Measures Of Academic Progress Research Articles

Unlocking Potential: The Impact of Success Criteria as a Self-Assessment Strategy on Elevating Mathematics Achievement among AlKhair School Students in UAE.

This research aims to investigate the impact of success criteria as a self-assessment strategy on enhancing mathematics achievement among sixth-grade students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), aligning with the "We the UAE 2031" vision for education. Employing a quasi-experimental quantitative design, the study involved 120 sixth-grade students from Al Khair public school in Al Ain, UAE, with two classes serving as the experimental group (60 students) and two other classes as the control group (60 students). Pre-test and post-test scores on national mathematics assessments, as well as international Measures of Academic Progress (M.A.P) scores, were analyzed. Teaching strategies included detailed steps using success criteria, remedial activities, and consistency checks across groups. Data analysis encompassed descriptive and inferential statistics, including independent t-tests in SPSS. The findings revealed a significant improvement in short-term mathematics achievement among students exposed to success criteria-based self-assessment compared to traditional assessment methods with as mean score difference of 10.572 (p < 0.05). Additionally, the analysis of M.A.P test scores showcased a substantial median score difference of 15.92 in favor of the success criteria-based self-assessment group, further reinforcing the effectiveness of this approach in promoting long-term academic growth and proficiency in mathematical concepts. Success criteria were found to enhance teacher clarity, student learning, and self-regulation abilities. Recommendations include integrating success criteria-based self-assessment into teaching practices and policy frameworks to enhance student engagement and academic performance. Future research directions involve exploring diverse populations, conducting longitudinal studies, and comparing different self-assessment strategies for effective implementation in education.

Pandemic effects on the reading trajectories of deaf and hard of hearing students: a pilot analysis.

It is important to understand the nature of the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic had upon student learning, especially those at risk such as deaf students. The limited communication that many deaf students have at home may mean less support is available for learning remotely. Reading may be one of the areas where progress was diminished. We collected Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) scores in reading from deaf students in a residential school for the deaf in grades 3 to 12 every fall and spring from 2016 to 2021. A cohort-sequential approach yielded growth data (2570 observations), with 546 students measured up to 10 times each. As is typical of MAP reading achievement in grades 3 to 12, growth was steep in early grades, slowing in later grades. Students in the Alternative Curriculum performed lower and grew slower. Cohorts differed, with more recent cohorts typically having higher performance than older cohorts. Tenure had a substantial effect, suggesting that students who had been in the school for the deaf longer had higher performance compared to students who joined the school as older students. The pandemic appeared to have a strong, but diminishing effect in each semester, but this effect differed widely across demographic groups. This suggests that effects of the pandemic are neither clear nor simple for deaf students even within the same school. These findings have implications for understanding how the impact of pandemic may vary as a function of deaf students’ educational experiences and other demographic factors.

Issues in Statewide Scale up of a Multi-Tiered System of Support

Tiered instructional supports are on a steep growth trajectory in the US and getting underway internationally as a means to providing equitable education to all student groups. In the US, the Department of Education funded the expansion of multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) through school and personnel improvement grants to states. This retrospective article examines the history of MTSS and California’s significant investment to scale up the practice statewide, with an eye to identifying key issues that are likely to surface in other such ambitious state efforts. We examine the infrastructure support methodology to develop local capacity to support school-level implementation with measured fidelity. We present some preliminary results from a small sample comparison study that demonstrate students’ academic achievement increased when the California MTSS efforts resulted in implementation with adequate fidelity. These findings suggest long-term replication of this initiative will mirror other student-level impact studies showing positive gains on measures of academic progress, in this case, English Language Arts and Math.

Modeling within‐year growth on the Mathematics Measure of Academic Progress

AbstractPrior research on the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), a computer‐adaptive test distributed by the Northwest Evaluation Association, has primarily focused on the Reading MAP for screening/benchmarking in elementary grades. The purpose of this study was to explore the functional form of growth and the extent to which student variability in growth was captured by the Mathematics MAP across a single school year using linear mixed‐effects regression. Participants were 1608 middle school students from a school district in the Upper Midwest. Results supported a statistically significant nonlinear growth term for sixth grade and statistically significant, but small, monthly linear growth terms for sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The Math MAP moderately captured individual variability across grades. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Impacting 9th Grade Educational Outcomes: Results from a Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial of the BARR Model

In this paper, we report results from a multisite, student-level randomized controlled trial that examined the impact of the Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) model on ninth-grade students. The BARR model is a comprehensive, strength-based approach that uses eight interlocking strategies to build intentional staff-to-staff, staff-to-student, and student-to-student relationships. This student-level RCT included approximately 4,000 ninth-grade students randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions in eleven schools. We examined six constructs of student experience including expectations and rigor, engagement, supportive relationships, social and emotional learning, sense of belonging, and grit; and five measures of academic success including course failure, core credits earned, grade point average, and Northwest Evaluation Association’s (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) English Language Arts and Mathematics test scores. Findings suggest that BARR significantly increased core credits earned and mathematics achievement as measured by the NWEA MAP. Relative to the control group, BARR improved several aspects of student experiences in school, including an increased sense of supportive relationships and teacher expectations and rigor.

