Guide To The Missouri Assessment Program

The MAP is designed to measure how well students acquire the skills and knowledge described in Missouri’s Learning Standards (MLS). The assessments yield information on academic achievement at the student, class, school, district, and state levels. This information is used to diagnose individual student strengths and weaknesses in relation to the instruction of the MLS, and to gauge the overall quality of education throughout Missouri.

The MAP traces its origin to the 1993 Outstanding Schools Act. This act required that Missouri create a statewide assessment system that measured challenging academic standards. From this act, grade-span assessments were created that measured Missouri’s Show-Me standards. Originally, MAP was designed to be a grade-span test: Grades 3, 7, and 11 in Communication Arts, Grades 4, 8, and 10 in Mathematics, and Grades 3, 7, and 10 in Science.

In 2001, the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation was enacted. In accordance with the NCLB legislation, student performance, reported in terms of proficiency categories, is used to determine the adequate yearly progress of students at the school, district, and state levels. NCLB also required states to develop grade-level tests in both Reading and Mathematics to be administered in Grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. It also required that states have Science assessments to be administered at least once in Grades 3 through 5, once in Grades 6 through 9, and once in Grades 10 through 12 by the 2007–2008 school year. In 2008, grade-span tests were administered in Science in grades 5 and 8 for the first time.

Beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, Missouri administered End-of-Course (EOC) assessments in lieu of High School grade-level assessments. Algebra I, English II and Biology were the first EOCs administered. The following year, Government, American History, English I, Algebra II and Geometry became operational. The move to EOC assessments was also a move to online testing. In the first few years of EOCs, districts had a choice between online and traditional paper/pencil testing. EOCs moved fully online in the fall of 2010.

The 2014-2015 school year was another time of transition for the Missouri Assessment Program. Grade-Level assessments in English language arts and mathematics at grades 3-8 and science in grades 5 and 8 were administered fully online for the first time.

The Guide to the Missouri Assessment Program is a living document that will be will be updated as more information becomes available. When each new version is released, communications will be sent to each District Testing Coordinator, and the version change will be noted on the DESE website.

Updates/Changes for 2018-2019

• Social Studies assessments will be conducting full census field-testing this year. Students who take the Government field test will meet the requirements of having taken the assessment prior to graduation.
• Personal Finance is now an End-of-Course assessment. Testing requirements remain the same for this school year.
• In the spring of 2019, listening items will be field tested as part of the English I and English II assessment. Districts giving those assessments will need to provide headsets to students or have them bring in their own
• For MAP Grade-Level and Spring EOC testing, the listening items will now offer as an accommodation both Closed Captioning and video of the passage being translated in American Sign Language (ASL).

The following information reflects district cost for statewide assessments for the 2015-2016 school year. The pricing for assessments used for accountability purposes reflect no total increase in cost to school districts.

Grade-Level

End-of-Course

Other Assessments

*Required For Accountability

Overview - MAP Grade-Level Assessments

The Grade-Level assessment is a yearly standards-based test that measures specific skills defined for each grade by the state of Missouri. All students in grades 3-8 in Missouri public and charter schools take the Grade-Level assessment.

• English language arts (ELA) is administered in grades 3-8.
• Mathematics is administered in grades 3-8.
• Science is administered in grades 5 and 8.

Resources/Training

The MAP Grade-Level assessments have a number of resources available for LEAs to use to prepare students for state testing.
Online Tools Training (OTTs) – https://wbte.drcedirect.com/MO/portals/mo
OTTs give users the ability to use the tools available in the INSIGHT testing platform on a variety of item types. Using the OTTs will allow users to become comfortable with using the built in system tools prior to the summative assessment. The OTTs are accessible at any time with no limits on usage. NOTE: The OTTs are only accessible via Google Chrome.

Test Tutorials – Available on eDirect under All Application > Test Tutorials - https://www.drcedirect.com/all/eca-portal-ui/welcome/MO

Test Tutorials allow users to watch recorded videos that demonstrate the features of INSIGHT and the tools that will be used for the operational assessments. Test Tutorials are available for all subjects and are divided by content into two categories:

• General testing topics include tutorials on topics such as testing basics, using the help feature and finishing the test.
• Advanced Tools show grade and include tutorials on topics such as highlighting, using a ruler, graphing and more.

