My DS, in 4th grade, has had a 239 in NWEA MAP reading for over a year now. I've studied the NWEA progression quite significantly over the last two years.
What you're seeing is simply a lack of instruction at her level. The 230s+ on the reading test require a LOT of reading instruction and literature analysis to move beyond that level. For example, students need to be able to differentiate between irony, satire and humor, to recognize and identify types of propaganda (bandwagon, plainfolk etc) and to identify several types of logic arguments in context (strawman, circular etc.)
Most students at a middle school level would not encounter these lessons in their regular language arts classroom.
There is no reason, under normal conditions, that it should take her that long to take a regular NWEA test. The tests are cumulative and she would not have to go back to the beginning and start over after the first time she tests. It should start her one level below her previous MAP score and work up. I would look at 2E issues, the testing environment (alone? other kids? distractions in the room? interruptions?) and also how much pressure was placed on the kids relating to the test. Last year, my son's teacher told them that if they didn't meet their growth goals as a class, she would be fired.
Also, the test was recently renormed last year. The percentiles seem to be pretty different in the 80+ range. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples when you look at reports from different sessions.
