District 181's Oak School had the highest scores on the fall MAP tests, with third- graders earning the highest scores in math and fourth- graders performing the best in reading districtwide. (charts provided)
By Pamela Lannom
Educators are pleased with results of the fall MAP tests in Community Consolidated Elementary District 181.
Mean RIT math scores for students have increased in second through sixth grade and dropped slightly in first, seventh and eighth grade. All student groups, when tracked from the fall 2019 MAP test, have increased their scores. The biggest gain is for current fourth-graders, whose mean RIT increased 28.3 points since they were second-graders in the fall of 2019.
"We're very excited to see all our cohorts are moving in a positive direction," Tracey Miller, director of assessment, instruction and evaluation, said Monday's school board meeting.
A student's RIT score indicates the level at which he or she was answering questions correctly 50 percent of the time. RIT is an abbreviation for Rausch Unit.
Students' scores also fared when measured against other students nationwide. The mean RIT scores for second- through eighth-graders were all in the 99th percentile. All grades also met the expectation of at least 50 percent of students meeting growth targets. Those percentages ranged from 55 percent in sixth grade to 84 percent in third grade.
In reading, second through seventh grades showed an increase in mean RIT scores. Cohorts at all grade levels showed improvement as well, with fourth-graders showing the biggest gain. Their mean RIT scores increased from 187.9 when they were in second grade to 213.5 this year.
All but one grade - third - met the expectation of having at least 50 percent of students meeting their growth targets. Percentages were lower in reading than in math, ranging from 50 to 66. When compared with students across the country, D181 again fared well. Mean RIT scores were in the 99th percentile in elementary grades and 97 to 98 percent in middle school grades.
Each building's school improvement plans includes strategies for academic achievement, Miller noted. Those plans were discussed in detail at the Nov. 11 Academic Success Committee meeting.
The full MAP presentation is available on BoardDocs for the Nov. 15 meeting at https://www.d181.org.
