Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment NWEA Letter Help

2KMom,
Another thing to keep in mind with MAP is that it is more likely that your daughter's scores are underreporting her abilities rather than inflating them.
From http://www.nwea.org/support/details.aspx?content=1024
DD6 took MAP math last week. I was asking her how it went and was pleased to see she got questions involving multiplying and dividing. She said one of the questions was what's 5 divided by 5 and she'd answered zero. I said, "If you have 5 pieces of candy and divide them among five people, how much would each person get?" She immediately answered one, so I explained that's what 5 divided by 5 means.

As far as I can tell, the length is determined by how many questions the child gets right. The more questions right, the longer the test takes. I'm guessing DD spent about 20 minutes on the math portion this time.

In K, DD was crying because she was taking the test and was the last one finished. The other kids had left to their next subject, but she was still answering questions. When she looked up and realized she was the only one left, she thought she'd done something wrong.

Oh My! Poor Thing! And folks say that being the 'fastest' doesn't get reinforced at school because babies are to young to understand what 'finishing first' means. NOT - this proves it. Were you able to explain to her that with this particular test the one who finishes last, finishes best. Super news about the Mult and Division. I think that gives you some hope that she did really really well, yes?

I agree with 'not written means it didn't happen' which is why I included a 'thanks for the phone call step' to be put in writing. I understand that we all have various strengths and weaknesses, I tend to forget that...opps. I still think a brief phone call to ask 'who' you should address the letter to would be in order. You don't have to go into the whole story, just ask them to help you. I called MAP when I first heard of them, and the person I spoke to sounded really interested and pleased to hear from me. 'N of 1' which is how we say: Your milage may vary!

Smiles,
Grinity

A very good letter, long but warrants attention. I have my kid privately tested due to thestypes of problems and more with the school screeners. The school will not use them for placement but at leasy we know and I submit them and ask for explanations when there is a discrepency between their screeners and a full WISC or Stanford.

I would have a couple bullets that highlight the main problem and highlaight what you are asking them to do at the end. Our admin. have a difficult time reading anything longerthan a half page. sad but true

Thanks Grinity,
I'd missed your earlier post and the script you wrote helps. With two people emphasizing good reasons to call first, it looks like I need to get over my phone aversion.

P.S. Yes, I took it as a good sign that she got to the multiplication and division questions.

P.P.S. She understood better this time that taking longer was a good thing. She was just a little disappointed because she didn't have as much time to read her book afterwards as the other students had.

oh good!

((eyes rolling)) at rushing through tests to have time to read a book - if gifted children wrote country and western songs, I'll bet they would sound like that!

Smiles,
Grinity

So I called NWEA last Tuesday and spoke with Lori in partner relations. At first she told me I'd have to contact my district about any MAP test information. I explained I had contacted my district but my concerns went beyond my district.

I explained I was calling about the Preliminary norms and was concerned this information was being used by other districts because it was on their web sites. When I said something about inaccurate data and standard deviations, that got her attention. She wanted to know the name of DD's school and said someone would be contacting me. I never got a chance to fully explain the situation.

How long would you wait to hear back before calling or sending a letter?

Well, since they didn't immediately send out the black helicopters with the zip lines to nab you...I'd give it a couple of weeks.

It's been one week already, right?

The sudden shift there does sound promising! Go, go, go!

What a drag! IMHO - Maybe wait one more week, and then release the letter. It would be fine to call back, but not gaurenteed, and I know your aren't a phone person.

Thanks for trying. You've fufuilled your obligation.

Grinity

Thanks and I'll wait another week. I've come to realize my sense of how long things should take in the education world is skewed. I'm used to working on tight deadlines and expect the rest of the world to operate the same way.

This cracked me up! If you don't hear from me for a while, send out a search party.