I wanted to write this week's blog about testing since next week is our last before the winter break! When we return after winter break we will have a transition day (Monday) that is a regular schedule with regular lessons. However, Tuesday and Friday of that first week back will be our MAPS testing days. Please help ensure that your student has has a restful night and a healthy breakfast leading up to those dates. Tuesday January, 7th we will be taking the Reading MAPs. This is not read to the students but I encourage them to read it (whisper) to themselves and persevere through the passages so they can be more accurate in their responses. Many of my students have made awesome gains in their fluency this year so I do have high expectations for increases in their reading MAPs scores. Friday we will take the Math MAPs tests. For certain students the tests may be read to them to alleviate the frustration with text. I have been teaching the students to use the tools available to them (calculators that pop up on the screen for certain problems, scrap paper available to draw pictures, etc.) For both tests students have unlimited time (60 min. is scheduled - but the students can go over that) and an alternate setting for less distractions. There are roughly 50 questions for each assessment.
We do not yet have the schedule for when we will administer the AIMSweb math and reading probes but those are much more quick (three 1 min. reading fluency probes and two 8 min. math assessments).
This data is super important in helping us understand where the students are at with their skills! Please help us encourage them to show us their best!