MAP Growth Course-Specific assessments

Product or Programme · All products and programmes
Evidence · 11 claims (11 for) · 4 studies (2 associational, 1 design, 1 theoretical), q1–q2 · 1 of 4 report an effect size · 9 claims rest on one study

Description

MAP Growth course-specific tests are NWEA's variable-length computerized adaptive mathematics and science assessments for Algebra, Geometry, Integrated Math, and Biology/Life Science, administered during the school year to measure course-specific achievement and growth.

Components

• Course-specific MAP Growth tests (Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Integrated Math 1–3, Biology/Life Science): A series of course-specific MAP Growth Mathematics and Science subject tests released starting in August 2017 to replace the older NWEA End-of-Course tests. Unlike the prior EOC tests taken only at the end of a course, these tests "can be administered multiple times throughout the school year, typically in the fall, winter, and spring, allowing for student growth to be evaluated in a content area over the duration of a course." They are item-level variable-length computerized adaptive tests of 41 to 43 items sharing the same RIT scales as regular MAP Growth math and science tests, though scores should not be used interchangeably across domains. (Wei He (2022))
• MAP Growth Course-Specific assessments with documented psychometric quality evidence: MAP Growth Course-Specific assessments are course-level computer adaptive assessments whose design, development, and validation are documented in a technical report for the 2024–2025 school year. The report presents "evidence of psychometric quality, including adaptive testing methods, reliability, validity, fairness, and score interpretation across grades and courses." It serves as documentation for users interpreting scores in secondary courses. (NWEA Research (2026))

Claims

• Average course-specific test scores decrease as grade level increases, reflecting ability self-selection [+W]
• Normality assumptions of the true score model appeared reasonable for the course-specific tests [+W]
• Updated norms are heavily weighted toward 2021/22 pandemic-era performance, with lower norm-group performance than the prior norms [+W]
• Course-specific test volumes dropped sharply in spring 2020 and hit record highs in 2021/22 [+W]
• True-score-model correlations between term scores exceed 0.90 for almost all course-specific tests [+W]
• The course-specific MAP Growth norms were built from 747,936 test events administered to 342,821 students in Grades 6–12 across 50 states between Fall 2017 and Spring 2019. [+W]
• The published norms allow normative interpretation of both status and fall-to-spring growth, e.g., an Algebra 1 student at the 55th fall percentile has an expected gain of 8 RIT with growth SD of 9, and an 11-RIT gain places the student at the 62nd growth percentile. [+W]
• Q-Q plots, CDF curves, and residual checks support the joint normality assumption underlying the multivariate true score model for the course-specific tests. [+W]
• Cross-grade score patterns show self-selection: lower-grade students taking a course-specific test tend to outperform students at the grade the course targets, and upper-grade students tend to underperform them. [+W]
• Adaptive testing yields better measurement precision than a fixed-form test of the same length [+W]
• Linking studies predict proficiency on state summative assessments from MAP Growth scores [+W]

Related Products and Programmes

-

Key Sources

• Wei He. (2022). Achievement and Growth Norms for Course-Specific MAP® Growth™ Tests. NWEA Research Report. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/achievement-and-growth-norms-for-course-specific-map-growth-tests/
• NWEA Research. (2026). NWEA Research — Publications and Research Partnerships Page. https://www.nwea.org

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	product
id	map-growth-course-specific-assessments
title	MAP Growth Course-Specific assessments
description	MAP Growth course-specific tests are NWEA's variable-length computerized adaptive mathematics and science assessments for Algebra, Geometry, Integrated Math, and Biology/Life Science, administered during the school year to measure course-specific achievement and growth.
status	review
moved_from	element/course-specific-map-growth-tests, element/map-growth-course-specific-assessments
product_kind	assessment
generated	by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	2 — wei-he-2022, nwea-research-2026

Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.