Pediatric Asthma Is Associated With Poorer 3-Year Academic Achievement in Urban Elementary and Middle-School Students.

Asthma has been associated with worse academic performance in a single school year, yet this association may be magnified over time as students with asthma continue to fall behind. This study examined the relationship between asthma and standardized test performance aggregated across 3 school years, including whether performance varied by likelihood of having significant asthma. Data were from students in grades K-8 at 2 urban public schools in the Northeastern United States (2015-2018). Asthma was based on parent- and self-report and school health center records. Standardized test performance was assessed using Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). Mixed effects linear and logistic regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between asthma and performance during 3 school years. Any asthma was associated with worse MAP performance across the 3 academic years. Students with the most significant asthma demonstrated worse performance on MAP and PARCC. Aggregating across 3 school years, students scored 3.17 points worse on MAP reading (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.7-5.63; P = .012) and 3.56 points worse on MAP mathematics (95% CI: 0.52-6.6; P=.022); they had 48.8% (95% CI: 1.9%-73.2%; P=.044) and 58.0% (95% CI: 21%-78%; P=.007) lower odds of proficiency on PARCC English/Language Arts and Mathematics, respectively compared to those without asthma. The relationship between asthma and poorer academic achievement in 1 school year may be magnified over multiple years, particularly among those with more significant asthma. School-based asthma interventions may support academic growth and more equitable health outcomes.

Improving Mathematics Screening in Middle School

Common universal screening methods for determining math risk in middle school grades may not result in optimal diagnostic accuracy. We evaluated current screening practices and several potential modifications for predicting math proficiency on an end-of-year state test in a suburban school district. Previously, the district used the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) to determine student risk in fall. Creating local cut scores for the preceding-year state test scores and the MAP resulted in the most accurate and efficient methods of assessing risk. Multiskill computation and application curriculum-based measures added little relative value to the combination of MAP and preceding-year state test scores. Results suggest schools could improve their screening practices by first evaluating their current procedures and, if unacceptable, determining whether local cut scores provide the desired improvements to accuracy before considering the adoption of additional measures.

Evaluating the Impact of Blended Learning: a Mixed-Methods Study with Difference-in-Difference Analysis

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate whether blended learning increased student achievement in middle schools at a public charter school system. Qualitative data was gathered through classroom observations (N=8), teacher interviews (N=8), and student focus groups (N=6). Quantitative analysis involved a difference-in-difference (DID) regression analysis. Data was gathered from seven schools and 44 classrooms. Level of blended learning implementation was recorded based on school principal rating on a 5-point scale. Data showed that a 1-point increase in blended learning was estimated to lead to a.05 standard deviation increase on the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) math assessment on average, by .10 standard deviations for boys, .20 standard deviations for African American students, and .23 standard deviations for students with 504 plans (p < .05). Qualitative data suggests that blended learning was most impactful when teachers used data from adaptive digital content for differentiation. Limitations to this study as well as recommendations for future research are discussed.

Evaluating the Criterion Validity and Classification Accuracy of Universal Screening Measures in Reading

Educators use universal screening to identify students who may be at risk for not meeting proficiency on the state assessment. Given the potential high-stakes of state tests, using accurate screeners is critical. Independent research is emerging on screeners such as the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), a computer adaptive test, and the Strategic Teaching Evaluation of Progress (STEP), a developmental reading assessment. This study evaluated the criterion-related validity of MAP and STEP with a state assessment. Additionally, the utility of each screener to distinguish between students at risk and not at risk was evaluated using multiple screening approaches. Participants were two cohorts (Cohort 1 N = 255; Cohort 2 N = 122) of children enrolled in two public charter schools. MAP and STEP were administered in spring of second grade and fall of third grade. Results suggested MAP and STEP scores were significant strong predictors of third-grade state assessment scores. STEP scores explained a small amount of variance in state assessment scores beyond MAP scores alone. Findings support using MAP and STEP to identify students who may be at risk; however, MAP is sufficient as a single screener, using locally derived cut-scores or cut-scores linked to the state assessment.