Practice Form – Available in the INSIGHT platform or the DESE Assessment page - https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/assessment/grade-level

The practice form mirrors the operational assessment and gives users the ability to see the types of items that will be on the assessment and, if taking the practice test online, become comfortable with answering items within the INSIGHT testing platform.

Training – Prior to test administration, test examiners must:

• Watch training videos deemed appropriate by their district testing coordinator (DTC)
• Familiarize themselves with the testing manual(s)
• Participate in any district created training

Overview – End-of-course Assessments

End-of-Course assessments are taken when a student has received and mastered instruction on the Missouri Learning Standards for a course, regardless of grade level. Students in Missouri, including Missouri Option Program students, have four End-of-Course assessments that are required prior to high school graduation: Algebra I, Biology, English II and Government. Optional assessments are available for local accountability in: Algebra II, American History, English I, Geometry, Personal Finance and Physical Science. For students who complete the Algebra I EOC assessment prior to high school, Algebra II is the required high school mathematics assessment for accountability purposes.

Field Testing

Social Studies assessments will be conducting full census field-testing this year. Students who take the Government field test will meet the requirements of having taken the assessment prior to graduation. Districts will not receive scores for American History or Government this year.

Personal Finance

Personal Finance is now an EOC assessment. For the 2018-2019 school year, the testing requirements remain the same.

Students who are taking a course in which the Personal Finance competencies are embedded are required to take the Personal Finance assessment. For students who are enrolled in a stand-alone Personal Finance course, the assessment is optional. Districts have the flexibility to set their own passing rate for all other students who take the Personal Finance Assessment.

Districts have the option to allow students to “test out” in order to receive the ½ unit of credit in Personal Finance. To “test out,” a student must attain a score of 90% or higher on the Personal Finance assessment.

Resources/Training

Student Tutorial – Accessible via Nextera TDS
The tutorial gives users the ability to see the types of items that will be on the assessment, and become comfortable with answering items within the testing platform.

Practice Form – Available in the Nextera TDS platform or the DESE Assessment page - https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/assessment/grade-level

The practice form mirrors the operational assessment. The practice form gives users the ability to see the types of items that will be on the assessment and, if taking the practice test online, become comfortable with answering items within the Nextera TDS testing platform.

Item Sampler - https://mo.nextera.questarai.com/tds/#practice

The question sampler offers an opportunity for students to become familiar with the test format, the question types and the tools they will experience during testing to help prepare them for testing day.

Training – Prior to test administration, test examiners must:

• Watch training videos deemed appropriate by their district testing coordinator (DTC)
• Familiarize themselves with the testing manual(s)
• Participate in any district created training

Overview – MAP-A Assessments

MAP-A is administered to students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who meet grade level and eligibility criteria that are determined by the student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) team using DESE-established eligibility criteria. No student may be tested outside of his or her assigned grade level.

MAP-A educators administer the testlets in three content areas:

• English language arts in grades 3-8 and 11
• Mathematics in grades 3-8 and 11
• Science in grades 5, 8, and 11

Timing will vary depending on the grade and level of the student, but the majority of testlets take between 5 and 20 minutes.

NOTE: Districts may wish to also administer the MAP-A ELA assessments to students in grade 9, 10, and 12, Math in grades 9 and 10 and the Science assessment in grades 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 12 for local assessment use. Please refer to Special Education Form E.

Resources/Training

Among others, the following resources are available to help prepare test administrators and students for the assessment:

Released Testlets – https://dynamiclearningmaps.org/about/tests/releasedtestlets
Released testlets provide examples of what testlets students might face during DLM assessments are like. They feature the same rigor, design, and quality of real DLM testlets. The released testlet documents show what appears on-screen when students are taking a testlet.

Best Practices Timeline – https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/asmt-mapa-timeline-for-dtc.pdf

A timeline of steps to take before and during testing.

