A Parent's Guide
to NWEA Assessments
© 2006 Northwest
Evaluation
Association
NWEA - Frequently
Asked Questions
What is NWEA?
Northwest Evaluation
Association (NWEA)
is a not-for-profit
organization
committed to helping
school districts
throughout the
nation improve
learning for all
students. NWEA
partners with more
than 2,200 school
districts
representing more
than three million
students. As a
result of NWEA
tests, educators can
make informed
decisions to promote
your child’s
academic growth.
Where can I learn
more about NWEA?
In Dillon School District Four,
which grades are
being tested?
We are presently
testing all students
in grades K - 10.
What is the MAP
NWEA Assessment?
MAP— NWEA’s
computerized
adaptive tests are
called Measure of
Academic Progress,
or MAP. When taking
a MAP test, the
difficulty of each
question is based on
how well a student
answers all the
previous questions.
As the student
answers correctly,
questions become
more difficult. If
the student answers
incorrectly, the
questions become
easier. In an
optimal test, a
student answers
approximately half
the items correctly
and half
incorrectly. The
final score is an
estimate of the
student’s
achievement level.
What is RIT?
Tests developed by
NWEA use a scale
called RIT to
measure student
achievement and
growth. RIT stands
for Rasch UnIT,
which is a
measurement scale
developed to
simplify the
interpretation of
test scores. The RIT
score relates
directly to the
curriculum scale in
each subject area.
It is an
equal-interval
scale, like feet and
inches, so scores
can be added
together to
calculate accurate
class or school
averages.
What is the
average score?
RIT scores range
from about 140 to
300. Students
typically start at
the 140 to 190 level
in the third grade
and progress to the
240 to 300 level by
high school. RIT
scores make it
possible to follow a
student’s
educational growth
from year to year.
What subjects
does MAP assess?
We are using the MAP
tests in the area of
mathematics and
reading
assessments.
How long does it
take to complete a
test?
Although the tests
are not timed, it
usually takes
students about one
hour to complete
each test.
When will my
student be tested
and how often?
Districts have the
option of testing
their students up to
four times a year.
Districts typically
test students at the
beginning of the
school year in fall
and at the end of
the school year in
spring.
Do all students
in the same grade
take the same test?
No. NWEA assessments
are designed to
target a student’s
academic performance
in mathematics,
reading, language
usage, and science.
These tests are
tailored to an
individual’s current
achievement level.
This gives each
student a fair
opportunity to show
what he or she knows
and can do. If a
school uses MAP, the
computer adjusts the
difficulty of the
questions so that
each student takes a
unique test.
What can I do as
a parent?
Three kinds of
parental involvement
at home are
consistently
associated with
higher student
achievement:
Actively organizing
and monitoring a
child’s time.
Helping with
homework.
Discussing school
matters.
What are NWEA
assessments used
for?
NWEA assessments are
used to measure your
student’s progress
or growth in school.
You may have a chart
in your home on
which you mark your
child’s height at
certain times, such
as on his or her
birthday. This is a
growth chart. It
shows how much he or
she has grown from
one year to the
next. NWEA
assessments do the
same sort of thing,
except they measure
your student’s
growth in
mathematics,
reading, language
usage, and science
skills. The scale
used to measure your
child’s progress is
called the
RIT scale (Rasch
unIT). The RIT scale
is an equal-interval
scale much like feet
and inches on a
yardstick. It is
used to chart your
student’s academic
growth from year to
year.
How do teachers
use the test scores?
NWEA tests are
important to
teachers because
they keep track of
progress and growth
in basic skills.
They let teachers
know where a
student’s strengths
are and if help is
needed in any
specific areas.
Teachers use this
information to help
them guide
instruction in the
classroom.
What are some
ways that I can help
my child prepare for
this test?
Meet with your
child’s teacher as
often as needed to
discuss his or her
progress.
Ask the teacher to
suggest activities
for you and your
child to do at home
to help prepare for
tests and improve
your child’s
understanding of
schoolwork. Parents
and teachers working
together benefits
students.
