Measuring Academic Progress
For the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), CAIS incorporates the Common Core standards for assessment. The IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) currently use standards mainly generated by the subject teacher for assessment purposes. CAIS also uses a number of assessment tools. One of these assessment tools is known as MAP (Measure of Academic Progress).
MAP Growth, run by NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association), is a US-based organization that has researched and developed assessment tools for the last thirty years. With a vast global network of schools and millions of students’ data to compare against. CAIS can evaluate its own students’ performance and growth in key areas of their learning against the rest of the world.
Why are we using this tool to assess?
- To measure how much students are learning over time
- To discover student learning opportunities
- To help target specific learning needs in individual students
How does it work?
- Assessments adjust to each response of each student
- Other assessments usually track students at, above or below their grade level
- MAP looks at how each student performs regardless of grade level
- Uses its own scale to measure student academic growth over their time at CAIS
- The Student profile page displays scores and tracks progress
- To help students, teachers and parents identify strengths and weakness
- This can help to push students further
- To target areas of development
- To allow teachers to plan and implement programs that work for each student
Before students begin the MAP tests the computers need to be prepared by adding a special browser. This stops students using other applications/websites during testing. Students in K2 and PYP1 may use headphones to listen to the audio features included in their tests.
All tests are managed and run from a special account managed by the school administrators. Test windows provide a time-frame for all tests to be completed for that particular semester/term. Test sessions can be created by choosing which students take which particular test such as Reading or Mathematics. When students arrive to the ICT room where the tests will be conducted for all students they will logon to a secure website browser.
Once students see a message on-screen prompting them to start the test they can begin. Students may start together or at different stages. Tests take approximately one hour. The school provides test sessions to allow for tests to be completed. All tests need to be completed during the test window set out by the School administrators. The time a student takes to complete is not a factor in determining their score. If students experience technical issues during the test they should not be affected as all recorded answers are immediately saved onto the MAPs server when the student press “Next question”. When students complete the test they are presented with a score and summary page. The data is used to represent how students perform over time, thus giving a representation of academic growth.