Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

December 19, 2005

State Officials Will Consider Plans to
Revamp "MAP" Testing Standards

State education officials will consider a proposal next month to revise the standards used with the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) tests, the state’s required exams for public schools.

Under recommendations developed recently by committees of Missouri educators and citizens, more students would be likely to score at the "proficient" or "advanced" levels in mathematics and reading/communication arts when school districts administer the expanded MAP exams next spring.

When it meets in mid-January, the State Board of Education is expected to consider the recommendations and make a decision about new "achievement levels" for the MAP exams, including the definition of "proficient" for each subject and grade.

Agreeing on the definition of "proficient" is likely to be the most controversial part of the plan. Since the first MAP exams became mandatory in 1998, some educators have complained that the state’s definition is too demanding.

"We are approaching an important milestone in the MAP testing program because of the introduction of new, grade-level tests in 2006. The current MAP standards were set nearly 10 years ago, so this is a good time for us to revisit and review those expectations," said Commissioner of Education D. Kent King.

"We also are required, under state law, to make sure that Missouri standards do not exceed those used on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests. We must set new criteria to match the grade-level tests, and we need to make some adjustments so that our state tests align more closely with the national exams," he said.

But King emphasized that he does not support dramatic changes to the state’s academic standards.

"Some of the current MAP standards are unrealistically high, and we are ready to address that concern. However, I will not ask the State Board of Education to reduce expectations just to cause an increase in the number of kids who are proficient.

"Our challenge is to find the appropriate balance. We want to establish standards that are right for kids, realistic, and will help us keep pushing for higher student achievement," he said.

Making the transition to an expanded testing program with revised standards is complicated, but it should produce some benefits for teachers and schools, King said.

"Setting cut scores that reflect comparable levels of achievement from one grade to the next is challenging, but it should help teachers evaluate students’ learning and plan their instruction more effectively as students progress from grade to grade," he said.

The definition of proficiency in the MAP system is critical because federal law (No Child Left Behind) requires all children to be proficient in reading and math by 2014. Public schools that do not make satisfactory progress toward this goal face penalties. The federal law also allows each state to set its own definitions of proficiency.

Earlier this month (Dec. 7-9), more than 100 educators and citizens met with state education officials to hammer out proposed changes in the MAP standards.

In the current system, student achievement on the MAP is broken down into five categories: Step 1 (lowest), Progressing, Nearing Proficient, Proficient and Advanced. Beginning next year, however, the state will adopt a four-level system that matches the categories used by the National Assessment of Educational Progress: Below Basic, Basic, Proficient and Advanced.

This change is being made in response to a state law enacted last year (2004). The law requires the MAP exams to be aligned more closely with the NAEP.

In the past, Missouri’s MAP scores have been similar to results on the NAEP exams in most cases, but with some notable exceptions. For example:

• On the MAP exams this year, about 35% of Missouri third-graders scored at the proficient or advanced levels on the communication arts test. On the 2005 NAEP exams, 33% of Missouri fourth-graders were proficient or advanced. This comparison involves different groups of students, but the similarity of the results suggests that the state standards and NAEP standards are fairly comparable.
   

• In the eighth grade this year, only 15% of Missouri students were proficient or advanced in math, according to the MAP exams. On the NAEP tests, however, about 26% of Missouri eighth-graders were proficient or advanced. This example suggests that the state’s standards are higher than the NAEP.

Under the proposals adopted by the advisory committees, the MAP achievement levels would be set so that, initially, about 30% to 35% of Missouri students would be expected to score at the proficient level in each of the seven grades tested. About 10% to 12% would be expected to score at the advanced level in all subjects and grades.

These recommendations would be likely to produce scores that are more consistent across subjects and grades and more in-line with NAEP results. The proposed cut-off scores for each level are based on the results of field-test editions of the new MAP tests that were given last spring by schools throughout the state.

Currently the MAP exams are required in grades 4, 8 and 10 (math) and grades 3, 7 and 11 (reading/communication arts).

Beginning in 2006, though, the MAP exams for both subjects will be given to all students in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Math will be tested again in grade 10; reading in grade 11. The MAP tests for science and social studies will continue to be available in their present format for voluntary use by school districts.

The expansion of the state’s testing program in grades 3-8 is required by the federal law, No Child Left Behind.