NWEA Secure Testing 4+

First off, I understand the idea that this is a test and all and that is not completely why I dislike it. There are a few other problems baked within the website/app. First off, the reading paragraph sections are all jank. They give you this whole 10 paragraph reading section to look through even though the questions only are from 1 or 2 of them. It can feel overwhelming or confusing to a lot of people that then feel the need to check all the paragraphs each time when they don’t need too! Also, about the app lock thing, it is annoying but it did not lock me out for 6 hours after the test was over or anything like that. Finally, I am not a big fan of how most schools use this one test to place you in the next grade. Ideally they should be monitoring your progress all throughout the year.

My child took the MAP Growth Reading Assessment for 2nd grade. Why would a test meant for a second grade level reader ask questions at High School and even College level standards?! I understand jumping up a grade level, but the vocabulary and content of the questions would never be considered within the range of an elementary school level and will do nothing to show my child’s progress or reading comprehension level.
Other issues we had were there was no set number of questions. My second grade student nor I had any idea when the test would be over. Which really did nothing for morale.
You only have 15 minutes to answer, which I initially thought wouldn’t be an issue. How wrong I was. Practically every question was a long story that was clearly beyond a young readers capability and attention span and we were given 45 of these questions. Insanity.

The app on its own is fine. My whole childhood has been tied to his app and the day we would take it. Most of the kids were happy since it took out from out math time. Now it’s a good testing system and I like how you can suspend the test if more time is needed. It also gives honest scores and even the Lexile.

My main problem are the practice test. The new school year is about to start and I need to see if I should be placed in ALP reading class. When I took the practice test, it only gave about 3 question which in my opinion, would not make a child ready for the test. I thought to choose 7th grade and get new questions. However, I was greeted with the exact same questions. I even tried 8th and the questions didn’t change. What I’m trying to say is try and add more practice questions to the app. Thanks.