In 2013, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began to use NWEA MAP as the backbone for its assessment and accountability systems districtwide. During the decade prior to 2013, CPS students led the nation in academic growth beyond expected gains in grades four through eight. But between 2014 and 2019, all of that growth disappeared. This presentation summarizes the evidence for academic growth and attainment in CPS both before and after NWEA MAP was adopted by the district. It describes three specific aspects of NWEA reportage that were likely contributors to the disappearance of growth beyond expected gains between 2015 and 2019. It also suggests that linking NWEA reporting strategies to high-stakes accountability is powerful recipe for reinforcing overly didactic, one-skill-at-a-time teaching that Martin Haberman (1991) once called the “pedagogy of poverty.”
Access the powerpoint for the session here.