Math and reading assessments show progress

Initial results of the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) math and reading assessments at eight elementary schools show students are making progress in their learning. The Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment is intended to indicate what each student knows, is ready to learn, and is projected to achieve. Teachers also can use the information from the assessments to focus instruction where students are struggling.

Bakersville, Beech Street, Gossler Park, Hallsville, Wilson, McDonough, Northwest and Parker-Varney elementary schools were selected to participate in MAP assessments based on their status as priority schools in the district. Priority schools receive federal School Improvement Grant funding. The assessments in math and reading were given to students in grades one through five last fall and again this winter. In every grade, the total number of students at those eight schools who performed at or above the national norm increased.

The chart below reveals the largest increase in the number of students above the norm was in first grade math. Last fall, 29 percent of all the students assessed scored at or above the norm as determined by NWEA; 68% of the students in grade one scored at or above the norm on the winter assessment – an increase of 39%. Similarly, 61% of first graders scored at or above the norm in reading this winter, compared to 30% in the fall – a positive change of 31%.

“The results of these assessments give us a snapshot of progress in Manchester, confirming that many of the tools we use across the city are helping our students learn,” said Debra Livingston, Superintendent of Schools. “The comparison is very similar to using a pediatric weight and height chart to see where a child is at a point in time but more important, how the child grows over time.”

	FALL	WINTER	%  Above 50%+
MATHEMATICS
Grade 1	29%	68%	39
2	31%	58%	27
3	25%	51%	26
4	31%	45%	14
5	33%	46%	13
READING
Grade 1	30%	61%	31
2	28%	50%	22
3	30%	48%	18
4	34%	45%	11
5	33%	42%	9