A new achievement test, which assesses students’ improvement and shows their growth over time, was the main focus of Illinois Valley Central District 321 school board meeting May 25.
Measures of Academic Progress Assessment studies a students’ improvement through test questions and follows the student throughout the years, showing improvement and estimating the growth process.
“It gives us an idea of how kids are learning and how we know if we are teaching the right things. It’s really hard to tell at the beginning of the year where those students are at when you get them,” Jennie Hawkey, IVC curriculum director, said.
The computer-delivered test gives students 50 questions. If the student answers a question correctly, the next question will be slightly harder, and vice versa if the student answers a question incorrectly.
“Kids take the test in the fall, winter and spring. They’re looking at two things: where are the kids right now and what the growth prediction for the child is,” Hawkey said.
Different from the Illinois Standards Achievement Test, MAP shows the students’ growth throughout their education while with ISAT, students’ grades could be lower or higher in different grades because they are done separately.
“We have dismissed 17 kids from special education. One of the factors is we are able to see them against their peers, and if we have kids that are doing better on these tests and doing alright on ISAT then why are they in special education?” Hawkey explained.
MAP scores could be used in the future in parent/teacher conferences to show the parents exactly how the student is learning.
“We have a lot of families in our district that want to help their students do well,” Hawkey said.
Teachers can also use the data for changing and setting the year’s curriculum.
“Teachers know they have to meet certain goals. They can use it for school goals and improvement processes,” she said.
School board president Jim Hollenback added, “Teachers need to be encouraged there will be a proficiency aspect to it and growth aspect to it so they’re not tied to just performance to kids, and that it actually reflects their ability to move them along.”
The growth of a student’s knowledge can be seen several times a year from the MAP Assessment compared to at the end of the year with ISAT.
In other action and discussion, the board:
