This week at school Carter has been doing MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) testing. It’s a computerized assessment that is done in schools in the US to see how students measure up in the areas of reading, writing and math. The thing that is special about the test is it is tailored to the individual student’s performance. If a student is answering the questions correctly, they move into harder areas of the test, but incorrect answers guide the student toward easier questions. Sort of a Choose Your Own Adventure for the testing world.
When Carter came home and said, “I got 186 percent on my MAP test,” I knew that was a bad sign. When Josh pointed out that 186 percent isn’t possible he said, “Oh yeah, I got 186 points . . . I think. Other people got like 200, but I don’t care.” Not caring about school stuff? Shocking.
Carter: “It was OK. Mostly boring though. I just read the top part and guessed at the answers. I had to go fast because they said if you didn’t finish you could come back and finish in the afternoon and I didn’t want to go back.”
Me: “Were you even trying?”
Carter: “Eh, it didn’t matter if I got them wrong because my teacher told me if you get them wrong, then the questions get easier. We did the writing test today and we have the reading test on Saturday.”
Me: “How do you do a writing test on the computer?”
Carter: “I don’t know.”
Me: sigh
I went and looked up information on the MAP test — it looks like there is no writing test, just reading, science and math. I can’t wait to see these test results . . .