Provide a quiet,
comfortable place
for studying at
home.
Make sure that your
child is well rested
on school days and
especially the day
of a test. Children
who are tired are
less
able to pay
attention in class
or to handle the
demands of a test.
Give your child a
well-rounded diet. A
healthy body leads
to a healthy, active
mind.
Provide books and
magazines for your
child to read at
home. By reading new
materials, a child
learns new words
that might appear on
a test. Ask your
child’s school about
a suggested outside
reading list or get
suggestions from the
public library.
What are some
ways I can help my
child with language?
Talk to your child
and encourage him or
her to engage in
conversation during
family activities.
Give a journal or
diary as a gift.
Help your child
write a letter to a
friend or family
member. Offer
assistance with
correct grammar
usage and content.
Have a “word of the
week” that is
defined every
Monday. Encourage
your child to use
the new word
throughout the week.
Plan a special
snack or meal and
have your child
write the menu.
After finishing a
chapter in a book or
a magazine article,
have your child
explain his or her
favorite
event.
What are some
ways I can help my
child with reading?
Provide many
opportunities for
your child to read
books or other
materials. Children
learn to read
best when they have
books and other
reading materials at
home and plenty of
chances to read.
Read aloud to your
child. Research
shows that this is
the most important
activity that
parents can do to
increase their
child’s chance of
reading success.
Keep reading aloud
even when your child
can read
independently.
Make time for the
library.
Play games like
Scrabble, Spill and
Spell, Scattergories,
and Balderdash
together.
Follow your child’s
interest—find
fiction and
nonfiction books
that tie into this
interest.
Work crossword
puzzles with your
child.
Give a magazine
subscription for a
gift.
Did you know?
Parents cannot
assume that
schoolwork makes up
for too much TV.
Children of all ages
watch as much TV in
one day as they read
for fun in an entire
week. Overall,
children under age
13 spend 90 minutes
a day in front of
the TV—one-quarter
of their free time.
– U.S. Department of
Education
What are some
ways I can help my
child with math?
Spend time with
kids on simple board
games, puzzles, and
activities that
encourage better
attitudes and
stronger math
skills. Even
everyday activities
such as playing with
toys in a sandbox or
in a tub at bath
time can teach
children math
concepts such as
weight, density, and
volume. Check your
television listings
for shows that can
reinforce math
skills in a
practical and fun
way.
Encourage children
to solve problems.
Provide assistance,
but let them figure
it out themselves.
Problem solving is a
lifetime skill.
The kitchen is
filled with tasty
opportunities to
teach fractional
measurements, such
as doubling and
dividing cookie
recipes.
Point out ways that
people use math
every day to pay
bills, balance their
checkbooks, figure
out their net
earnings, make
change, and how to
tip at restaurants.
Involve older
children in projects
that incorporate
geometric and
algebraic concepts
such as planting a
garden, building a
bookshelf, or
figuring how long it
will take to drive
to your family
vacation
destination.
Children should
learn to read and
interpret charts and
graphs such as those
found in daily
newspapers.
Collecting and
analyzing data will
help your child draw
conclusions and
become
discriminating
readers of numerical
information.
Web sites for
Kids and Parents
Math
Language
Arts/Reading
Lexile
A Lexile is a unit
for measuring text
difficulty that is
linked to the
reading RIT score.
Lexile is reported
on an equal interval
scale, like the RIT
scale. 10L is at the
low end of the scale
and 1700L is at the
high end. Books for
beginning readers
are listed as BR on
the scale. The
Lexile range is
included on
individual student
progress reports. It
allows educators and
parents to find
books, periodicals,
and other reading
material that is
appropriately
challenging for each
student. Students
are considered to be
at an appropriate
level when they can
comprehend
approximately 75% of
the material they
read. This ensures
that students are
neither frustrated
nor bored, and are
stimulating their
learning processes
while rewarding
their current
reading abilities. A
Lexile measures
syntactic
complexity—the
number of words per
sentence. We know
that longer
sentences are more
complex and require
more short-term
memory to process. A
Lexile also measures
semantic
difficulty—a measure
of vocabulary. This
measure looks at the
frequency of words
in a text compared
to a body of over
400 million words.