Predictive Validity of Student Risk Screening Scale—Internalizing and Externalizing (SRSS-IE) Scores in Elementary Schools

In this article, we examined predictive validity of Student Risk Screening Scale—Internalizing and Externalizing (SRSS-IE) scores for use with elementary-age students ( N = 4,465) from 14 elementary schools. Results indicated elementary school students with high levels of risk according to fall SRSS-IE scores—especially those with externalizing behaviors—were more likely to have lower oral reading fluency scores, lower Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) reading scores, more nurse visits, and more days spent in in-school suspension compared with students at low risk for externalizing or internalizing behaviors. Educational implications, limitations, and future directions are presented.

The Relationship Between Test Item Format and Gender Achievement Gaps on Math and ELA Tests in Fourth and Eighth Grades

Prior research suggests that males outperform females, on average, on multiple-choice items compared to their relative performance on constructed-response items. This paper characterizes the extent to which gender achievement gaps on state accountability tests across the United States are associated with those tests’ item formats. Using roughly 8 million fourth- and eighth-grade students’ scores on state assessments, we estimate state- and district-level math and reading male-female achievement gaps. We find that the estimated gaps are strongly associated with the proportions of the test scores based on multiple-choice and constructed-response questions on state accountability tests, even when controlling for gender achievement gaps as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) or Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments, which have the same item format across states. We find that test item format explains approximately 25% of the variation in gender achievement gaps among states.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Multivariate Universal Screening Procedures for Reading in Upper Elementary Grades

We examined the diagnostic accuracy and efficiency of three approaches to universal screening for reading difficulties using retrospective data from 1,307 students in Grades 3 through 5. School staff collected screening data using the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), a curriculum-based measure (CBM), and running records (RR). The criterion measure was a high-stakes state accountability test aligned with the Common Core State Standards. We examined the diagnostic accuracy of the tests in isolation, as multivariate batteries, and via a simulated gated-screening approach. CBM and RR data resulted in unacceptable diagnostic accuracy across all three grades. In the fourth grade, the MAP alone resulted in the best balance of sensitivity and specificity. Among third- and fifth-grade students, the multivariate combination of MAP and CBM demonstrated the best balance between diagnostic accuracy and efficiency. Gated-screening increased specificity but lowered sensitivity. Results highlight the need for population-specific considerations in universal screening.

Predictive Utility and Classification Accuracy of Oral Reading Fluency and the Measures of Academic Progress for the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam

This study examined the predictive validity and classification accuracy of two commonly used universal screening measures relative to a statewide achievement test. Results indicated that second-grade performance on oral reading fluency and the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), together with special education status, explained 68% of the variance in third-grade standardized test performance ( N = 399). Six methods of dichotomous risk classification were also explored to predict whether students would pass or fail the state test. A random sample of half of the participants was used to establish locally appropriate risk cut-scores, holding sensitivity constant at .95; the cut-scores were then cross-validated on the remaining participants. Cross-validation reflected sensitivity of above .90 for all methods, with MAP Language Usage and two multi-screener methods demonstrating the strongest overall technical adequacy for risk classification. The limitations and implications of these findings are discussed.

The Impact of Stability Balls, Activity Breaks, and a Sedentary Classroom on Standardized Math Scores

The purpose of the study was to determine if standardized math test scores improve by administering different types of exercise during math instruction. Three sixth grade classes were assessed on the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) standardized math tests during the 2012 and 2013 academic year. The MAP standardized test was given at the beginning and end of the academic year. The MCA test was given every spring. The classes used the same math curriculum. Each class had a different math teacher, but each teacher taught the same class all year. One math classroom (n=23) did no physical exercise during instruction, another (n=29) conducted two 5-min physical activity breaks during each math period, and the third math classroom (n=29) always sat on stability balls. A one-way ANOVA was computed for both MAP and MCA improvement scores across the three classrooms to determine if exercise affected standardized math test scores. MAP improvement scores were significantly higher for the class that sat on stability balls (mean = 11.6, SD = 6.9) when compared to the sedentary class (M = 5.5, SD = 7.0). MCA improvement scores were also significantly higher for the stability ball class (M = 104.9, SD = 19.7) when compared to the class that conducted activity breaks (M = 92.6, SD = 7.4). The results indicate that stability balls may provide better focus for learning than short duration vigorous physical activity or no physical activity during math instruction.

