Missouri State Test Practice

History of Assessment in Missouri

The MAP is designed to measure how well students acquire the skills and knowledge described in Missouri’s Learning Standards (MLS). The assessments yield information on academic achievement at the student, class, school, district, and state levels. This information is used to diagnose individual student strengths and weaknesses in relation to the instruction of the MLS, and to gauge the overall quality of education throughout Missouri.

The MAP traces its origin to the 1993 Outstanding Schools Act. This act required that Missouri create a statewide assessment system that measured challenging academic standards. From this act, grade-span assessments were created that measured Missouri’s Show-Me standards. Originally, MAP was designed to be a grade-span test: Grades 3, 7, and 11 in Communication Arts, Grades 4, 8, and 10 in Mathematics, and Grades 3, 7, and 10 in Science.

In 2001, the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation was enacted. In accordance with the NCLB legislation, student performance, reported in terms of proficiency categories, is used to determine the adequate yearly progress of students at the school, district, and state levels. NCLB also required states to develop grade-level tests in both Reading and Mathematics to be administered in Grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. It also required that states have Science assessments to be administered at least once in Grades 3 through 5, once in Grades 6 through 9, and once in Grades 10 through 12 by the 2007–2008 school year. In 2008, grade-span tests were administered in Science in grades 5 and 8 for the first time.

Beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, Missouri administered End-of-Course (EOC) assessments in lieu of High School grade-level assessments. Algebra I, English II and Biology were the first EOCs administered. The following year, Government, American History, English I, Algebra II and Geometry became operational. The move to EOC assessments was also a move to online testing. In the first few years of EOCs, districts had a choice between online and traditional paper/pencil testing. EOCs moved fully online in the fall of 2010. The 2014-2015 school year was another time of transition for the Missouri Assessment Program. Grade-Level assessments in English language arts and mathematics at grades 3-8 and science in grades 5 and 8 were administered fully online for the first time.

MAP Grade-Level Assessments Overview

The Grade-Level assessment is a yearly standards-based test that measures specific skills defined for each grade by the state of Missouri. All students in grades 3-8 in Missouri public and charter schools take the Grade-Level assessment.

End-of-Course Assessments Overview

End-of-Course assessments are taken when a student has received and mastered instruction on the Missouri Learning Standards for a course, regardless of grade level. Students in Missouri, including Missouri Option Program students, have four End-of-Course assessments that are required prior to high school graduation: Algebra I, Biology, English II and Government. Optional assessments are available for local accountability in: Algebra II, American History, English I, Geometry, Personal Finance and Physical Science. For students who complete the Algebra I EOC assessment prior to high school, Algebra II is the required high school mathematics assessment for accountability purposes.

Social Studies assessments will be conducting full census field-testing this year. Students who take the Government field test will meet the requirements of having taken the assessment prior to graduation. Districts will not receive scores for American History or Government this year.

Personal Finance is now an EOC assessment. For the 2018-2019 school year, the testing requirements remain the same. Students who are taking a course in which the Personal Finance competencies are embedded are required to take the Personal Finance assessment. For students who are enrolled in a stand-alone Personal Finance course, the assessment is optional. Districts have the flexibility to set their own passing rate for all other students who take the Personal Finance Assessment.

Districts have the option to allow students to “test out” in order to receive the ½ unit of credit in Personal Finance. To “test out,” a student must attain a score of 90% or higher on the Personal Finance assessment.

Testing Windows

Timing Guidelines

Universal Tools / Accommodations

Universal Tools – Available to all students taking a Grade Level or End-of-Course assessment unless otherwise noted. Some tools are for use only by ELs. Tools available for all students are listed below. In the next section, you can learn about how to enable these tools using Edcite.

To learn more about accommodations in Missouri, click the links below:

#1 Prepare Students for MAP and EOC Test Format, Tools and Navigation

With Edcite, students experience navigating and completing a digital assessment. With Edcite Schools, students can practice with a MAP-Aligned or EOC-aligned viewer that mirrors the navigation and tools that look exactly like the state test. This can help students build familiarity with navigation and tools that they will need to use on the state test.

Edcite MAP-aligned Assessment Viewer

Edcite EOC-Aligned Assessment Viewer

Edcite MAP-aligned (and EOC-aligned) viewer also has many of the same tools that students can use on MCAS. A short list is below:

Want to try the MAP-aligned or EOC-aligned Viewer for free? Participate in Missouri Common Assessments to try out this viewer with your students. If you want your school or district to have access to the MAP-aligned and EOC-aligned Viewer year round for any assessment, learn more about Edcite Schools.

With Edcite, Teachers can find and send quality content to students. We believe that teachers should not have to pay for premium features, so we offer live progress tracking and reports by question and by Missouri standard for free for all teachers. To try out Edcite with your class, click Sign Up or choose one of the assignments to the right.

#2 Prepare Students for Tech-Enhanced Question Types

Digital assessments present new opportunities for how to assess students. Practice throughout the year with these question types can prepare students for effective problem solving strategies. Below is a list of tech-enhanced question types that are on MAP and EOC tests with some details about Edcite features that Missouri teachers are using to prepare their students.

#3 Actionable Data for Missouri Educators to help students grow

We believe that teachers should not have to pay for premium features, so we offer live progress tracking and reports by question and by Missouri standard for free for all teachers. To try out Edcite with your class, click Sign Up or choose to Assign one of the assignments to the right.

#4 Drive School and District Growth with Edcite Schools

Edcite Schools empowers Schools, Districts, and teams to give assessments that align to MAP and EOC tests in their look and feel, share data, and respond to the data by creating intervention groups. To learn more, click on Edcite Schools above.

Edcite is not just a library of assessments and questions, it is also an authoring tool. Teachers can create questions and assignments for free. With Edcite Schools, districts can create content collaboratively and send across schools and classes. A full list of aligned Missouri resources is below, you can use Edcite to create your own versions of these questions.

Looking for some inspiration on your content creation? The Edcite Team has digitized a set of MAP and EOC Practice Tests on Edcite. You can copy and customize any of the questions in these assignments. This is a great way to get started creating aligned content on Edcite.