This is the largest
repository of text
in the world and is
quickly approaching
500 million words.
The Lexile database
currently includes
over 30,000 books.
You can access the
Lexile web site at
www.lexile.com.
You can search
titles (both Spanish
and English) at the
web site free of
charge. The regular
search feature
allows you to search
by title, author,
ISBN, subject, or
Lexile range. By
using the detailed
search on the same
page, you can also
search by theme,
interest, or content
area. Other features
of the web site
include frequently
asked questions, the
Lexile Times
Newsletter, a parent
link, and a reading
calendar. Check it
out! It is very
important for
parents to keep in
mind that Lexile
does not evaluate
genre, theme,
content, or
interest. Even
though a student
might be able to
read books at a
certain Lexile, the
content or theme of
the text may not be
appropriate for that
particular student
because of his or
her age or
developmental level.
Also, a student may
be able to read more
difficult content if
it is an area of
interest for that
child since he or
she may already be
familiar with some
of the vocabulary
necessary to
comprehend the text.
Some Examples of
Books
Green Eggs and Ham
30L Harry Potter and
the Chamber of
Secrets 940L
Amelia Bedelia 140L
Hatchet 1020L
Clifford, the Big
Red Dog 220L Pride
and Prejudice 1100L
Bony-Legs 370L The
Adventures of Robin
Hood 1270L
Curious George 400L
Little Women 1300L
NWEA Parent Toolkit
Page 6 of 6
© 2006 Northwest
Evaluation
Association
Sarah, Plain and
Tall 560L Profiles
in Courage 1410L
Charlotte’s Web 680L
The Good Earth 1530L
Jurassic Park 710L
The Principles of
Scientific
Management 1670L
The Fellowship of
the Ring 860L
Discourse on the
Method and
Meditations
on First Philosophy
1720L
Commonly Used
Terms
District Average—The
average RIT score
for all students in
the school district
in the same grade
who
were tested at the
same time as this
student.
Lexile—A Lexile is a
unit for measuring
text difficulty.
This unit is linked
to the reading RIT
score. By
determining the
level of text
difficulty students
can comprehend,
Lexiles can be used
to determine student
reading ability.
MAP— Measures of
Academic Progress
(MAP) are a series
of computerized
adaptive tests that
measure a student’s
general knowledge in
reading, language
usage, mathematics
and science.
Norm Group Average—The
average score
observed for
students in the norm
group.
Percentile Range—Percentiles
are used to compare
one student’s
performance to that
of the norm group.
Percentile means the
student scored as
well as or better
than that percent of
students taking the
test in his/her
grade. There is
about a 68% chance
that a student’s
percentile ranking
would fall within
this range if the
student tested again
relatively soon.
Percentile Rank—The
percentile rank is a
normative statistic
that indicates how
well a student
performed in
comparison to the
students in the norm
group. The most
recent norm sample
was a group of over
2.3 million students
from across the
United States. A
student’s percentile
rank indicates that
the student scored
as well as, or
better than, the
percent of students
in the norm group.
In other words, a
student with a
percentile rank of
72 scored as well
as, or better than
72% of the students
in the norm group.
RIT—Tests developed
by NWEA use a scale
called RIT to
measure student
achievement and
growth. RIT
stands for Rasch
UnIT, which is a
measurement scale
developed to
simplify the
interpretation of
test
scores. The RIT
score relates
directly to the
curriculum scale in
each subject area.
It is an
equal-interval
scale, like feet and
inches, so scores
can be added
together to
calculate accurate
class or school
averages.
RIT scores range
from about 140 to
300. Students
typically start at
the 140 to 190 level
in the third grade
and progress to the
240 to 300 level by
high school. RIT
scores make it
possible to follow a
student’s
educational growth
from year to year.
Standards— Standards
are statements,
developed by states
or districts, of
what students should
know and
be able to do,
related to specific
academic areas.