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Lincoln County to pilot NWEA MAPS as summative test and questions state star rankings
Summary
Superintendent Pam Teel reported a waiver to pilot NWEA MAPS as a summative growth assessment and criticized the state’s NSPF star rankings and chronic-absenteeism metric as poorly aligned with rural districts.
Superintendent Pam Teel told the board Oct. 16 that the Nevada Department of Education approved a waiver allowing Lincoln County to pilot the NWEA MAPS assessment as a summative growth measure for the coming school year.
"We will pilot the NWEA MAPS as a summative assessment, growth, which is legitimately a growth assessment, this coming school year," Teel said, noting the district has used MAPS to inform instruction and appreciates that MAPS provides interim and summative information tied to standards.
Teel also criticized the Nevada School Performance Framework (NSPF) star rankings as an imperfect measure for rural districts. She said some NSPF indicators — including the federal chronic-absenteeism definition and the use of SBAC as the growth comparator — skew results against rural districts with different demographics and attendance patterns. Teel said district leaders and a group of superintendents are pushing for better metrics and broader ways to evaluate student performance, including performance tasks beyond standardized tests.
The superintendent reported the district’s first-quarter student count at 868.26 and said schools are advancing standards-based grading and student-centered learning while compiling NWEA results.
The board expects NCEE-facilitated student and parent session results and a summary of MAPS pilot data to be available for the January board meeting.