Operationalizing Culturally Responsive Instruction: Preliminary Findings of CRIOP Research

BackgroundMany scholars have espoused the use of culturally responsive instruction (CRT) for closing achievement gaps, yet there is a paucity of research supporting its effectiveness. In this article, we share results of a mixed methods study that examined the use of the Culturally Responsive Instruction Observation Protocol (CRIOP) as a framework for teacher professional development. The CRIOP is a comprehensive model and evaluation tool that operationalizes culturally responsive instruction around seven elements: Classroom Relationships, Family Collaboration; Assessment; Curriculum/Planned Experiences; Instruction/Pedagogy; Discourse/Instructional Conversation; and Sociopolitical Consciousness/Diverse Perspectives.Focus of StudyThis study was designed to answer the following questions: (1) Do teachers increase their use of culturally responsive practices as they participate in CRIOP professional development? (2) What is the relationship between implementation of culturally responsive instruction and student achievement in reading and mathematics ?, and (3) What are teachers’ perceptions of their successes and challenges in implementing culturally responsive instruction?ParticipantsTwenty-seven elementary teachers participated in this study. Of the 27 participants, all were female, 26 were White, and all were native speakers of English. Student achievement data were collected from students enrolled in classrooms of participating teachers at the two schools in the study that administered the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test. Of the 456 students who were participants, 397 (87.3%) received free or reduced lunch, and 128 (28 % of total sample) were classified as English Language Learners (ELLs).InterventionThree training sessions were held before school began and during the fall semester. Additionally, throughout the school year teachers received individual classroom coaching, on-site professional development, and instructional planning support. Participating teachers received an average of 50.4 hours of classroom-based coaching and mentoring during the intervention, which included observations, meetings with individual teachers and teacher teams, curriculum planning sessions, and collaborative creation of individualized action plans. The CRIOP was used as a professional development framework. The intended outcome of on-site support was to increase the incorporation of culturally responsive instruction in teachers’ daily practices, resulting in more culturally responsive classroom relationships, assessment and instructional practices, and use of discourse.Research DesignThis study utilized a concurrent triangulation mixed methods design. Data sources included classroom observations, student achievement results, and postobservation teacher interviews. The CRIOP instrument was used for classroom observations to determine the extent of implementation of culturally responsive practices. Following each classroom observation, field researchers conducted an audio-recorded semistructured interview using the CRIOP Post-Observation Teacher Interview Protocol and The CRIOP Family Collaboration Teacher Interview Protocol. These protocols were designed to elicit additional information that might not have been readily apparent from data gleaned during the observation. In addition, participants were interviewed to determine their perceptions of culturally responsive instruction. Three interview questions and responses were transcribed and coded for analysis: How do you define culturally responsive instruction ? What are your biggest successes with using Culturally Responsive Instruction with your students ? What are your biggest challenges with using Culturally Responsive Instruction with your students ? Integration of quantitative and qualitative data occurred during data collection and interpretation.FindingsResults of classroom observations showed that teachers had significantly higher levels of CRI implementation in the spring compared to fall. Data on student achievement indicated that students of high implementers of the CRIOP had significantly higher achievement scores in reading and mathematics than students of low implementers. The results of this study also suggest that teachers face several challenges in implementing CRI, including constraints imposed by administrators, high-stakes accountability, language barriers in communicating with families, and the sheer complexity of culturally responsive instruction.Conclusions/RecommendationsAlthough numerous scholars have espoused the value of culturally responsive instruction (CRI), there is limited research on its effectiveness. The results of this investigation suggest that the CRIOP shows promise both as a framework for teacher professional development and as an observation instrument in investigations of culturally responsive instruction. Findings also indicate that one of the biggest challenges in implementing CRI is its multidimensionality in that it includes several components (e.g., student relationships, family collaboration, assessment practices, instructional practices, discourse practices, and sociopolitical consciousness), which together comprise the CRIOP model. Future research including an experimental design is needed to determine the effectiveness of the CRIOP as a measure of culturally responsive instruction and as a framework for intervention.

Technical Adequacy and Acceptability of Curriculum-Based Measurement and the Measures of Academic Progress

Curriculum-based measurement in reading (CBM-R) and the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) are assessment tools widely employed for universal screening in schools. Although a large body of research supports the validity of CBM-R, limited empirical evidence exists supporting the technical adequacy of MAP or the acceptability of either measure for universal screening. Purposes of the current study were to replicate and extend prior research by (a) examining the extent to which CBM-R performance measures more than word reading skills, (b) evaluating the concurrent validity of MAP with CBM-R, (c) determining the potential benefit of administering MAP with CBM-R for universal screening, and (d) examining teachers’ acceptability of MAP and CBM-R. Participants included 802 students in Grades 1 to 5 who were administered three CBM-R probes and the MAP during universal screening and 86 elementary teachers who completed a universal screening assessments survey. Results provide evidence of the concurrent validity of MAP with CBM-R and suggest both measures are acceptable to teachers. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Construct Validity and Measurement Invariance of Computerized Adaptive Testing: Application to Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis

