Gifted Issues Discussion homepage
Posted By: enpassant97 NWEA MAP RIT Scores - 05/05/09 11:09 AM
My son's MAP scores are in the 99th percentile across the board; he's in Grade 5.

Math: 269
Reading: 251
Language: 240
Gen Science: 235
Concepts & Processes: 232

If there are others here who have taken the tests, please share your scores so we can see what the norm scores are for gifted kids. 99th percentile out of almost 3mil kids in the NWEA norm sample, doesn't really tell me very much. Thanks.
Posted By: Grinity Re: NWEA MAP RIT Scores - 05/05/09 11:23 AM
Originally Posted by enpassant97
99th percentile out of almost 3mil kids in the NWEA norm sample, doesn't really tell me very much. Thanks.
Ummmm.......What exactly were you hoping to learn? You child is definitly performing well into the gifted range.

Are you looking to see what his readiness level might be? His LOG? Placement decisions for next year?

Have you tried calling the NWEA? I'd want to know what grade he could be in the various subjects and still be in the top 5 or 10%? I'd also want to know what age group his version of the test would have been given to. Would he have accesss to high school level questions if he scored enough correct answers?

How is he liking school? Is he developing good work ethic? Are their sibling issues? What are your concerns overall? What are the choices?

Smiles,
Grinity
Posted By: enpassant97 Re: NWEA MAP RIT Scores - 05/05/09 11:55 AM
Thanks Grinity. Yes, I'm looking to see what level of instruction he's ready for, which grade level for Math, Science...

I've not called the NWEA, we received the results very recently. Re high school level questions, the school administered the test to G4-8 kids, and he did say there were quadratic equation questions in the test, does that help?

He loves school, has great work ethic, no sibling issues. My concern is if he's being challenged in school.

Related question, if a child loves his school, his classmates, and doesn't complain of boredom even though he's doing work well below his capabilities, should we leave things alone?
Posted By: enpassant97 Re: NWEA MAP RIT Scores - 05/05/09 12:05 PM
I spoke to the Middle School principal who says there is very little they can do for those above the 95th percentile in a school setting like ours (international school). Such schools cater best to those in the 25th to 95th percentiles, he says. He's not saying they're giving up on the high-performing kids, but the message I got is that parents can't really expect very much. Is he just being realistic? What do you think?
Posted By: inky Re: NWEA MAP RIT Scores - 05/05/09 05:17 PM
One of the neat things about MAP is you can take his RIT scores and compare to out of level percentiles. I used the tables from this link on pages 128-157. For end of year his out of level percentiles would be:

http://pickens.it.schoolfusion.us/m...ssionid=14d1e9266e4482d198ebc39c6e6bc9c3

Math: 269 Grade 8 99% Grade 10 96%
Reading: 251 Grade 9 99% Grade 11 98%
Language: 240 Grade 8 97%
Gen Science: 235 Grade 7 99% Grade 10 95%
Concepts & Processes: 232 Grade 7 99% Grade 10 96%

Hopefully the principal understands he is not just 99% for 5th graders but 99% in math for 8th graders. I would work with the principal to make sure your son has highly capable teachers who can handle a high degree of differentiation. It sounds like you may need to come up with ideas rather than relying on the school. Have you looked into whether he could do some independent study, acceleration or on-line classes?

Another thing to consider is his rate of growth. You may want to ask for his NWEA Student Report. It's two pages and looks like this:

http://www.powayusd.com/projects/ed...20Student%20Growth%20Report%20Sample.pdf

http://www.powayusd.com/projects/ed...udent%20Growth%20Report%20Sample%202.pdf

You may also want to have him take the SATs via a talent search. I think Dottie said when her son had higher SATs scores than some of his teachers it really got their attention. shocked

Quote
He loves school, has great work ethic, no sibling issues. My concern is if he's being challenged in school.

Related question, if a child loves his school, his classmates, and doesn't complain of boredom even though he's doing work well below his capabilities, should we leave things alone?

I'd keep close tabs and be proactive. What works one year may not work the next. It may be worthwhile to talk to your son about whether he feels challenged in school and the negatives that could come from not being challenged. DH found his own challenges sitting in the back of the class with a programmable calculator so maybe your son has found some kind of self challenge too.

Good luck and thanks for posting. It's interesting to hear about other people's experience with the MAP test.

Posted By: enpassant97 Re: NWEA MAP RIT Scores - 05/05/09 06:38 PM
Thanks Inky for the link to percentile scores of other grades.

The middle school principal doesn't seem to give much weightage to the norms in NWEA's large test population. I understand where he's coming from cos kids at this school also take the ERB, which give comparison of performance against US public schools, US private schools and International Schools. Eg, someone showed me her daughter's score was at 99th percentile of Public schools, but only 75th percentile compared to private schools. International schools come somewhere in between.

If NWEA had a different table for RIT scores and percentiles of students at Public vs Private schools, that would be a lot more useful for advocacy purposes. I suspect too that that is why GT programs are reluctant to accept NWEA MAP scores as there may be a wide range of ability even at the 99th percentile level. Would be really helpful to see what are the scores at the 99th percentile for students in Private schools.

We are not in the US, so taking SATs via talent search isn't an option. He does independent learning at home and took part in the AMC8 and AMC10 (American Math Competition for Grades 8 and 10) for which he was awarded Honor Roll and Merit Cert, but no on-line program yet.

My son's report does not have rate of growth as this is the first time the school is implementing MAP.

I think my son just enjoys being with his friends and the lively exchanges in the classroom, which I really appreciate. He has a wonderful teacher who engages the children and is terribly funny.

I expect he'll still be happy next year as long as his friends are in the same school. While his friends may not be as academically advanced as he is, they are still a very intelligent bunch of kids, I can tell from the way they interact and talk. The school is thus perfect in every sense except for the fact that academic rigor is missing. For now, what is missing from school, we supplement at home; I hope with this arrangement, his MAP RIT scores will still show growth. We'll see.

Thanks for your advice.








Posted By: inky Re: NWEA MAP RIT Scores - 05/05/09 10:55 PM
Quote
The middle school principal doesn't seem to give much weightage to the norms in NWEA's large test population.

Do you know what out of level tests he does consider? Unfortunately it's tough to find ways to magnify the tail end of the curve. Out of level is one way and another is the norm group.

This reminded me of a past discussion about Bassetlover's 7th grade daughter's scores on the SAT and MAP. Her percentiles compared to 11th graders were lower on the SAT (82%-90%) than the MAP (97-99%) because the SAT Norm group is college bound vs. the MAP which is all students. The SAT magnified things more because of the different Norm group.

http://giftedissues.davidsongifted.org/BB/ubbthreads.php/topics/43733/1.html

Quote
For now, what is missing from school, we supplement at home; I hope with this arrangement, his MAP RIT scores will still show growth. We'll see.

Sounds like it's been working well so far and you're on the ball in case things change. I hope I'll be able to say the same when DD7 is in 5th grade.
© Gifted Issues Discussion Forum