Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment MAP tests results - 3rd grade NJ

Hello,

My daughter's MAP tests results:

Math - 273
Reading - 241
Language Usage - 240.

Do these scores indicate she is gifted?

She is in the 3rd grade in a public school in NJ.
She complains she is bored at school but, unfortunately, I cannot bump her up a grade, because they do not do that at her school. She is fluent in 4 languages as well as she plays the piano and practices tennis and karate. She loves math and takes part in any math competition (so far she has won all of them).

I started looking for a new school for her but it's not easy - allegedly NJ does not allow kids skip the grades.

I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you.

That's a tricky one in that the MAPs test is not a test of giftedness, it is a test of achievement. Granted, high achievement can certainly correlate with giftedness and given how high the achievement is, I'd venture to guess that she is probably gifted. All of these scores are at or above the 99th percentile for a winter 3rd grader or even a winter 4th grader (and, in the case of math, a winter 7th grader).

There are certainly kids who achieve highly who are not gifted. I'd say that high achievement in a non-gifted child tends to be more in line with a kid who is, say, achieving at the 95th or 98th percentile in an area or two. A kid who is in the 99th in many areas and the 99th even when looking at norms for older kids is more likely to be gifted and not just a high achiever, though.

What, if any, gifted programming does your daughter's school provide if grade skips are off the table? What type of data do they need to identify a child as gifted? This is the info I was able to find online about GT identification/services in NJ: http://www.state.nj.us/education/aps/cccs/g_and_t_req.htm From that, it does appear that all schools must offer some sort of GT services, but it also appears that the state doesn't set the bar for identification or what, exactly, that programming must look like.

First off, I'm going to guess that the math is actually a 237 not a 273? While they insist that MAP actually goes to 300, I haven't seen a 273 on a Math 2-5 test. Not ever, even when a kid got a perfect score- they will eventually run out of questions to answer, scoring roughly around a 260.

On that note, I would ask that the next time she takes MAP, she be given the 6+ test. This will give her the maximum number of questions and the best chance at actually getting her highest score. This is generally recommended when a 5th grader reaches the 240s, but there is no reason a 3rd grader couldn't do the same thing. It's SIMPLE so don't let them give you trouble- they literally click a different button.

NWEA uses 95th percentile to be their "gifted" range, though like Cricket said- it's not actually a test of giftedness. Regardless, those are wicked high scores and she needs differentiation.

That would make more sense - I just didn't have the sense to transpose the numbers! FWIW, a 237 would still be a 99th percentile math score for winter 3rd grade and the 98th for winter of 4th grade.

just an FYI.. I have seen a sub test over that 260 on the primary MAP. Ds score 267 in number sense on primary MAP in the fall of first grade.. it is possible

It was 273. I was surprised too and that's the reason why I started looking for more info.

My daughter is currently in the academically independent class in a public school. And her MAP math score was 273 - I confirmed it with the teacher. How did she get it? I have no idea.. I know she was the only one in the class with this score.

She had been tested before she was admitted to the AI class, all tests were with the max. score and she got her Mensa membership. I hoped the AI class would be more challenged but it is not and she is now asking us to be homeschooled...

I think she was given 6+ test because I had received a letter before the test, stating that she would get a more difficult version of MAP.

I know that a 4th grade kid got 275.

Yes, a subtest. But never a RIT score. NWEA insists it is possible, but I've seen hundreds of reports at this point, including some from very advanced DYS kids. (I am writing a document for our school for teachers to better use RIT scores to inform their teaching.)

If you look at something like this- https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.powayusd.com%2Fprojects%2Fedtechcentral%2Fmaps%2FPDFs%2FCorrelation%2F12-13CorrelationFinal%2FK-5CorrelationChart12-13final.pdf

and this-

You can see that even this district's GATE students aren't scoring that high in math
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.powayusd.com%2Fprojects%2Fedtechcentral%2Fmaps%2FPDFs%2FCorrelation%2F12-13CorrelationFinal%2F6-9CorrelationChart12-13final.pdf

Essentially, from all I've studied about NWEA, the RIT scale is continuous- meaning you can compare score to score to show an individual student's growth. But the tests, particularly when comparing the primary to the 6+, are simply too different (both in types of questions and format) to really know how a kid would actually do. NWEA says the question bank is the same but I've messed with it enough to know this isn't true.