Choose Dates for Testing

Consider guidelines for testing dates:

To learn the basics, view the following video:

Summary:

• Length—Keep the test window length short (about 3 weeks) so you can make valid comparisons, especially between students in the same grade.
• Consistency—To ensure valid comparisons from one academic year to the next, try to keep the timing consistent.
• Spacing—Provide enough instruction between testing to give you meaningful growth measurements. For example, schools typically test around week 4 in the fall, week 20 in the winter, and week 32 in the spring.

Consider network traffic:

The network traffic at each school limits the number of testing sessions you should schedule at any given time. Considerations include:

• Total number of students testing at the same time
• Kinds of tests (tests for the primary grades require more bandwidth because of the audio)
• Other networking activity (ideally, keep Internet use to a minimum during testing)

Date Setup Before Testing

Follow these steps as you prepare for MAP testing.

See also: Oversee and Complete Testing.

Required: set district test dates

Set your testing dates for the coming terms as soon as you know the schedule. You can also modify dates at any time as schedules change.

Required MAP Role: District Assessment Coordinator or System Administrator

1. In the left navigation pane, select Manage Preferences > Manage Terms.
   
2. With the year selected, click View/Update Terms. If needed, click Add Academic Year.
3. Scroll to the coming term.
4. Optional—Clear the Active check box if you never use a term, such as summer, and you do not want it to appear in the menus for proctors and teachers. (This option has no effect on MAP report data.) 
   

5. For Term Start and Term End, you can usually keep the default dates, unless they conflict with your academic terms.

   If you do not use four terms:

   You can define the unused terms so they do not interfere with active terms. For example, if your district or organization uses a semester system and does not offer a winter term, you can define the winter term to take place on a weekend, winter break, or another day when no one will be testing. After all terms are defined, you can inactivate unused terms so they do not appear in the list of selections throughout the MAP system.

6. Set the Test Window dates to match the weeks you intend to conduct testing.

7. Recommended—Set Weeks of Instruction so that your MAP reports show the most precise norms percentiles. Match the average number of weeks from the beginning of the school year to the time when most students begin to test, across all subjects and grades.

8. Specify how widely to apply your changes by selecting one of the following options:

   Apply Test Window dates to every school in the district: Overrides any custom dates that have been applied to specific schools.

   Apply Test Window dates only to schools without defined custom test window dates: Protects custom dates that have been applied.

9. Click Submit.

   If a date you entered is invalid (such as a date outside of the instructional term), an error message appears at the top the page. Correct the date and click Submit again.
   

Optional: set school-specific test dates

If needed, you can define test dates for each school. For example, you could set different dates for your elementary schools and high schools.

Prerequisite: The district-wide test window dates in Manage Terms must be set to encompass all of your school-specific test windows.

Required MAP Role: District Assessment Coordinator or System Administrator

1. In the left navigation pane, select Manage Preferences > Modify District.
   
2. Select the school.

3. Click View/Update Terms.

   The View/Update School by Term page lists the terms currently defined in the system.

4. Select the instructional term.
   
5. Click Edit School Term.
6. Modify the start date and end date as needed.

   Note: The dates must fall within the dates of the district test window.

7. Modify the Weeks of Instruction.
8. Click Submit.

   If a date you entered is invalid (such as a date outside the instructional term), an error message appears at the top the page. Correct the date and click Submit again.