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Map® Growth™ Testing Transition Guidance for Gifted and Advanced Students

In most cases, students are well served by taking MAP® GrowthTM tests that correlate to their grade level. However, there are some situations where it may be appropriate to transition a child to a higher-level test early. Here are some guidelines for making that choice.

MAP Growth K–2 to MAP Growth 2–5 Transition Guidance

When deciding whether to transition a kindergartener or 1st grade student to a MAP Growth 2–5 test, it is important to balance the testing experience against the need for a student to take a test that has a sufficient scale to provide useful results. MAP Growth K–2 is designed for pre-, emergent, and beginning readers and uses audio support to provide information regarding the student’s performance in those subjects. The content and the manner in which the tests are constructed are appropriate for students from kindergarten up to second grade.

Children in kindergarten and 1st grade who are reading independently and ready for the longer test may take MAP Growth Reading 2–5 in place of MAP Growth K–2 Reading.

Generally, it is not recommended that kindergarteners and 1st grade students take MAP Growth Mathematics 2–5, because MAP Growth includes math terminology to which they have probably not been introduced. However, a student who has been exposed to 2nd grade or higher mathematics material, is reading independently, and is ready for the longer format of MAP Growth Mathematics 2–5, may take MAP Growth 2–5.

MAP Growth K–2 Mathematics provides useful information for instruction for students working up to the level of an average 4th grader at the end of the school year. MAP Growth K–2 Reading provides useful information for instruction for students up through the level of an average 6th grader at the end of the school year.

MAP Growth 2–5 to MAP Growth 6+ Transition Guidance

MAP Growth Mathematics 6+ includes topics that are not included in MAP Growth 2–5, and therefore some advanced students may benefit from transitioning to the 6+ test early.

Transitioning from MAP Growth Mathematics 2–5 to MAP Growth Mathematics 6+ may be appropriate if:

  • the student has been exposed to math content above the 5thgrade level
  • the student is performing above the 90thpercentile compared to typical 5th graders at the beginning of the school year