E U R O P E A N L E A G U E F O R M I D D L E L E V E L E D U C A T I O N
Culture of Data Use : NWEA ’ s MAP Growth By Patricia Reeder , M . Ed ., Ed . S .
“ I don ’ t divide the world into the weak and the strong , or the successes and the failures . . . I divide the world into the learners and the non-learners .” – Benjamin Barber
The research reviews of student growth and school improvement repeatedly feature a small , but powerful number of strategies . These include : a strong data culture , use of data to inform instruction and empowering students through creating challenging , but obtainable goals . So how can these strategies help all students become learners ? And how can your MAP results , reports and resources become central tools for this work ?
Just as we know and understand the effect of school culture on learning , a school ’ s culture of data use also should reflect strategic , agreed upon processes that create transparency and common ownership and use of student data . When this happens within a school , collective efficacy grows and many decisions become data-based , instead of intuitive or only individually driven . Student growth and achievement belongs to everyone .
While a school may use multiple measures within data conversations , MAP Growth can connect student achievement vertically and across all curriculum strands . The NWEA Tri-Annual Data Conversation , provides a protocol that can systematize this work .
The extended adaptive functionality of MAP Growth , and the RIT scale , allow growth to be calculated over time , without regard to grade level . When school teams extend operational definitions of the various types of growth , metrics can define learning gaps , and enriched learners can be challenged at their own level . MAP Growth results point toward each student ’ s Zone of Proximal Development for formative instructional planning . These metrics can then be used with the Student Profile and the Learning Continuum to target and personalize the educational experience .
“ Although we readily acknowledge the power of goals in our own lives , they remain the single most underestimated and underused means of improving student learning minute by minute and day to day in the classroom ”
-Advancing Formative Assessment in Every Classroom by Moss and Brookhart
Goal setting as formative practice focuses student and teacher effort and provides metrics for measurement . When asked how one has obtained a goal , the typical response involves incremental steps and metrics of measurement . MAP Growth provides learning statements for incremental progress as well as growth norms to measure progress towards achievement levels . Resources such as the Student Profile bring growth metrics , content and goal planning together in one place .
During the ELMLE NWEA sessions , participants will deepen their understanding of student , class and school level reports as they focus on growth metrics and goal setting within their school culture of data use , so all students become “ learners .”
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