Greetings Kent Middle School Families,

During the 2020-21 school year, Kentfield School District began administering the Northwest Evaluation Association’s Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth tests to students in 2nd through 8th grades. The purpose of MAP Growth is to determine what students are currently able to do and what students are ready to learn next. This October, we administered the MAP Growth test in reading and mathematics to all 5th through 8th graders as a formative assessment. Teachers have reviewed assessment results for students in their classes, and we are ready to share these assessment results with students and families.

This week we will make the MAP Growth Student Progress Report available for students and families to access in Aeries. The MAP Growth Student Progress Report reflects student achievement levels in reading and mathematics for each test administration they’ve completed since we started utilizing MAP Growth in 2020.  

How to interpret your child’s MAP Growth Student Progress Report:

• On the right side of the Student Progress Report you can see their Rasch Unit (RIT) test score and National Percentile Rank, listed in order from the most recent test administration to the first test administration. The RIT score indicates how your child performed in a subject, either math or reading. The National Percentile Rank indicates how well your child has learned skills in each subject compared to children of the same age, from a sample of over four million students who take this test across the country.  
• On the left side of the report you will see two graphs, the first graph for math and the second graph for reading. The blue line on the graph represents your child’s performance over their test administrations in KSD. The orange line represents the mean average RIT score of KSD students in your child’s grade level over time. The yellow line represents the national mean RIT score for children in your child’s grade level over time. These graphs can be helpful to interpret your child’s performance relative to grade level expectations.
• Below each graph, under the "Goals Performance" heading, RIT scores for each subject are further broken down to show performance range in sub categories of the subject. This is helpful information to show relative areas of strength and challenge within that subject area.
• At the bottom of the report, your child’s Lexile Level Range is displayed. The Lexile Level Range is an approximate reading level that can be used to pair students with appropriately leveled text.

During advisory class this week, advisory teachers will orient students in how to access their MAP Growth assessment results, and to reflect about how to interpret the results. Our interest in sharing these results with our students is to provide greater insights into how they are progressing in their learning, and to encourage reflection about habits of learning and instructional opportunities that may lead to increased confidence and success in the future.

We encourage you to review the MAP Growth results with your child as one data point to consider while discussing academic strengths and challenges. While digesting the information in the report, please consider that these assessments are only one method among many to quantify student learning and achievement, and should not be considered the ultimate representation of how your child is performing academically. Most importantly, encourage your child to reflect about areas they are feeling confident with this year, and how they plan to improve in their areas for growth.

How to access the MAP Growth Student Progress Report in Aeries: