-K and kindergarten. This is an adaptive test that responds to the student’s answers, with 33 questions in the Early Literacy section. It is given with the Mathematics Early Numeracy test. Its results are reported in number correct.

  • PRI-READ-Screening (Early Literacy) – This section focuses on assessing foundational literacy skills in younger students, including knowledge of the alphabet, phonemic awareness, and basic print concepts.

What is the MAP Testing Skills Checklist Assessments?

The Skills Checklist MAP is a set of diagnostic tests with results reported in both percent and number correct. It can be used to assess a student’s knowledge in a particular skill, either before teaching or after teaching the concept. There are 10 reading skills tested by the Skills Checklist MAP suite of tests, and the tests may be given throughout the year.

Reading skills tested by the Reading Skills Checklist set of tests:

Sure, here’s a table to summarize these skills and what they evaluate:

PRI-READ-Skills CategoryDescription
Consonant Blends/ DigraphsThis section evaluates a student’s ability to recognize and articulate consonant blends (two or more consonants pronounced together in a word, like ‘bl’ in black) and digraphs (two letters that make one sound, such as ‘sh’ in ship).
Decode: Multi-Syllable WordsTests students’ decoding skills, focusing on their ability to break down and read multi-syllable words
Decode: Patterns/ Word FamiliesThis section assesses a student’s proficiency in recognizing and decoding common word patterns and word families (groups of words with a common feature or pattern, such as “at” in cat, hat, and sat).
Letter IdentificationTests a student’s ability to accurately identify both uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet
Manipulation of SoundsEvaluates a student’s phonemic awareness, particularly their ability to manipulate sounds within words
Matching Letters to SoundsTests a student’s phonics skills, particularly their ability to match letters to the corresponding sounds they represent
Phoneme IdentificationAssesses a student’s ability to identify individual phonemes within words
Phonological AwarenessTests a student’s understanding of the sound structure of words, including recognizing rhymes, syllable counting, and blending sounds
Syllable Types: CVC, CVCe, R-ControlThis section assesses a student’s ability to identify and pronounce different syllable types, such as consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC), CVCe (where “e” is silent), and R-Controlled syllables (where “r” influences the vowel sound, as in “bird”).
Vowel Digraphs/ DiphthongsThis section tests a student’s ability to recognize and pronounce vowel digraphs (two vowels that make one sound, such as ‘ee’ in ‘seen’) and diphthongs (a sound formed by the combination of two vowels in a single syllable, where the sound begins as one vowel and moves towards another, as in ‘oi’ in ‘boil’).

What is the MAP Testing Survey w/ Goals Assessments?

Adaptive tests with results reported in RIT scores

  • PRI-READ-Survey w/ Goals (PhonAware, Phonic, ConPrnt) – This is a comprehensive literacy survey that tests a student’s phonological awareness, phonics skills, and understanding of print concepts, with the goal of identifying strengths and areas for improvement.
  • PRI-READ-Survey w/ Goals (Vocab, Comprehen, Writing) – This section is another comprehensive literacy survey, this time focusing on vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension, and writing skills, aimed at identifying both strengths and areas where additional focus may be needed.

Free NWEA MAP Practice Test Reading Questions

Which verb tense best completes the sentence?

Yesterday I ____________ to a Taylor Swift concert.

A. go           B. have gone           C. went           D. doing

Answer:  C

Science – Concepts, Processes and General Science

  • General Science covers specific science concepts within the three major domains of science: Life sciences, earth and space sciences, and physical sciences.
  • Concepts and Processes measures a student’s performance in both the processes used in science and the major themes underlying the science disciplines.

Test items for MAP for Science are helpful for assessing students up to and including 10th grade, prior to more specialized science curriculum in upper high school. MAP for Science is aligned to state standards, and to the two national standards established:

  • The American Association for the Advancement of Science Benchmarks for Science Literacy
  • The National Research Council’s National Science Education Standards

Free NWEA MAP Practice Test Science Questions

The study of the universe is called

A. ecology.           B. astronomy.           C. meteorology.           D. topography.

Answer:  B

Mathematics

What is the MAP Testing Screening Assessment?

The Mathematic Early Numeracy test is a diagnostic test given at the earliest stages of a child’s learning to gain a baseline. This test can be given to pre-k through kindergarten, and is  given in conjunction with the Early Literacy screening assessment. The Early Numeracy test has 35 questions and adapts in difficulty as a child answers. Its results are reported in number correct.

  • PRI-MATH-Screening (Early Numeracy)

What is the MAP Testing Skills Checklist Assessments?

The Math Skills Checklist Assessments are a set of diagnostic tests with results reported in both percent and number correct that are used to assess the abilities and knowledge of a student in a particular skill set. These tests may be given before or after teaching the skill, and there are 28 Math skills tests available to give to students. The Math MAP Skills Checklist Assessments can be given at any point during the year.

Math skills tested by the MAP Math Skills Checklist Assessments suite of tests:

Here’s a table that summarizes these skills and what they evaluate:

PRI-MATH-Skills CategoryDescription
Comp:10 – Using ManipulativesAssesses a student’s ability to use manipulatives to understand and solve problems with numbers up to 10
Comp:10 – Using NumbersTests the student’s basic number skills, particularly their ability to use numbers up to 10
Comp:10 – Problem SolvingEvaluates the student’s problem-solving skills using numbers up to 10
Comp:20 – Using ManipulativesTests students’ skills in using manipulatives to understand and solve problems with numbers up to 20
Comp:20 – Using NumbersTests a student’s numerical skills, particularly their ability to use numbers up to 20
Comp:20 – Problem SolvingTests a student’s problem-solving skills with numbers up to 20
Comp:100 – No Regroup – Using ManipulativesAssesses the student’s ability to solve problems using numbers up to 100 with no regrouping
Comp:100 – No Regroup – Using NumbersAssesses a student’s numerical skills, particularly their ability to use numbers up to 100 without regrouping
Comp:100 – No Regroup – Problem SolvingTests a student’s problem-solving skills with numbers up to 100 without regrouping
Comp:100 – w/ Regroup – Using ManipulativesAssesses a student’s ability to use manipulatives to solve problems with numbers up to 100 with regrouping
Comp:100 – w/ Regroup – Using NumbersTests a student’s numerical skills, specifically their ability to use numbers up to 1000
Comp:100 – w/ Regroup – Problem Solving/ EstimatingEvaluates a student’s problem-solving and estimation skills with numbers up to 1000
Comp:1000 – Using ManipulativesAssesses a student’s ability to use manipulatives to understand and solve problems with numbers up to 1000
Comp:1000 – Using NumbersTests a student’s numerical skills, specifically their ability to use numbers up to 1000
Comp:1000 – Problem Solving/ EstimatingEvaluates a student’s problem-solving and estimation skills with numbers up to 1000
NumSense:10 – Count, Order, Place ValueAssesses a student’s number sense, specifically their ability to count, order, and understand place value for numbers up to 10
NumSense:10 – RepresentationTests a student’s ability to represent numbers up to 10 using different methods
NumSense:20 – Count, Place ValueEvaluates a student’s ability to count and understand place value for numbers up to 20
NumSense:20 – RepresentationAssesses a student’s ability to represent numbers up to 20 using different methods

Free NWEA MAP Practice Test Math Questions

Solve:

30 + 70 + 50 + 80 = ________

A. 230           B. 210           C. 130

Answer:  A

Is this test timed?

No, this test is not timed. Children generally spend about an hour per subject.

NWEA MAP Test In the News

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