NWEA Testing

           Every year students dread one thing above all others; standardized tests are something public school students have a lot of experience with, and one they have been doing for the longest is called MAPs. MAPs stands for measure of academic placement.
           Starting in first grade Chadron Public School students begin taking MAPs tests. This scores their abilities in math, science, language, and reading. These scores are used to show learning growth of students over their school careers. They also show where students stand in comparison to others at their grade level.
           Why do we take MAPs tests? Principal Mr. Mack says, "It shows the academic progress of a student's growth," however, students have different thoughts. Many students think MAPs is for state statistics and to rank ourselves against others. It is more accurately, though, to show growth in ourselves rather than compare ourselves to others. Mr. Mack says the reason he likes it is because it only compares the student to themselves, rather than others.
           There are multiple points of view on MAPs testing. It seems that students either love it or hate it. Kyanna Fisher, for one, does not enjoy MAPs testing. She thinks it takes time away from in class learning. Hannah Walker says, "MAPS testing is kind of fun, because I get to see if I make progress every year, and I also get out of classes." Spender Blundell shares her opinion, "...though it takes time, I like seeing my progress."
           Students find there are many pros to MAPs testing. Many students, like Kyanna feel a sense of accomplishment after completing such a long and tedious test. Hannah thinks, "The best part is that I can ask my teachers questions I didn't know on the test, and then I get to learn from those new answers." Some students like specific parts of the test; Katelyn Diehl, for instance, likes, "testing over mathematics." Spencer says, "The best part is the feeling of knowing something because you were just taught about  it."
           The cons of MAPs testing, for students, are just as numerous as the pros. Many students find it difficult to sit through the long tests without falling asleep. Numerous students agree that MAPs tests are too long. Spencer specifically dislikes the long passages found on the Reading and Language tests. Kyanna thinks that some of the questions are too difficult or hard to understand.