The Screen Reader Compatible MAP Growth tests have been designed to be compatible with screen readers. The Screen Reader Compatible MAP Growth and standard MAP Growth tests have the same adaptive functionality and give scores on the same RIT scale, so the scores are comparable; however, the tests have some important differences.
Screening test name changes
To cut down on the number of tests NWEA maintains, Screen Reader Compatible tests were released in Summer 2023. Tests containing Screen Reader Compatibility are our new standard defaults. In previous years, there were two versions of screening tests available:
1. A screening test that selectively filtered for items that were not compatible with screen reader use.
2. A screening test compatible with screen readers (formerly called Accessible) that selectively filtered for items that would work with screen readers.
The new screening tests pull from an item bank that only contains items compatible with screen reader use. This simplifies the test selection process, and users won’t have to wonder which version of the screening test they should use. All students can now be assigned the same version.
Note: There will now only be one test version available for each screening test (a Screen Reader Compatible version), and educators wanting to assess students who use a screen reader can use the same test as everybody else.
What is different when a student takes the Screen Reader Compatible MAP Growth test?
Some test item types excluded:
The test item selection is the same as our other MAP Growth tests, but we’ve removed items that may be visually biased or that require a drag-and-drop functionality.
All images have alt tags:
We’ve reviewed the items in the Screen Reader Compatible MAP Growth tests to ensure essential images have alt tags. An alt tag is a visually hidden alternative text description for an image. Only students using screen readers will be able to hear these alt tags describe the images. While many of the images in standard MAP Growth tests have alt tags, some do not. To ensure students using screen readers hear the images described on each item they receive, they should take the Screen Reader Compatible MAP Growth tests.
Students who test using a Screen Reader Compatible version of the test will not have items read to them unless they are using a screen reader device such as JAWS.
Read more about alternative text descriptions for images on our Teach. Learn. Grow. blog here: NWEA Promotes Accessibility in Assessment with Release of Image Description Guidelines.
Tests appear separately on some reports:
Screen Reader Compatible MAP Growth tests will appear on the same reports that standard MAP Growth tests appear on, including those to measure growth. Reports that disaggregate results by test name will display Screen Reader Compatible MAP Growth tests separately since the test name is different. For example, if 20 students in a class take the standard MAP Growth test and 2 students take Screen Reader Compatible MAP Growth tests, results for both tests appear on the Class report, but on separate pages. The same would be true if you had some students take MAP Growth K–2 tests and others take MAP Growth 2–5 tests in the same class.
Standards alignment may differ:
Most states have Screen Reader Compatible versions of MAP Growth tests based on their state’s educational standards. If a state does not have state-branded Screen Reader Compatible versions of MAP Growth tests, you may see Screen Reader Compatible tests aligned to different standards—usually the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). In those cases, you may see differences in reports that give information on instructional areas (also known as goal areas) if the state standard structure differs from the CCSS structure.
What is not different when a student takes the Screen Reader Compatible MAP Growth test?
The RIT scale is not different: The RIT scale is the same for the standard MAP Growth tests and Screen Reader Compatible MAP Growth tests in the same subject, so the RIT scores on these two tests are comparable.
Norms are not different: The standard and Screen Reader Compatible versions of MAP Growth tests use the same norms, so they will generate comparable percentiles and growth projections.
Adaptive functionality is not different: The basic functionality of the standard and Screen Reader Compatible versions of MAP Growth tests is the same.
Fundamentally, the two tests work the same way, and provide the same data.
You can request Screen Reader Compatible test versions by contacting your Account Manager or by having a user with the System Administrator role contact Partner Support. There is no additional cost for Screen Reader Compatible MAP Growth tests, however, they are not activated by default.
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