What are MAPS Tests & Why Do Students Take Them?

Today, students all over the state of Nebraska will begin taking the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests.  These tests are written to the Nebraska standards and measure competency on the standards in Reading, Language Arts, Math, and Science.  Students at Chadron Middle School will be taking these tests on different days for the better part of the month of October, and the results of these tests will provide us with baseline data that will help us identify areas of deficiency in each of the testing strands.

An entire month of testing can become tiresome for students and teachers.  However, the data that we collect this fall really does help us identify areas that we need to focus on to ensure that our students are strong in all of the standards strands.  We also share the data with the students so that they know their areas of strength and the areas where they need to improve.  Having this knowledge helps students become more self-aware and with this knowledge we help students set personal growth goals for the spring tests that they will take in March.

So, as we move through the month of October and you have conversations with your students about school, please talk to them about testing.  Make sure that they are getting enough rest at night, that they are eating breakfast in the morning, and encourage them to do their best on all of the tests.  It is important to remind them that everyone has areas of strength and areas where we need to improve and that these tests are not the end-all be-all of their academic career.  It is one test that is give on one day and if they don't perform as well as they would have liked, encourage them to study hard and to give their best effort again in March.

As always, I sincerely thank you for the many ways that you support your student(s) and the school.  If you have any questions, please let me know.

Thank you,

Nick Dressel
Chadron Middle School, Principal