Dear District 58 Parents and Guardians,
As part of our meticulous process of double- and triple-checking student data accuracy, District 58 noticed discrepancies with MAP Winter growth projections. NWEA gave us an assurance on January 10th that the data we were using in SQUIRREL and in our Board presentations was 100% accurate. Unfortunately, NWEA has now shared that their data was not fully accurate until January 24, 2020.
This is an NWEA system-wide error that was outside of District 58’s control, and I want to commend our team for noticing these errors and bringing them to NWEA’s attention.
First, know that all student achievement data from Winter 2020 is - and always has been - completely accurate; that is, your child’s score and percentile remain the same and should be considered valid. The only change you may observe is in the growth projection - that is, how many RIT points that MAP expects a student to grow from Winter 2019 - Winter 2020. In some cases, the previous student growth projections were inaccurate. Based upon the newly precise data from NWEA, certain students who were shown to have met their growth projection may no longer appear to have met that projection.
This does not affect all students, but in the interest of full transparency we wanted to share this correction with the community. SQUIRREL has been updated so that parents can view their child’s accurate growth projections. Again, the actual achievement and the actual growth from Winter19 - Winter 20 remain 100% accurate; the only change is in the “growth projection” column for some students.
We will share the district-wide data again on February 24, 2020 at the Board of Education Curriculum Workshop should you wish to see and hear a further detailed explanation. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at jsisul@dg58.org or 630-719-2768.
Sincerely,
Justin Sisul
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction