Online MAP testing underway at local districts

Students who are taking Missouri Assessment Program examinations this year won't need a No. 2 pencil.

MAP testing is underway at some area school districts, and others will begin administering the tests next week. And for the first time, the tests are online.

Sherry Copeland, assistant superintendent for academic services at the Cape Girardeau School District, said students this year not only have to know the content, but also how to use computers.

"The good thing about Cape public schools is we start teaching our computer classes in kindergarten," she said.

Some students in the Cape Girardeau district started testing last week, but most will begin Monday and Tuesday.

Students in grades three to 11 will be taking the assessments, with high schoolers taking the end-of-course assessment and third- through eighth-grades taking the grade-level assessment.

Elementary students are using desktop computers, Copeland said, and junior high and high-school students are using tablets.

"They will test in the morning for maybe a week, or five day's time, for a couple hours," Copeland said.

The district has been preparing for MAP testing since the first day of classes, Copeland said, by teaching the curriculum, looking at student data and providing interventions when needed.

"It's kind of exciting right now in that it's the fun part," she said. "We've done all the hard work already all year long. Now it's kind of building those kids up and being cheerleaders for them."

The grade-level MAP testing window is March 30 through May 22, and the spring window for end-of-course assessments is Feb. 23 through May 22.

In the Scott City School District, elementary and middle school students have begun the grade-level assessments.

Nancy Townsend, a counselor at the middle school, said there was extra preparation for testing this year with the switch to computers.

"It was totally different than the paper-pencil set up," she said.

The district has been teaching students how to use computers for the past several years, she said. Students also started practicing how to use the online version in February, when practice tests became available.

The students test in the morning and afternoon, with a break in between.

Some students at Jackson Junior High School began testing this week, said associate superintendent Matt Lacy. The testing times, he said, are staggered throughout the district to accommodate the grade-level and end-of-course assessments.

Lacy said one way the district prepared for the switch to online testing was making sure the schools had the right infrastructure to handle bandwidth.

"We've been working on that all year," he said. "That way, when we got to April, there would be no surprises."

The students will be using desktop computers and laptops, Lacy said. Students have been using the equipment all year, so they would be comfortable with using the technology before testing.

"The state gave us some tools to utilize to make sure kids were able to manipulate the tools in the test," he said. "So we made sure our students were exposed to that, that way when they took the test, they weren't trying to figure out having to manipulate the test rather than focus on what they knew and to answer the questions

klamb@semissourian.com

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