The purposes of this study are twofold. First, to investigate the construct or factorial structure of a set of Reading and Mathematics computerized adaptive tests (CAT), Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), given in different states at different grades and academic terms. The second purpose is to investigate the invariance of test factorial structure across different grades, academic terms and states. Because of the uniqueness of CAT data (different student receive different items), traditional factor analysis based on fixed form data is no longer practically possible at the item level. This study illustrates how to overcome the difficulty of applying factor analysis in CAT data and study results provide evidences for valid interpretation MAP tests scores across grades at different academic terms for different states.

Achievement After Participation in a Preparatory Program for Verbally Talented Students

Good verbal skills are crucial for success in school and in many career fields. Project LIVE was a program of enrichment and acceleration focused on the development of verbal talent. It was implemented for 3 years with a group of middle-school students who indicated an above-grade-level reading proficiency and came from families having low-to-moderate income levels. Forty-five students participated in the program and received numerous educational services to improve their reading and writing skills. The students showed significant progress on English and/or reading subtests of the EXPLORE, the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT), and the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests. Higher parental expectations for children's academic achievement were another positive outcome of the program. More than two thirds of the students were placed in Honors English in their freshman year in high school, which was considerably higher than the percentage (47%) of high-school freshmen in Honors English in the school district where the majority of the students were from moderate- to high-income families.

The Proficiency Illusion

ONE OF the most controversial provisions in No Child Left Behind is that it lets each state define Given the states' primary role in education and our tradition of local control, some find this approach appropriate. For others, it means that there will be a babel of definitions and a total lack of comparability across state lines. Now comes The Proficiency Illusion, an interesting variation the theme from John Cronin, Michael Dahlin, Deborah Adkins, and Gage Kingsbury of the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). This report, sponsored by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, with a foreword by Chester Finn and Michael Petrilli, doesn't cure the worst problem of defining because it uses cut scores that result only in reports of percentage proficient. But it does provide an interesting new perspective how the definitions of vary around the nation. Some have wanted to use NAEP as the unifying metric, the gold standard against which to measure state standards. But NAEP isn't satisfactory for this purpose, because it is a national test not specifically oriented to any state's curriculum or standards. As long as states have different curricula, there will be varying degrees of mismatch between NAEP and state tests. Over the years, NWEA has developed Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests. These tests are used by a number of states, and the item pool consists of 5,200 items. But using item response theory, NWEA places all MAP items a common scale. Thus we can ask how well Colorado does its own state test and how well it does MAP tests, and we can ask the same about Wisconsin. Then we can compare the performance of the two states, even though they have different tests and the MAP tests for them use some different items. Those different MAP items are still a common scale. Sufficient numbers of students take MAP tests to permit such comparisons for 26 states. The comparison of most interest is in the location of the cut score. For each state, NWEA looked at the proportion of students attaining the state test. It then asked, What score the MAP would produce the same proportion of students? If, say, 75% of the students in a state were the state test, the question would be What score the MAP test would declare 75% of the students proficient? The MAP percentile score that yielded the appropriate of would be reported for NCLB purposes. The results show that state test cut scores vary enormously. Figure 1 indicates that in Texas a student scoring at the 12th percentile the MAP tests would be labeled proficient. (I ignore Colorado's lower score because that state has a tougher standard for internal use than for NCLB purposes.) By contrast, for a student to be called in California, he or she would have to score at the 61st percentile the MAP. This is where it gets tricky and Finn and Petrilli present some misleading exposition. Here they are discussing the of a fourth-grader in Michigan, which has one of the lowest cut scores in reading, versus the in South Carolina, Massachusetts, and California, which have the highest: This fourth-grader [Susie Smith] lives in suburban Detroit, and her parents get word that she has passed Michigan's state test. She's proficient in reading and math. Mr. and Mrs. Smith understandably take this as good news; their daughter must be on grade level and track to do well in later grades of school, maybe even go to college ... [What they don't know is] that proficiency Michigan's state tests has little meaning outside the Wolverine State's borders; if Susie lived in California or Massachusetts or South Carolina, she would have missed the proficiency cut-off by a mile. Maybe, maybe not. Here are the study's authors writing the same issue: A student who can navigate the California or Massachusetts reading requirements has clearly achieved a much different of competence than has one who just meets the Colorado or Wisconsin standard. …