DesCartes / The Curriculum Connection
NWEA Knowledge Academy
Intended Accomplishments
• Review
• The RIT scale
• RIT scores and percentile rankings
• Score ranges and goal scores
• Learn to read and interpret different reports
• Use data to focus instruction
• Overall RIT
• Michigan Ver. III Goal performance
• DesCartes Learning Continuum and Lexile
• Develop a plan for using the data
2
Instructional Level
• The NWEA test is not a test for
determining mastery of skills.
• It provides a road map for students
toward achieving mastery.
This test provides the
instructional level of the student.
3
Design of
Measures
of Academic
Design
of Achievement
Level Progress
(MAP)
Tests
(ALT)
• Challenging
and appropriate
 Challenging,
appropriate
and
for every
student
dynamically
developed
for every
student
• Assesses what we teach
Adult Reading
Graduate
Level
Reading
 Accurate
data for students across the
• Untimed
x
x
scale• Purpose is internal
x
 Untimedaccountability
x
x
8th
5th x x x x
x
 Purpose
is internalgrowth
accountability
• Measures
in student Grade
xx
Grad
x
e
achievement
 Measures
growth in student
x
x
achievement
 Immediate results
Beginning
 Can test up to 4 times a year / it does
Literacy
not change the price
+
- - + + +
+ 230
+
+
4
5
RIT (Rasch Unit) Scale
• Achievement scale
• Equal interval
• Used to show growth
over time
• Scale has the same
meaning regardless of
the students’ grade level
or items taken
Graduate Level
Reading
MAP
25 Test
0-
x
x
8th
x
Grade
x
x
x x x
x x
x
x
x
+
-
-
+
+ + +
- 230
+
+
x
x
Beginning
Literacy
15
0
6
Checkpoint!
• How would you describe a RIT?
• What does “equal interval” mean?
• What are the major strengths of
NWEA assessments?
7
Never use only one point of data
Triangulation
MEAP / MME / ACT
Teacher
(Common
Assessments,
Dibels, DRA,
Benchmarking,
etc)
NWEA
Data
Placement Guidelines
A RIT is only one piece of
the puzzle for making
important decisions.
9
T
Sample Teacher Report
Preliminary)
(
Sample MAP Teacher Report p. 2
Sample Class Report
(Final)
11
Score Range – confidence band
Sample Math Teacher Report p. 2
12
Percentile
Percentile – grade level dependent (NWEA norm)
13
RIT vs. Percentile
RIT
RIT Range %
ile
Percentile
Including Hi, Av, Lo
Not grade
level
related
Grade level
related
(NWEA norm)
Sample MAP Teacher Report p. 2
14
Summary Goal Information
Teacher Report – Mathematics Spring 2002
Grd
5
15
What are expected
RIT and growth
scores?
16
What does the standard deviation tell
us?
Standard deviations (Std.Dev.) are indicators
of the academic diversity of a group of
students.
Sample Math Teacher Report p. 2
17
Larger standard deviations . . .
• Indicate that the group is more diverse.
• It is likely that small group instruction is
more appropriate in these areas than
whole group instruction.
Lower standard deviations ...


Indicate that students are most alike in this area.
Large/full group instruction may be appropriate.
18
Think about…
Would we expect the standard
deviation of a class to change from
fall to spring?
Why or why not?
19
RIT Score
- Breakdown by 10 point RIT bands
Sample Math Teacher Report p. 2
20
Student Goal Performance
Goal Descriptors
RIT Range Scores
(Teacher OR Class Report)
(Available on class report only)
MAP Coordinator must
ORDER on Report site

Scavenger Hunt
Use your student’s data!
•
•
•
•
•
Which student has the highest score?
Which student has the lowest score?
Which student has the median score?
Which goal area has the highest mean?
Which goal has the lowest standard
deviation?
22
What does “Goal Performance”
mean?
• Goal scores are percentiles based on the entire
group of students in the norming study at each
student’s grade level.
• They tell how a given student compares with others
in this whole group.
• For example, if a student is at the 70th percentile, it
means that 70% of the students in that grade level
scored lower than this student.
23
Goal Score Descriptors
Goal scores
Scores
• Hi = Percentile
greater than 66
• Av = Percentile scores between 66 and 34
• Lo = Percentile scores less than 34
• Hi > 80 percentile
On Student•
Progress
•
Reports
•
only
HiAvg = 61-80 percentile
Av = 41-60 percentile
LoAvg = 21-40 percentile
• Lo < 21 percentiles
24
Identify Class RELATIVE
Strengths
concern
Strengths and/or Areas of Concern
Teacher Report – Mathematics Spring 2002
Grd
5
22
2
21
0
22
0
Look for a difference of 3 or more RITS
Sample Math Teacher Report p. 2
25
188.3
219.1
226.3
Strengths and
areas of concern
comparing the
performance of
this group of
students to their
own
mean/median.
