Numerous headlines have proclaimed just how far behind students have fallen since the COVID-19 pandemic first shuttered schools in March 2020. Many of these headlines report test score changes in "months (or years) of learning" from recent studies. Despite the accessibility (and therefore popularity) of the "months of learning"…

This brief is a continuation of NWEA's research series examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student achievement and progress toward academic recovery. Initiated in the early phase of the pandemic, this series has leveraged NWEA's large national sample of longitudinal MAP® Growth™ data to track student performance and compare it to…

The purpose of this technical appendix is to share detailed results and to more fully describe the sample and methods used in the research included in the brief, "Recovery Still Elusive: 2023-24 Student Achievement Highlights Persistent Achievement Gaps and a Long Road Ahead." The authors investigated three main research questions in…

The MAP® Growth™ theory of action describes key features of MAP Growth and its position in a comprehensive assessment system. The basic premise of the theory of action is that all students learn when MAP Growth is situated in a comprehensive assessment system and used for its intended purposes to yield information about student learning and enable…

School systems started the 2021-22 school year with extra resources and plans for recovery, but repeated resurgences of the COVID-19 virus thwarted hopes of a strong comeback. Schools continued to face a myriad of challenges including severe staff shortages, high rates of absenteeism and sickness, and rolling school closures forced by the…

About one in five students in the US attends a rural school, and over half of all school districts are in rural areas. And yet very little is known about achievement, achievement gaps, and academic growth in rural schools, including how school-year and summer changes in achievement may differ in these schools. This lack of information is…

This report documents the norming study procedure used to produce the achievement and growth user norms for English MAP Reading Fluency Foundational Skills. It also provides snapshots of the achievement and growth norms for each grade and domain.

A series of course-specific MAP Growth Mathematics and Science subject tests were released successively starting in August 2017 to replace the older NWEA End-of-Course (EOC) tests. Different from the prior NWEA EOC tests taken only at the end of a course, these course-specific tests can be administered multiple times throughout the school year,…

While the ongoing academic impacts of the COVID pandemic in grades 3-8 has been well documented, far less is known about its effects on students who were in pre-K or kindergarten when the pandemic started in March 2020. In this brief, we focus on students who were in first and second grade in the 2021-22 school year, and for whom the majority of…

How can we support academic growth for students with disabilities (SWD) who may have experienced disproportionate academic impacts from COVID-19? Recent NWEA research may help inform how federal ESSER [Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief] and IDEA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act] funding can provide early intervention,…

The purpose of this technical appendix is to share more detailed results and to describe more fully the sample and methods used in the research included in the brief, "Student achievement in 2021-22: Cause for hope and continued urgency." The authors investigated two main research questions in this brief: (1) How do achievement gains…

The purpose of this technical appendix is to share more detailed results and to describe more fully the sample and methods used in the research included in the brief, "The Widening Achievement Divide during COVID-19." The authors investigated two main research questions in this brief: (1) To what degree have students' reading and math…

There are many great stories of schools and districts effectively using MAP® Growth™ data to change the trajectory of student learning--but the stories don't often begin in high school. That's why Southwest Local School District in Ohio and their incredible growth are so unique. How did they start with an effective intervention at the high school…

Blue Valley, the fourth largest school district in Kansas, covers 91 square miles. More than 20,000 K-12 students attend its 34 schools (five high schools, nine middle schools, and 20 elementary schools). Blue Valley began using MAP® Growth™ in 2005 to track students' academic growth over time and independently of grade level. In 2010 the district…

Using the right assessments for your district is key to tackling achievement gaps. Bay District Schools knows this firsthand. After changing their approach to assessment, they helped struggling students experience phenomenal--and clearly demonstrable--growth. After implementing MAP® Growth™, Bay students at the lower end of the achievement…