Training Videos – http://dynamiclearningmaps.org/erp/videos

Training videos on topics including: Educator Portal, Student Portal, Test Tickets, Instructional Tools Interface, Instructionally Embedded Assessments, Testlet overviews and more.

Training – Prior to test administration, test administrators must:

• Returning administrators – obtain a passing rate of at least 80% on the ONE required testing module
• New administrators (this includes those who have been test administrators in the past, but not last year) – obtain a passing rate of at least 80% on the FOUR required testing modules

Additional Resources

It is also recommended that teachers familiarize themselves with the following manuals and guides:

• Educator Portal User Guide
• Guide To DLM Required Test Administrator Training
• Test Administration Manual

Overview – ACCESS for ELLs Assessments

The ACCESS for ELLs assessment allows educators, students, and families to monitor students’ progress in acquiring academic English in the domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing and will be aligned with the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards. The assessment is required for K-12 students who are English Learners (ELs). 

Students who have exited an ELD program and are now coded in Core Data as MY1, MY2, AY1 or AY2 do not take the ACCESS Assessment.

ACCESS ASSESSMENTS

ACCESS for ELLs – An online English language proficiency assessment given to students in grades 1-12. Students in grades 1-3 will take the writing portion in a paper booklet.

Kindergarten ACCESS – A paper based English language proficiency assessment given to Kindergarten ELs.

Alternate ACCESS – This assessment is for those severely cognitively disabled students in grades 1-12 that are English Learners and that qualify for the MAP-A assessment*.

*If the student is in grades 1-2, the IEP team should determine if the student would qualify for MAP-A. There is no Alternate Kindergarten assessment, so if the student is in Kindergarten and would qualify, mark the student as NLP and reevaluate the following year.

Resources/Training

Test Demos – https://www.wida-ams.us/eTesting/Public/Tutorials/ViewTutorial.aspx

A series of videos that explain how students will take the online test and interact with the test platform.

Sample Items – https://wbte.drcedirect.com/WIDA/portals/wida

Provide students, parents, and educators with a better understanding of the ACCESS Online assessment that is based on the WIDA ELD Standards. These items provide a close proximity to the items that students will see on the test. To access and view the Sample Items, a Chrome browser must be used. Sample items are broken down by grade span and modality.

Test Practice Items – https://wbte.drcedirect.com/WIDA/portals/wida

Designed to allow students to experience taking the assessment online and to experiment with the features available to them during the actual assessment. To access and view the Test Practice Items, a Chrome browser must be used.

Checklist – https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/asmt-el-access-checklist-1819.pdf

A document outlining responsibilities for test coordinators and test administrators before, during and after testing.

Training

Individual test administrators must be trained in its administration and have agreed to maintain the security of test questions. Test administrators are required to go through training on the WIDA site. District Testing Coordinators/EL Coordinators should track the training process to ensure that examiners have completed training. There are four sets of training courses:

• Kindergarten – only required for test examiners administering the Kindergarten ACCESS assessment.
• Alternate ACCESS – only required for test examiners administering the Alternate ACCESS assessment.
• Online Grades 1-12 – The vast majority of test examiners will take this course.
• Paper-Based Grades 1-12 – only required if you are giving a full paper based assessment. This is not required for examiners with students in grades 1-3 who take the writing assessment on paper.

Overview – NAEP Assessments

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often referred to as "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subjects. Its two major goals are to measure student achievement and to report change in performance over time.

The National Center for Education Statistic (NCES) administers   the same NAEP assessment in every state. This provides a common measure of achievement that allows for comparisons of achievement to the nation and among states and participating districts. NAEP does not report results for individual students.

NAEP provides results for the nation as a whole in a variety of subjects and for the states individually in mathematics, reading, science, and writing. Performance reporting disaggregates groups of students by gender, by different racial and ethnic groups, and by participation in special programs among others.

