NWEA

• Product Update

Mar 15, 2023

Executive summary 

In the summer of 2023, NWEA will provide updated user norms for course-specific Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry as well as new user norms for Integrated Math I, II, and III, and Biology/Life Science tests. The new/updated user norms will include achievement norms for fall, winter, and spring as well as growth norms for fall to winter, fall to spring, and winter to spring. The new norms are based on three school years’ worth of data (2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22) and over 2.8 million test events. 

Norm change summary 

Table 1 below outlines the course-specific norms that are available before and after the summer 2023 release. Please note that some norms are updated versions of previously released norms (e.g., Algebra 1) while some norms are completely new (e.g., Integrated Math I).  

Table 1. Comparison of course-specific user norms available before and after Summer 2023. 

Background information 

In August 2017, NWEA released a suite of course-specific MAP® Growth™ tests. The purpose of these tests is to help districts, schools, teachers, and families understand how students are performing at a point in time and over the course of the year in a specific subject. NWEA offers several different course-specific MAP Growth tests.  

• Algebra 1  

• Algebra 2  

• Geometry  

• Integrated Math I, II, and III  

• Biology/Life Science 

User norms vs. nationally representative norms   

Although the new/updated course-specific norms are user norms and not nationally representative like the general MAP Growth norms, they still provide contextual information about student achievement and help educators better understand where students are on their learning journey.  

Some differences between course-specific norms and general MAP Growth norms: 

• User norms are not grade specific:   

  • The first major difference between the course-specific norms and the general MAP Growth norms is that the course-specific norms are not grade specific. The reference group for each course-specific test’s norms is the entire population of students who took the test.   

  • In contrast, the norms for MAP Growth Reading, Mathematics, Language Usage, and Science are grade specific and adjusted for the number of instructional weeks configured by the partner. Any student who takes one of the course-specific tests will be compared to the students who took the same test during the same term during the 2019–2020, 2020–2021, and 2021–2022 testing years.  

• User norms are not nationally representative:   

  • The second major difference is that course-specific norms are user norms, not nationally representative norms like general norms. Nationally representative norms can be calculated when the number of responses is very large and when the data set includes:  

    • Responses from all or most U.S. states 

    • Distribution across urban, rural, and suburban districts and schools  

    • Large and small districts and schools  

    • High and low socioeconomic groups 

For nationally representative norms, the sample is “sculpted” to mirror the national population of students as a whole. Such nationally representative norms permit comparisons of individual or group performance to students across the nation. In the case of the course-specific user norms—student performance is compared to other students who took these assessments. The volumes and representation across the previously mentioned types of districts, schools, and test takers are not robust enough to support nationally representative norms. 

Table 2. Comparison of course-specific user norms to MAP Growth national norms. 

FAQ

Q: Where can I learn more about the new/updated course-specific norms?  

A: Below are four documents that contain the norms tables for the MAP Growth course-specific tests: 

• 2022 norms for MAP Growth course-specific tests in Integrated Math I, II, and III 

• 2022 norms for MAP Growth course-specific tests in Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry 

• 2022 norms for MAP Growth course-specific tests in Biology 

• 2022 norms for MAP Growth course-specific tests report  

Q: Why is NWEA releasing updated and new norms for course-specific tests? 

A: District and school partners rely on norms to create context for MAP Growth RIT scores. Norms help partners set thresholds to identify students for intervention, monitor trends over time, and measure student learning goals. 

Q: When will the new course-specific norms be available within MAP Growth? 

A: July 2023. Until then, partners can use the course-specific user norms by leveraging the tables in PDF format showing achievement and growth percentiles within these documents.   

Q: Who will be affected by the release of new course-specific norms? 

A: All MAP Growth partners who administer the listed course-specific tests will be affected by updated norms. 

Q: Where will district and school partners see the new norming data? 

A: NWEA will update our norms system to ensure that the new norms display correctly on all existing MAP Growth reports. This will occur in July 2023.  

Q: Will these new norms be national norms? 

A: No, at this time the norms will remain as user norms. NWEA will examine the feasibility to use the national norm methodology on the course-specific tests in the next national norms study. 

Q: Will these new course-specific norms impact historical reports? 

A: Once the new course-specific norms are loaded into the MAP system, all reports generated will use these norms. If a partner has downloaded or saved reports in the past that used a previous set of norms, new versions of the same reports may show slightly different data. Most MAP Growth reports list which specific set of norms they reference.