Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Has your DC scored 259 on the NWEA MAP test?

I know it seems like an odd question lol but my friend's DD (4th grade) did just that. It was on the 2-5 survey w/ goals. She is having trouble believing the score. Her DD also scored 245 in Reading on the 2-5 survey w/ goals as well and she's having trouble believing that as well. I'm wondering if any kids here have scored similarly and if so, did the score fit w/ every day life. Feel free to PM me if you'd rather that than posting here.

Dazey

This may be worth showing her:
http://legacysupport.nwea.org/support/details.aspx?content=1024

My son got a 253 on math at age 10. He is homeschooled and had completed all of elementary math and half of first year algebra at the time.

My dd (age 8) got a 252 for her Winter Math Survey. She's in 4th grade but doing accelerated math. Her score seems consistent with her other test scores, including previous MAP testing. She has improved her score 5-10 points per test (3 per year). Is this the first time your friend's daughter has taken the test?

Yes, it was the first time she has taken it. Can you share if your DC took the 2-5 survey w/ goals or the 6+ w/ goals? She has spoken w/ NWEA and supposedly they have about the same ceiling but the 6+ is a bit higher yet the RIT scale is continuous. The NWEA Rep did mention that kids might not sure a years growth going from the 2-5 to the 6+ due to the 6+ being a bit more difficult. THe 6+ will flesh out holes more b/c will pinpoint their level quicker and have more questions to pinpoint holes.

Ruby - when you say survey do you mean the survey test (20 questions) or the survey w/ goals (50+ questions)?

Kai - I think that is what is troubling her. Her DD has completed up to level Singapore Math 4B I believe. And maybe some of SM CWP 3. SHe was HS'd for K, 1 sent to PS for 3rd, and HS'd again for 4th.

Dazey

As a gifted teacher, I really like NWEA - of all the school assessments we take, it's the only one that adjusts itself to the child. I teach in a self-contained gifted program unique to our district, and scores like the one you mentioned are not all that uncommon among my kids. We just took the test, and I had a 4th grader who scored a 272! Of course, he is profoundly gifted and will be taking 8th grade pre-algebra next year as a 5th grader. I also had a 3rd grader who just scored 259, and another who scored 246. These scores are pretty consistent with what I see in class, although they may be slightly inflated because - as you all know - gifted kids are great at eliminating wrong answers, and many of my kids know to "work backwards" using the multiple choice answers. They definitely do better than they would if the test were fill-in-the-blank!

My dd took the Math Survey with Goals 2-5.

Is your friend questioning the score because her daughter hasn't had more advanced math (above grade level) and therefore she figures she couldn't have scored so high? Because in addition to what Zoey said about gifted kids being good test takers and eliminating wrong answers, some are really good at figuring out how to do things on their own without ever having been shown.

For example, when my daughter was in 1st grade, the school gave her achievement testing. One of the questions asked her to add two fractions with mixed denominators. We had never even introduced that idea to her. We weren't following any math program, we just did a lot of fractions with baking at home, so she knew that 3/4 + 3/4 = 1 1/2. That kind of thing. The psychologist showed us a scrap sheet dd had used to work out the problems and on the one where she had to add the mixed denominators (1/3 + 2/5), she started by drawing two pies. (I had shown her how to color in pie pieces to represent part of a whole). The psychologist said after studying them for a little, she started to draw more lines into her pie that had been divided into three pieces. She drew 4 more lines into each 1/3 piece, thereby creating 3 groups of 5 pieces, making 15 total. And then she shaded the additional 5ths to represent the other pie that she had superimposed on her 3rd pie. She figured out the concept of creating a common denominator, only she had never even heard of it before. So my point is, some of these kids just intuitively understand some of these math concepts, that they don't need instruction. When they are shown a problem they've never been presented with before, they are able to reason through them and come up with the right answer.

yes, she's questioning b/c her DD hasn't had algebra or that much geometry. Unquestionably, she is gifted in math. I think she is also great at eliminating the wrong answer and has EXCELLENT test taking skills. BUt yet she couldn't do those problems w/out having a choice of answers. I think that for placement, the MAP gives you a place to start, but you really need end of year assessments to accurately determine placement.

Ruby - that's a wonderful story! I remember when my son did the exact same thing but he might have been in 2nd grade at the time. That's what I like about the math program I use, it presents problems like this to them and let them reason through it.

The other question was whether a 259 on the survey w/ goals 2-5 would be equivalent to a 259 on the 6+. The NWEA rep said it is and it isn't lol. The 6+ test is harder so you might not get a large gain when going from the 2-5 to the 6+.

It's interesting that you mention this, because that's how I always did tests in school, and even if I didn't know the material I always did well on the tests (muliple choice tests were my friend ) In college I had teachers ask me how I got into thier class (not a compliment) it's because I aced the entrance exams,lol