Mamabear - our school did use MAP to discuss grade acceleration - and it was the principal's idea - so while they get that the number is high, I don't think they really understand what it means in terms of his readiness level.
The communication problem is what we are trying to deal with St. Pauli Girl. I think I am going to print out the RIT Norm Scale and take it with us for the conference. I can tell from something the teacher has said in the past that they don't really have a full understanding of the scales and where it puts him with respect to 3rd graders or 4th graders, etc. I also found something from some old posts from the Poway district that corresponds MAP scores with what the student would be ready to learn. Our district does rely on the MAPS for kids at the other end of the spectrum but they have yet to fully use them in terms of preparing curriculum for higher levels. It's really all about presenting it in a way that they get, and like your experience, communicating it can be difficult.
