MAP Reading Fluency – Next Generation Reading Fluency Assessment for K-3

NWEA has added a new tool to their powerful MAP® Suite of assessments.

The MAP Reading Fluency platform is an adaptive assessment that efficiently measures oral reading fluency, comprehension, and foundational skills for K-3 students. It is available for both English and Spanish speakers. The MAP Reading Fluency solution is the latest addition to the MAP Suite of assessments from the NWEA.

The non-profit NWEA has been creating research-based assessments for Pre-K-12 since 1973, making it one of the longest standing organizations of its type.

Improving how we teach and assess literacy and oral reading fluency in the early grades is essential to literacy development, which is highly correlated with school achievement. This study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that students who were not proficient in reading by the end of 3rd grade were 4 times as likely to drop out of high school! Sadly, 88% of students who did not complete high school were struggling readers in 3rd grade.

Exploring the MAP Reading Fluency platform  

The MAP Reading Fluency program is a showcase for some of today's evolving education technologies. Educators can administer the MAP Reading Fluency assessment for an entire class in just 20 minutes. Teachers receive immediate objective results and actionable data.

This powerful tool set can save teachers a great deal of time while also providing and instructional guidance to support individualized, adaptable reading development for every student. It is a vast improvement over having to sit with students one at a time in order to assess these vital measures.

The developmentally appropriate, adaptive tests are designed for different reading levels, specifically: pre-reading, early reading, and fluent reading. Students start by reading a short picture book and doing some timed, silent reading activities then the test branches into three reading passages or a series of questions to assess language comprehension and decoding skills. The test is powered by advanced speech-scoring technology and the test records and scores students automatically.

It is important to note that students will need to sit as computer workstations, equipped with microphones and headphones, in order to use the MAP Reading Fluency program.

Having the student's voice recorded is a huge benefit, as it allows you to go back later and re-listen and here the improvements over time in reading fluency.

Many students enjoy the assessment process. It has a friendly, animated user guide and a colorful interface, and students have described it as “fun” and “more like a game than a test.”

This video gives a great overview of the tool:

2018 CODiE award winner for Best Student Assessment Solution

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industries, and their annual CODiE Awards are coveted honors for educational software products. The MAP Reading Fluency program won the Best Student Assessment Award for 2018.

Judges noted the assessment is “a tremendous time saver for elementary school teachers.” Other strengths cited by judges include “adaptation to the student,” “recordability for use in parent teacher conferences,” and “plenty of stats for setting benchmarks.”

Learn More and Request a Demo

I'm very grateful to NWEA.org for partnering with this site to announce this exciting new platform. Learn more or request a demo of MAP Reading Fluency here.