Since most of our schools do not have air conditioning, the superintendent delayed the opening of school until after Labor Day. My work, however, goes on. Although the teachers were not required to report to school, I welcomed the extra time to plan for my children and put the finishing touches on my classroom especially since the sixth grade classrooms all have air conditioning, and I knew I wouldn't melt away. We were to examine the data and begin to put together a plan for improvement. The Missouri Assessment Program is a state performance-based test organized around the Missouri performance and knowledge standards and frameworks.
Students only take the test in certain years.
Eighth graders take the social studies and mathematics portions of the MAP test. Student scores are categorized in quintiles, from Step 1 to Advanced. We are under tremendous pressure as a school system and as a school to move more of our children from the bottom two levels into the top three. My close friend and colleague in the seventh grade communication arts classroom was in tears when she heard the news. We both know how hard she worked with her kids last year, and to have such a disappointing result was disheartening.