Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment MAP testing -- useful or not?

I registered to do MAP testing for DD this spring (we homeschool). I'm just wondering if any of you have found the data to be useful (or not) either with advocating at school or in planning homeschool curricula.

Does it give an accurate assessment of what level of material you should be teaching your child? Or is it more like the WJ-III, WIAT-II, etc... for which you have to take the grade levels with a huge grain of salt?

I have found MAPS quite helpful in advocating for my child within the school system. Because it allows the kids to test out of level it gives over time, a fairly accurate view. Two caveats: The grain of salt issue is definitely still there. My dd10 scored off the scale in reading this fall. In no way do I feel that she really has the schema or sophistication of a 12th grade AP student! Second, and apparently fairly common with gifties, the growth model isn't consistent. For example, her math and language scores went down last year about 10 points, then up 15 and 20 respectively.

Same thing here. We also homeschool, but with a public charter school. MAPS got DS a grade skip. It is useful because now he can get access to higher level writing and science classes. However, he can no way work at the level he tested out at. So what level your DD is in still up to your own judgement.

I hadn't heard about this. Any idea of what's behind the inconsistency?

I found this but couldn't find more info about it on the NWEA website.
http://www.dist50.net/Parents/MAP-FAQs.pdf