This spring will see NAEP assessments in:

• State - Reading and Mathematics in grades 4 and 8
• National – Reading, Mathematics and Science in grades 4, 8 and 12
• TIMMS, PISA and IELS international assessments

Resources

NAEP Data – https://www.nationsreportcard.gov

The Nation’s Report Card examines NAEP Assessment data and key findings at the state and national level. Specific Missouri data snapshots can be found on the DESE NAEP page.

Sample Questions – http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/itmrlsx/default.aspx

Includes access to over 3,000 released questions that can supplement classroom instruction, provide insight into the content of the assessment and show what students in your LEA can do.

NAEP Frameworks – https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/assessment/naep#mini-panel-naep-assessment5
Frameworks and Items Specifications are available in the following areas: Arts, Civics, Geography, Math, Reading, Science, Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL), US History, World Language and Writing.

NAEP SAMPLING

Schools are selected to be a representative of schools across the state and nation on the bases of characteristics such as location, enrollment, school achievement and income of the area. Within each school, students are randomly selected to participate.

Selected schools are notified via email in the late spring of the prior academic year.

If you have questions about NAEP, school or student selection or available resources, please contact the Missouri NAEP Coordinator using the information below.

Missouri NAEP Coordinator
Jeremy Ellis
573-526-8109
jeremy.ellis@dese.mo.gov

Timing Guidelines

The following tables list estimates of the time it will take students to complete each component of an assessment. Some students may take much longer. LEAs should plan for flexibility in their schedules to accommodate students that may take more time than noted.

There is no time limit for any assessment.

These times do not include time needed to start computers, log in students, go through directions, etc. They also do not include time needed for students to complete any tutorials or practice items.

MAP Grade-Level

End-of-Course 

ACCESS for ELLs

BLUEPRINTS

A test blueprint is a map and or a table of specifications for an assessment program to identify the structure of the assessment which ensures that the MLS are covered over a specified period of time. The blueprint links the assessment to the content areas acting as a tool to align objectives to the appropriate weightage and questions across the strands.

Blueprints provide the essential planning materials for the assessment development process. The test blueprints are used to guide and target specific item development and writing as well as the form assembly. The blueprint along with item specifications, performance–level descriptors and the practice and processes documents provide strong content validity and reliability for the assessment system.

MAP Grade-Level

https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/asmt-gl-blueprint.pdf

Grade-Level Assessments may contain selected response (SR) items, evidence-based selected response (EBSR), constructed response (CR) items, writing tasks (WT), performance events (PE) and/or technology enhanced (TE) items (e.g. drag and drop, drop-down menu, matching, select answers, hot spot, etc.)

End-of-Course

https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/asmt-eoc-blueprint.pdf

EOC Assessments may contain selected response (SR) items, constructed response (CR) items, writing tasks (WT) and/or technology enhanced (TE) items (e.g. drag and drop, drop-down menu, matching, select answers, hot spot, etc.)

NOTES: Social Studies will be a census field test for Government and optional for American History.

English 1 and 2 will field test listening items (not be included in the calculation of the student scale score) during the 2019 spring administration.

*Personal Finance will conduct a spring field test aligned to the new standards.

MAP-A

MAP-A blueprints consist of a pool of available Essential Elements and the requirements for coverage within each conceptual area.

STANDARDS

MAP Grade-Level and End-of-Course

The Missouri Learning Standards define the knowledge and skills students need in each grade and content area for success in college, other post-secondary training and careers. The Missouri Learning Standards give school administrators, teachers, parents and students a roadmap for learning expectations in each grade and course.

https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/curriculum/missouri-learning-standards

MAP-A

The MAP-A Essential Elements are specific statements of knowledge and skills that are aligned to the Missouri Learning Standards. The purpose of the Dynamic Learning Maps Essential Elements is to build a bridge from the content in the MLS to academic expectations for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

http://dynamiclearningmaps.org/about/model#essential-elements

ACCESS for ELLs

WIDA English Development (ELD) Standards represent the social, instructional and academic language students use to engage with peers, educators and the curriculum in schools. The Standards highlight the language needed to meet academic expectations as described by state, college and career readiness standards, and other content standards.

