Kraig Konietzko

Guiding Parents  and Staff through NWEA and MAP Assessments

Best Practices in Instructional Leadership (December 2006)

Kraig Konietzko, principal
Moose Lake Elementary School, Moose Lake

As we migrate to the NWEA Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) student assessments, many principals find a variety of issues that accompany the change. We discover new reports that document growth, a vast mount of testing data that can bring about adjustments and curriculum modification, and staff and parents who may need guidance and direction as to the benefits of these tools.

District leadership teams

District leadership teams can help facilitate and guide staff with meaningful direction on these issues. It’s critical that your school and district acquire a leadership team composed of staff members who feel confident in working with data and who support the district’s assessments efforts. These individuals will work directly with the program and will acquire internal support throughout the faculty. Have your district continue on-going working sessions after the testing sessions and throughout the year to: look at growth, monitor your weaknesses, celebrate your strengths, and facilitate necessary change.

Staff development opportunities

Many staff members are going to be tasked with post-MAP testing workshop opportunities to look at student data for curriculum strengths and weaknesses. With strong facilitator leadership, your school and district can utilize tools within the on-line NWEA framework. Data Retreats and Stepping Stones workshops allow staff members to confidently realize that future student and curricular decisions need to be based on the facts of the data, rather than personal bias and/or simply what has been done in the past. These staff development opportunities will be the initial learning sessions to determine what your data reflects. Essentially, emotions get taken out of the equation. As principals, we know we cannot base our decisions on emotions and feelings. Data needs to be the basis for reasonable and educated decisions – decisions based on the best interest of the students.

Parent support

Parents initially may know very little about computer-based assessments. Even though there is a vast amount of information located on the NWEA Web site, your personal insight as the principal and your ability to address the direction of your school/district will add credibility to your assessment program. PTA/PTO meetings and other community gatherings offer effective opportunities to share with parents and community members the types of data that are delivered from NWEA and what advantages MAP can offer your school and district. Parent support of this assessment helps facilitate a positive transition from other standardized test programs.