MAP Growth National Dashboard

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Evidence · 11 claims (8 for, 3 mixed) · 10 studies (9 associational, 1 design), q1–q2 · 0 of 10 report an effect size · 10 claims rest on one study

Description

NWEA's dashboard software product that presents national student achievement and growth trend data from MAP Growth assessments.

Components

• Technical appendix documenting dashboard data, sample, and methods: This technical appendix accompanies the MAP Growth National Dashboard. Per the page, it provides "more details of the data and describing more fully the sample and methods used within the dashboard," serving as the methodological documentation for the dashboard's national growth and achievement estimates. It is authored by Karyn Lewis and Megan Kuhfeld and dated September 2026. (Lewis et al. (2026))
• MAP Growth National Dashboard with user guide and technical appendix: The MAP® Growth™ National Dashboard is an NWEA data tool accompanied by a user guide and technical appendix. The guide "explains how to navigate the MAP® Growth™ National Dashboard, understand the key metrics and terms, make appropriate comparisons of data, and communicate findings responsibly," and includes "a robust 'Frequently Asked Questions' section." The technical appendix provides "more details of the data and describing more fully the sample and methods used within the dashboard." (NWEA Research (2026))
• MAP Growth National Dashboard as the data source for post-COVID recovery analysis: The MAP Growth National Dashboard is the data source this research brief uses to track academic recovery after COVID-19. The brief states it is "Using data from the MAP Growth National Dashboard" to highlight challenges in middle school reading. NWEA also publishes a user guide and technical appendix for the dashboard describing its metrics, comparisons, sample, and methods. (Megan Kuhfeld et al. (2026))
• MAP Growth National Dashboard public tool for K–8 reading and math achievement and growth: The MAP Growth National Dashboard is a public tool showing how K–8 students perform in reading and math, built on data from "over seven million students in 20,000 schools—about one in four US public schools." It is updated three times a year and organized into five tabbed sections—National Trends, Group Insights, State Trends, State Groups, and Trends Over Time—each displaying one comparison type at a time, with dropdown controls for grades, student groups, state, and years. (MAP Growth National Dashboard user guide et al. (2026))
• Dashboard metric framework distinguishing single-point achievement metrics from between-test-event growth metrics: The guide organizes the dashboard's measures into two families: "Achievement metrics capture students' performance at a single point in time, while growth metrics track their progress between two test events." Achievement metrics include RIT scores (100–350 scale) and achievement percentiles relative to the 2025 norms sample; growth metrics center on the conditional growth percentile, which compares growth to same-grade peers with the same starting fall achievement level. Supporting terms include on-track-for-proficiency projections and effect sizes on the Trends Over Time tab that show how far RIT scores have shifted from 2019 in a metric comparable across grades. (MAP Growth National Dashboard user guide et al. (2026))

Claims

• MAP Growth data show U.S. reading improvements after a period of post-COVID stagnation, with historically underserved groups showing the largest reading gains from 2025 to 2026 [+W]
• The 2025 MAP Growth Norms are based on national test samples from 2022–23 and 2023–24, and dashboard results are not comparable to reports using 2020 norms [~W]
• The MAP Growth National Dashboard draws on a sample of over seven million students in 20,000 schools, about one in four US public schools [+W]
• State-level dashboard results are reported only when at least 20% of students were tested across most grades and the sample contains at least 10 students [~W]
• The enhanced item-selection algorithm (EISA) causes shifts in math scores that were fully accounted for in the 2025 norms and the dashboard [~W]
• The dashboard reports median achievement percentiles normed to a nationally representative pre-COVID sample and projected proficiency against state cut scores [+W]
• Spring 2025 MAP Growth data show a modest, incremental post-COVID recovery in math achievement [+W]
• Reading achievement remained stalled as of Spring 2025 according to MAP Growth national data [+W]
• NWEA reports positive recovery trends in K-2 academic recovery following the COVID pandemic [+W]
• In spring 2025, math recovery continued while reading remained stalled [+W]
• Middle school reading achievement remained stagnant post-COVID, with the lowest-performing students falling further behind [+W]

Related Products and Programmes

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Key Sources

• Lewis, K., & Kuhfeld, M. (2026). Technical Appendix: MAP Growth National Dashboard. NWEA. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/technical-appendix-map-growth-national-dashboard/
• NWEA Research. (2026). NWEA Research — Publications listing page. https://www.nwea.org/research/
• Megan Kuhfeld, Naomi Duran, Karyn Lewis, Carrie Phillips, Samantha Musacchia. (2026). Struggling adolescent readers left behind: Evidence of post-COVID-19 declines and pathways forward. NWEA Research brief. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/struggling-adolescent-readers-left-behind-evidence-of-post-covid-19-declines-and-pathways-forward/
• MAP Growth National Dashboard user guide and FAQ. (2026). https://www.nwea.org/map-growth-national-dashboard
• Karyn Lewis, Megan Kuhfeld. (2025). Trend Snapshots: Math Recovery Continues, Reading Remains Stalled in Spring 2025. NWEA Research Brief. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/trend-snapshots-math-recovery-continues-reading-remains-stalled-in-spring-2025/

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	product
id	map-growth-national-dashboard
title	MAP Growth National Dashboard
description	NWEA's dashboard software product that presents national student achievement and growth trend data from MAP Growth assessments.
status	review
moved_from	element/map-growth-dashboard-technical-appendix, element/map-growth-national-dashboard, element/map-growth-national-dashboard-element, element/map-growth-national-dashboard-recovery-data, element/map-growth-national-dashboard-tool, theory/dashboard-achievement-growth-metric-framework
product_kind	software
generated	by process:sweep-kinds on 2026-10-10
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	5 — lewis-2026, nwea-research-2026, megan-kuhfeld-2026, map-growth-national-dashboard-user-guide-and-faq-2026, karyn-lewis-2025

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