The first standard, Social and Instructional Language, reflects the ways in which students interact socially to build community and establish working relationships with peers and teachers in ways that support learning.

The remaining four standards present ways multilingual learners can communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies.

https://wida.wisc.edu/teach/standards/eld

ACCOMMODATIONS

Each assessment has a unique set of accommodations and tools/supports available to ensure that students are best able to show what they know on the assessments.

MAP Grade-Level and EOC

MAP Grade-Level: https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/asmt-gl-tools-accommodations.pdf
EOC: https://dese.mo.gov/college-career-readiness/assessment/end-course

Universal Tools – Available to all students taking a Grade Level or End-of-Course assessment unless otherwise noted. Some tools are for use only by ELs. Some tools need be marked in the system prior to testing. Please read the description to determine if the tool must be marked.

Accommodations – Available only for students with an IEP/504 plan. Some accommodations are for use only by ELs with an IEP/504. All accommodations need to be marked in the system prior to testing.

These documents will be revised for the spring when we add Closed Caption and video ASL.

MAP-A

https://dynamiclearningmaps.org/sites/default/files/documents/Manuals_Blueprints/Accessibility_Manual.pdf

The DLM Accessibility Manual provides guidance to district staff, educators and IEP teams in the selection and use of accessibility supports available in the DLM system. In order to determine the accessibility supports needed for each student, educators should understand how the DLM alternate assessment is designed for accessibility from the beginning and how accessibility supports can be customized.

ACCESS for ELLs

WIDA: https://wida.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/resource/ACCESS-Accessibility-Accommodations-Supplement.pdf
Missouri Supplement: https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/asmt-ell-wida-accomm-policies-1819.pdf

The WIDA Accessibility and Accommodations Guide was developed to guide the selection and administration of Test Administration Considerations, Universal Tools, and Accommodations for individual ELs in order to produce valid assessment results. WIDA’s approach to assessment is rooted in the understanding that ELs are diverse; all ELs are capable of making progress toward English language proficiency; and ELs must acquire discipline-specific language practices that enable them to produce, interpret, and effectively collaborate on content-related grade-appropriate tasks. NOTE: Some portions of the guide mention to “check SEA policy.” For all those instances, look in the Missouri supplement for state guidance.

Test Administration Site/Student Portal

Each assessment has a test administration website used for a variety of tasks such as: entering students in the system, assigning students to test sessions, assigning accommodations, generating and printing test tickets and tracking student progress.

Each assessment also has a secure student platform that must be downloaded onto the system being used for testing. These platforms are the interface for the student to take the assessment.

Guides for setup of the secure testing platforms can be found on the administration websites.

MAP Grade-Level

Administration Website: eDirect – https://www.drcedirect.com/all/eca-portal-ui/welcome/MO
Secure Testing Platform: INSIGHT
System Requirements – https://cdn-download-prod.drcedirect.com/mo/download/resources/drc-insight-system-requirements.htm

End-of-Course

Administration Website: Nextera Admin - https://mo.nextera.questarai.com/admin
Secure Testing Platform: Nextera Test Delivery System (TDS)
System Requirements – https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/asmt-eoc-nextera-tds-requirements-1819.pdf

MAP-A

Administration Website: KITE Educator Portal – https://educator.kiteaai.org/AART/logIn.htm
Secure Testing Platform: KITE Client
System Requirements – https://dynamiclearningmaps.org/requirements

ACCESS for ELLs

Administration Website: WIDA AMS – https://www.drcedirect.com/all/eca-portal-ui/welcome/WIDA
Secure Testing Platform: INSGHT
System Requirements – https://portal.wida.us/get.aspx?id=2308

The testing platform for both the MAP Grade-Level and ACCESS for ELLs assessments – INSIGHT – requires a local server to be used in conjunction with testing. This year, DRC is transitioning to Central Office Services (COS).

DRC will be hosting live trainings in the fall (and recording those) for district IT staff around the transition to COS. Communication about the trainings will be sent to DTCs and those IT staff listed as the district IT coordinator on Screen 3 of Core Data.