Sample District Reports pp. 6-7
26
Differentiated Instruction Ladder
Subject: Reading
Goal Strand: Comp.
Informational Text
State Standard (Concept and P.O.s): Concept 1-Expository Text
PO 1. Restate the main idea (explicit or implicit) and supporting details in expository text.
PO 2. Summarize the main idea and critical details of expository text, maintaining chronological or
logical order.
RIT Range: 231+
Group #3
Bill
Katie
Ivan
Joyce
Polly
Alan
RIT Range: 211-220
Group #2
George
Megan
Sarah
Nate
Josh
Betty
RIT Range: <190-210
Group #1
Tom
Bri
Annie
Pete
Peggy
Carl
Kevin
Zena
Todd
Andy
Enis
Adam
Learning Continuum Skills:
 Evaluates informational text to identify a
title representing the main idea
 Locates supporting details using
informational text
 Determine which conclusion is supported
by facts or details in a passage
 Locate, paraphrase, and interpret multiple
details in a detail-filled passage
Learning Continuum Skills:
 Analyzes informational text to identify a
title representing the main idea
 Locates and paraphrases explicit
information in informational text
 Locate small but significant detail in a
detail-filled passage
 Understand, paraphrase, and interpret
significant detail
Learning Continuum Skills:
 Locates the main idea using informational
text
 Locates supporting details using
informational text
 Identify which sentence does not relate to a
more specific topic when given sentences
all relating to a general topic
Differentiated Instruction Ladder
Subject: Reading
Goal Strand: Comp.
Informational Text
State Standard (Concept and P.O.s): Concept 1-Expository Text
PO 1. Restate the main idea (explicit or implicit) and supporting details in expository text.
PO 2. Summarize the main idea and critical details of expository text, maintaining chronological or
logical order.
RIT Range: 231+
Group #3
Bill
Katie
Ivan
Joyce
Polly
Alan
After Reading: Review Possible Sentences and rewrite
to reflect new knowledge. Share with class.
Group #1
Tom
Bri
Annie
Pete
Peggy
Carl
Kevin
Zena
Read pages A9-A11 in Science text: “Animal and Plant
Cells”
Before reading: Anticipation Guide Level 2 activity
Group #2
RIT Range: <190-210
Before Reading: Possible Sentences Activity in small
groups
During Reading: Use sticky notes to mark where words
from Possible Sentences activity are found in the text
RIT Range: 211-220
George
Megan
Sarah
Nate
Josh
Betty
Read pages A9-A11 in Science text: “Animal and Plant
Cells”
Todd
Andy
Enis
Adam
During Reading: Use sticky notes to mark where facts
from the Anticipation Guide are found in the text.
After Reading: Review Anticipation, changing answers
to reflect new knowledge. Share with class evidence
for answers.
Read pages A9-A11 in Science text: “Animal and Plant
Cells”
Before reading: Anticipation Guide Level 1 activity
During Reading: Use sticky notes to mark where facts
from the Anticipation Guide are found in the text.
After Reading: Review Anticipation, changing answers
to reflect new knowledge. Share with class evidence
for answers.
How can I use the Goal Breakdown?
• Useful in flexible groupings in classroom
• Important to also keep in mind the
student’s overall RIT score – can be a
wide variation still in what students know
• Provides a transition into using the
Learning Continuum to refine skills and
concepts at student’s instructional level
29
The Lexile score represents…
http://www.lexile.com/
NWEA
RIT
Lexile
205
600
…the level of text that a student
can read with 75%
comprehension. For a student
with a RIT of 205, books with a
600 Lexile provide an excellent
match with the student’s
instructional level.
The book, After the Rain by
Norma Mazer is a 600L text.
USE Sample Reading Report pp. 4-5
30
• Introduction - Overview - Climbing the Data Ladder
– Using Des Cartes- Can you log into NWEA
Reports?
• History of NWEA in our District
• Overview of NWEA components
• Focus on Measurable Goals
– Classroom / Teacher Reports
– RIT range of H,M,L
– What does the measurable Goals Mean (goal structures)
– Des Cartes Michigan Version / CCSS version coming
• Class by RIT scores / Ten Ways to Use Class by RIT
• Knowledge Academy / session and break at 3:00