NWEA Resources

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NWEA

NWEA [Northwest Evaluation Association] The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to helping all children learn. NWEA provides research-based assessments, professional training, and consulting services to improve teaching and learning.

During the year your child will take tests called Measures of Academic Progress (MAP). You will also hear them referred to as NWEA tests. We give students MAP tests to determine their instructional level and to measure academic growth throughout the school year, and from year to year in the areas of reading and mathematics.

Your child will take the tests on a computer in our technology lab. MAP tests are unique in that they adapt to be appropriate for your child’s level of learning. As a result, each student has the same opportunity to succeed and maintain a positive attitude toward testing. And with MAP tests, we can administer shorter tests and use less class time while still receiving detailed, accurate information about your child’s growth. However, if you would like to obtain information regarding this assessment feel free to contact your child’s classroom teacher.

Over two weeks, students in grades 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 will spend a total of about two hours completing math and reading tests. Each school year, students in grades 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 take the tests in January and May.

At the end of the school year you will receive a report showing your child’s growth. We have found MAP testing to be a rewarding experience as we determine every child’s individual growth and achievement. Partnering to help all kids learn, parents and teachers can have a profound positive effect on the lives of our children.

Parent Toolkit: A Guide to NWEA Assessments

This Parent Toolkit was created by NWEA as a resource and guide for parents. It includes Frequently Asked Questions, The Lexile Framework® for Reading, Tips for Parents, Web Sites for Kids and Parents, and Commonly Used Terms. NWEA hopes you find this toolkit helpful and invites you to have conversations with the school personnel about NWEA’s assessment tools. Click here for the Toolkit

Preparing for the NWEA Test: Tips for Parents

Download these Parent Tips here.

Three kinds of parental involvement at home are consistently associated with higher student achievement:

  1. Actively organizing and monitoring a child’s time.
  2. Helping with homework.
  3. Discussing school matters.

Ways to help your child prepare for testing...

  • Meet with your child’s teacher as often as needed to discuss his or her progress. Ask the teacher to suggest activities for you and your child to do at home to help prepare for tests and improve your child’s understanding of schoolwork.
  • Parents and teachers working together benefits students.
  • Provide a quiet, comfortable place for studying at home.
  • Make sure that your child is well rested on school days and especially the day of a test. Children who are tired are less able to pay attention in class or to handle the demands of a test.
  • Give your child a well-rounded diet. A healthy body leads to a healthy, active mind.
  • Provide books and magazines for your child to read at home. By reading new materials, a child learns new words that might appear on a test. Ask your child’s school about a suggested outside reading list or get suggestions from the public library.

Ways to help your child with language

  • Talk to your child and encourage him or her to engage in conversation during family activities.
  • Give a journal or diary as a gift.
  • Help your child write a letter to a friend or family member. Offer assistance with correct grammar usage and content.
  • Have a “word of the week” that is defined every Monday. Encourage your child to use the new word throughout the week.
  • Plan a special snack or meal and have your child write the menu.
  • After finishing a chapter in a book or a magazine article, have your child explain his or her favorite event.

Ways to help your child with reading

  • Provide many opportunities for your child to read books or other materials. Children learn to read best when they have books and other reading materials at home and plenty of chances to read.
  • Read aloud to your child. Research shows that this is the most important activity that parents can do to increase their child’s chance of reading success. Keep reading aloud even when your child can read independently.
  • Make time for the library.
  • Play games like Scrabble, Spill and Spell, Scattergories, and Balderdash together.
  • Follow your child’s interest—find fiction and nonfiction books that tie into this interest.
  • Work crossword puzzles with your child.
  • Give a magazine subscription for a gift.

Ways to help your child with math

  • Spend time with kids on simple board games, puzzles, and activities that encourage better attitudes and stronger math skills. Even everyday activities such as playing with toys in a sandbox or in a tub at bath time can teach children math concepts such as weight, density, and volume. Check your television listings for shows that can reinforce math skills in a practical and fun way.
  • Encourage children to solve problems. Provide assistance, but let them figure it out themselves. Problem solving is a lifetime skill.
  • The kitchen is filled with tasty opportunities to teach fractional measurements, such as doubling and dividing cookie recipes.
  • Point out ways that people use math every day to pay bills, balance their checkbooks, figure out their net earnings, make change, and how to tip at restaurants. Involve older children in projects that incorporate geometric and algebraic concepts such as planting a garden, building a bookshelf, or figuring how long it will take to drive to your family vacation destination.
  • Children should learn to read and interpret charts and graphs such as those found in daily newspapers. Collecting and analyzing data will help your child draw conclusions and become discriminating readers of numerical information.

Download these Parent Tips here.