Q & A: MAP / RIT Scores Page 1

Teachers and Parents: MAP Tests and RIT Scores: Q & A

WHAT IS THE MAP TEST?

Two times a year, in the Fall and Spring, all students are given the MAP
(Measure of Academic Progress) test. This test is to measure educational
progress in Reading, Math and Language Usage (Writing.) It is a yardstick to
see how the students are doing and is a good means to check present and
potential future progress. It also is used to help teachers plan their lessons
around the different levels of achievement. It relates very well to the
Wyoming achievement test or PAWS. There is a bank of 15,000 questions
from which the MAP test draws. It is normed (or scientifically tested) to
determine accuracy and validity on about 3 million students, in about 7,000
schools, in 42 states.

The questions on the test get harder or easier based on the previous answer,
until the test determines where the student is currently and then the test
ends. Since the MAP test only represents questions that the student can
reasonably attempt to answer, the results are good indicators of the skills
and concepts that will challenge him or her and can be a place to start
instruction.

WHAT IS A RIT SCORE?

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.

Equal interval means that the difference between scores is the same
regardless of whether a student is at the top, bottom, or middle of the RIT
scale; it has the same meaning regardless of grade level.

The student's final RIT score indicates the level of questions that the student
was answering correctly 50% of the time. These are the skills that the
student should be working on right now.

With parents, try to use phrases like: “The test is a mile marker on an
educational journey.” “The test measures current and future individual
Q & A: MAP / RIT Scores Page 2

academic growth.” “The test is a snap-shot in time.” “The results are only as
good as how serious it was taken.”

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PERCENTILE AND PERCENT

CORRECT?

A percentile ranking represents how well a student performs compared to

other students in a nationwide norm sample for their grade. A student
scoring at the 35th percentile scored as well as, or better than, 35 percent of
students in the same grade in the norm group. It also means that 65 percent
of the students exceeded this score.

A common mistake is for people to think this means that the student got 35
percent of the items correct. Percentile is not related to the percent of
correct answers a student gets on a test. The percentile is not a good
method for measuring growth in students. Students who achieve typical
growth will remain at approximately the same percentile score over time.

WHAT ARE THE SCORE RANGES? HOW SHOULD THEY BE USED?

It is very important to remember that scores from any test are estimates of
performance. No score should ever be treated as absolute. Score ranges
indicate the range of measurement error around a particular score. One
would expect that if a student took the test again relatively soon, his or her
score would fall within this range most of the time. Students performing
within the same score range have similar instructional needs. Teachers can
use these needs and achievements to create better, more appropriate
lessons.

CAN ONE COMPARE RIT SCORES TO GRADE LEVELS?

There are “typical” RIT scores for each grade level (see below), but each
student is different. The RIT score allows the student to be accurately
measured regardless of their grade level. (So if a 5th student earns a RIT
score of 220 on the Reading test, and an 8th grade also earns a 220 on the
Reading test, these two students are at the same instructional level.)

Table below shows: “Typical” or average grade level score as compared to

the RIT score. (At the beginning of the school year.)
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7th 8th 9th

Language Usage 216 219 220

Reading 216 220 222

Math 225 230 232

CAN ONE USE RIT SCORES TO PREDICT OR GET READY FOR PAWS
TESTING?

A particular score on the MAP test is 80% to 90% predictive of what a

student will get on the PAWS test. The MAP test‘s skills and concepts used in
the questions, are therefore a good place to start to get students ready for
the state achievement test. A student scoring around the 50th percentile on a
Reading or Math MAP test would have about (again, these are all averages or
snapshots) a 50% chance of being proficient on the PAWS test.