Growth and Norms

As you use MAP Growth data, refer to these common questions.

And to inform your educational decisions, use the resources under 2020 Norms Resources.

Overview of MAP Growth Data

 

By using MAP Growth tests, your schools can gain insight into the growth of all students. What makes it possible is the NWEA MAP Growth norms study, which is representative of schools across the nation. NWEA norms enable you to compare student achievement in a single term (i.e., achievement norms) as well as across terms (i.e., growth norms):

Use growth norms to:

  1. project the amount of growth that is typical for similar students
  2. set appropriate growth targets, based on the projection
  3. evaluate the observed growth in a subsequent term

Growth projections are not the same as projected proficiency, which appears on the Student Profile and the Projected Proficiency Summary reports.

Projected proficiency comes from a separate NWEA study that links MAP results to your state's summative assessment or to college readiness tests.

Student-level Growth

Here are some key considerations:

  1. Typical growth projections are just a starting place to help you set your students' growth goals, which could be higher or lower.

  2. Always balance projections with other information and observations to make targets appropriate for your students.

  3. In terms of accuracy, the NWEA norms study includes several factors that help to make projections as accurate as possible, including:
    • how many weeks of instruction students received on average before testing (as set in the MAP preferences for your district or school).
    • how high students scored in the first term (because students starting with a high score generally do not raise their score as much as students starting with a low score).

  4. It is not uncommon for students to have the same growth projections on reports, due to rounding limitations.

  5. Keep in mind that projections are an estimate intended to show the growth that similar students have shown on average, according to the NWEA norms study.

  6. High school students, especially those with high achievement, may have only a small growth projection. In this case, focus on the average growth across the larger group, rather than individual student growth.

The Conditional Growth Percentile shows how well each student grew relative to matching peers within the NWEA norms study. Watch the following explanation:

Visualize growth using the interactive Summary with Quadrant Chart within the Achievement Status and Growth Report.

Example view showing student placement in different quadrants of the chart.

Low growth is a signal to find out more information. There are various questions to consider:

  • How much effort did the student put into the recent MAP Growth test?
    • Check the Test Duration, shown on the Class Profile report. Does it differ from most students?
    • Check how many other tests the student took on the same day. Was the student fatigued?
    • When did testing occur? Was the student anxious to finish?
  • Is the student already at a high level of achievement?
    • The higher the achievement, the lower the expectation of growth.
  • Are the student's needs getting met?
    • Talk with the student and parents. Is there a pattern of behavior that gives cause for concern?

  • How high is the Observed Growth Standard Error? (Shown on the Achievement Status and Growth Report.)

    For example, if the growth is –3, but the standard error is 4, then it's possible that growth is not negative.

School and District Growth

Here are some key considerations:

  1. In terms of accuracy, the NWEA norms study includes several factors that help to make projections as accurate as possible, including:
    • how many weeks of instruction students received on average before testing (as set in the MAP preferences for your district or school)
    • how high students scored in the first term (because students starting with a high score generally do not raise their score as much as students starting with a low score)

  2. High school students, especially those with high achievement, may have only a small growth projection. In this case, focus on the average growth across the larger group, rather than individual student growth.

On the Student Growth Summary Report use the Grade-Level Norms to see how the growth produced in your school compares to other US schools.

The Grade-Level Norms section of the Student Growth Summary report.

The School Conditional Growth Percentile shows how the average growth of students in a single grade within the school grew relative to other US schools teaching the same grade.

The District Summary Report shows growth progression for each grade from all of the past MAP Growth testing.

District Summary report showing growth progression for each grade.

Also, on other reports, you can check the results from any of the past three test terms. 

Low growth is a signal to find out more information. There are various questions to consider:

  • How much effort did the students put into the recent MAP Growth test?
    • Check the Test Duration, shown on the School Profile Report. Does it differ from other grades?
    • Check how many other tests the students took on the same day. Were they fatigued?
    • When did testing occur? Were the students anxious to finish?

2020 Norms Resources

Consult the following documents to give you insight into your MAP Growth test results.

CAUTION: You may notice discrepancies between your MAP Growth reports and the figures published in these norms resources, depending on your Weeks of Instruction between testing. Your Weeks of Instruction (a setting in your MAP preferences) may differ from the default. As a result, percentile rankings and growth projections will adjust on your MAP reports to more precisely reflect your students' amount of instruction. In contrast, these norms resources assume the default weeks of instruction (Fall = 4 weeks, Winter = 20 weeks, Spring = 32 weeks).

 

Overviews

2020 MAP Normative Data Overview

(Overview with status and growth charts)

 

2020 Norms Introduction and FAQ

(Key updates and frequent questions)

     

2020 Comparative Data

(Charts showing achievement ranges and college readiness benchmarks)

  

Spanish Reading Tests Norms Overview

(Overview with status and growth charts)

 

Research Studies

2020 Norms Study

(Detailed research study)

 

2020 Norms Detail Tables

(Excerpted norms tables from full study)

     

Standards Alignment

(Studies linking your state's test with MAP)

  

MAP College Readiness Benchmarks

(Research brief, including ACT® readiness)

     

Achievement Status and Growth (ASG) and School Norms Calculator

(Tool to estimate hypothetical growth scenarios)

  

Average Test Durations

(Typical test times per subject, term, and grade)
     

Achievement and Growth Tables for Private Schools, Public Charters, and Other Specialty School Groups

Interactive tool to provide context on the typical patterns of achievement and growth in math, reading, language usage, and science for private, charter, and specialty school groups

 

  

Guidance for Administering MAP Growth

(How to improve accuracy and integrity of assessments)

Course-Specific Norms

For students who take course-specific tests, you can find growth percentiles and projections in the following resources:

Norms Overview for Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry

(Overview with status and growth charts)

   

Norms Overview for Integrated Math I, II, and III

(Overview with status
and growth charts)

Norms Overview for Life Science / Biology

(Overview with status
and growth charts)

    

2022 Course-Specific Norms Study

(Detailed research study)

2022 Course-Specific Norms Tables

(Tables are in Excel® format)