As MAP testing nears, teachers will soon be telling their students, “Make sure to get plenty of rest tonight and eat a good breakfast,” and from the looks of it, many students are already not looking forward to it. The NWEA MAP Test, or Measure of Academic Progress Test, is a standardized test used nationwide to track a student’s academic growth in subjects such as math and reading. In other words, it’s a test given to students usually 3 times a year to see their progress throughout that year, unlike other standardized tests though, the MAP isn’t graded for mastery.
Like every other school in the US, Lively also uses MAP testing as an assessment tool. But of course, the student population’s opinions on MAP testing differs at each school.
So what do the students at Lively specifically think about MAP testing?
“I dislike them because it takes up a lot of time, but I think it’s needed to see what grade a student should be placed in,” said 7th grader Autumn Drye.
“I don’t like them, I think we should just go off of STAAR test results because we already take a lot of tests during the year, so can’t you just go off that? And, it wastes my time when I could be learning,” said 7th grader Tallulah Redman.
Do the students at Lively think students should even be taking MAP tests?
“No, because I don’t think tests accurately measure where a student is. A lot of students have test anxiety or do really bad on tests and really good with other work,” said 8th grader Izzy Reed.
“No, we take too many tests in my opinion, and it’s more work for stressed students to do,” said 7th grader Emmett Hollinsworth.
Lastly, it’s known that the majority of students don’t enjoy MAP testing, but what do they think can be done in place of MAP testing?
“Instead of a test that is taken so literally and seriously, we can simply have a series of assignments, kind of like we do anyways, or other things like placement tests, activities, or IQ tests,” said 8th grader Destin Connolly.
“I think that instead people could take some sort of smaller quiz in their core classes, instead of taking a chunk of the school day to do standardized testing,” said 8th grader Chella Pfeifle.
In conclusion, of all the different opinions that our students have concerning MAP testing, most can agree that they’re unnecessary, time-consuming and can be replaced with something more effective. Perhaps in the near future, the NWEA organization can take in consideration what our students and students from other schools across the world think can replace MAP tests.
