Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment MAP test...what happens to incomplete test?

DS just took his second grade winter FALL test yesterday (We are in Maryland). He came home and said that he only answered 12 questions in the test. The test covers subjects that he does not grasp, so this is not unexpected.

Still, this got me curious. A MAP test is supposed to include 40 to 50 questions according to NWEA. What happens when during the course of the test, a student cannot complete as many questions, or as in my DS's cases, only about 1/4 of the questions? I assume that this will lead to a greater uncertainty in terms of where he is at but do not completely invalidate the test?

Can anyone shed light on this please? Thanks!

It would probably just get tossed out.

MAPs are not suppose to be timed test.

My ds went through this but in 6th grade. He was taking a long time so they ended up saying by the end of the period you need to be done. He also had several after that, he did not complete.

Which test was he taking?

He should have the opportunity to finis the test. If its material he doesnt know... he gets it wrong and the test adapts. There are no time limits with MAP.

I have a 6th grader and a 3rd grader, both of whom have taken MAP three times per year since starting kindergarten. If they are not able to finish the test in the class period they are given, they are allowed to finish the next day. This has been happening quite often when my 3rd grader takes reading MAP, starting last year. He tells me that about half the class does not get finished and gets to continue during that class period the next day. My 6th grader, now that he is doing higher level math, has taken two days (class periods on consecutive days) to finish math MAP each time he has taken it this year. MAP is not useful if it is not finished, and as others are saying, it is not a timed test.

Is he new to MAP testing? If so, might he need someone at the school to explain that even if he doesn't know how to do something, doesn't know the answer or even where to start, that he has to answer it in order to bring the test to a conclusion? Sorry if I'm misunderstanding the situation, but he may just be under the impression that if he can't do the problem, then he shouldn't answer it, which isn't the case with MAP.

My DD missed school the day they were doing MAP testing. She took it over homeroom/study hall the next 3 days, so there's certainly no time limit for completion.

I think they're supposed to do it to completion. It's an adaptive test, so that means that the questions get harder or easier depending on if you answer the questions correctly or incorrectly. My son always takes longer on this test than his classmates. I think because it covers things he hasn't seen before, so he's trying to figure out what the answer could be. Maybe explain to your son that if he doesn't know the answer, to just make his best guess.