NWEA MAP Reading Test Online Preparation – 2025

What Is the NWEA MAP Reading Test?

The Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Reading Test is a computer-adaptive standardized exam given to students in Kindergarten through 12th grade three times per year to track their growth and progress in reading. The test consists of approximately 42 questions, and the exam is untimed.

What Are the MAP Reading Test Sections?

The Reading test is tailored to the common core curriculum, so it covers concepts your child learned in school that year. Therefore, the difficulty of the questions will progress as your child gets older. However, all students can expect to answer questions in three subcategories: Foundational Skills and Vocabulary, Informational Text, and Literature.

Foundational Skills and Vocabulary

The Foundational Skills and Vocabulary subsection will focus on the act of reading. Students will answer questions about phonics, word recognition, word relationships, and synonyms/antonyms. Your child must use context clues to answer questions about words and their meanings.

Informational Text

In the Informational Text subsection, students must read and comprehend text passages. They will have to answer questions such as the following:

• Whether a given statement is true or false
• Whether a statement is a conclusion of the text
• The main subject of a sentence
• The purpose of the writing structure
• Sequencing a chain of events correctly

Literature

Lastly, students will also encounter questions about literature. This is similar to the informational text section in that they’ll need to read through various text passages to answer questions. However, they’ll answer questions that are more analytical, such as:

• The main idea of the passage
• Key elements in the plot
• Author’s purpose for writing the passage
• Character’s perspectives

How to Read the MAP Reading Score Report?

The MAP Reading Test is scored using a standardized scale called the Rasch unIT (RIT), allowing easy comparison with peers and past scores. The purpose of the MAP test is to track growth and progress, and the score report highlights that in two ways.

First, the score report will display a graph that shows student’s individual progress, average score and progress for that age group, and the student’s projected future progress. This information is used by parents and teachers to ensure that the student is on track and learning at an appropriate rate. For example, if the child’s score is not increasing, it may be a sign that they are struggling to learn the material.

The second section of the score report will be a table that shows three main elements: student’s RIT score, their growth from the past semester, and their projected progress. This section is the one the child should focus on. Their goal is to increase their score from the last time they took the exam, and they shouldn’t be focused on how others are doing.

The exam is given to students in the Fall, Spring, and Winter of every year. The table shows the average score of children at each of these benchmarks throughout their schooling:

MAP Reading Test Tips

Here are a few tips to help your child do well on the Reading Test:

• Read books at home. The best way to improve your reading skills is to practice reading different types of texts at different reading levels.
• Eat before the test. Ensure you eat a good breakfast on the morning of the exam so you have the energy to do well.
• Practice throughout the year. Because the test is given throughout the year, consistently studying and practicing is essential so you will be prepared.

How to Prepare for the MAP Reading Test?

The best way to prepare for the Reading assessment is to take online practice tests. These are great tools because they will give your child a feel for the format of the exam and the types of questions they will need to answer. Practice tests also provide solutions for any questions they may struggle with.

Students who prepare using practice tests tend to do better on the exam than those who do not. Therefore, be sure to encourage your child to prepare for the exam.