Technical appendix - Struggling adolescent readers left behind: Evidence of post-COVID-19 declines and pathways forward - Technical appendix

Oct 15, 2026

Technical appendix for the research brief “Struggling adolescent readers left behind: Evidence of post-COVID-19 declines and pathways forward,” detailing the study sample and methods. It examines how middle school reading achievement on the NWEA MAP Growth assessment changes from 2017–2025 across the 10th, 50th, and 90th percentiles, and whether declines from 2022–2025 for lowest-performing students replicate on other large-scale assessments. Data sources include MAP Growth longitudinal results, NAEP (“Nation’s Report Card”) distributions, and Curriculum Associates i-Ready diagnostic outcomes using percentile-based scale scores and RIT-linked estimates.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Data

NWEA MAP Growth

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

Curriculum Associates i-Ready

Methods

TECHNICAL BRIEF Technical appendix for: Struggling adolescent readers left behind: Evidence of post-COVID-19 declines and pathways forward Summer 2026 Megan Kuhfeld , Naomi Duran, Karyn Lewis NWEA, a division of HMH, supports students and educators worldwide by providing assessment solutions, insightful reports, professional learning offerings, and research services. Visit [NWEA.org](NWEA.org) to find out how NWEA can partner with you to help all kids learn. © 2026 NWEA. NWEA and MAP are registered trademarks, and MAP Growth is a trademark, of NWEA in the US and in other countries. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be modified or further distributed without written permission from NWEA. Suggested citation: Kuhfeld, M. , Duran, N. , & Lewis, K. (2026) . Technical appendix for: Struggling adolescent readers left behind: Evidence of post-COVID-19 declines and pathways forward. NWEA Research Brief. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 4 2. Data ............................................................................................................................................. 4 3. Methods ...................................................................................................................................... 5 List of Tables Table 1. Middle school reading trends on MAP Growth from 2017 to 2025 at three percentile levels ............................................................................................................................. 6 Table 2. Comparisons across assessments in middle school reading trends............................... 7 1. Introduction The purpose of this technical appendix is to share detailed results and more fully describe the sample and methods used in the research included in the brief Struggling adolescent readers left behind: Evidence of post-COVID-19 declines and pathways forward. We investigated two main research questions in this brief: 1. How do middle school reading test scores on the MAP Growth assessment change from 2017 to 2025 compared across the 10th, 50th, and 90th percentiles? 2. Do the observed middle school MAP Growth reading declines between 2022 and 2025 for the lowest-performing students replicate across other large-scale assessments? 2. Data NWEA MAP Growth The primary data for this study are from the NWEA anonymized longitudinal student achievement database. MAP Growth is a voluntary interim assessment used by school districts to monitor elementary and secondary students’ reading and math achievement and gains. MAP Growth is a computer adaptive test that precisely measures achievement, even for students above or below grade level, and is vertically scaled to allow for the estimation of gains across time. MAP Growth assessments are also aligned to state content standards. Test scores are reported on the RIT (Rasch unIT) scale, which is a linear transformation of the logit scale units from the Rasch item response theory model. For more details on the MAP Growth assessment, see the MAP Growth Technical Report. The nationally weighted sample used in this study is from NWEA’s MAP Growth Dashboard. The sample characteristics and weighting procedures used are described in the Dashboard Technical Appendix. In total, the Dashboard results are based on a sample of over 20 million K–8 students in 30,000 schools tested between spring 2017 and spring 2025. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) NAEP (widely known as “The Nation’s Report Card”) is congressionally mandated and run by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the U.S. Department of Education. It is the largest continuing, nationally representative assessment measuring what U.S. students know and can do in core subjects like mathematics and reading. It is given every two years to 4th-and

FAQs

What two research questions does this technical appendix address?

It analyzes how MAP Growth middle school reading scores shift from 2017 to 2025 across the 10th, 50th, and 90th percentiles, and it tests whether 2022–2025 declines for lowest-performing students replicate using other large-scale assessments.

Which data sources are used for the study?

The appendix uses anonymized NWEA MAP Growth longitudinal data, NAEP reading results downloaded from the NAEP Data Explorer, and Curriculum Associates i-Ready diagnostic results reported in the State of Student Learning 2025 report.

How are percentile comparisons and trend estimates constructed?

For each grade/year, RIT scores corresponding to the 10th, 50th, and 90th percentiles are calculated from the observed score distribution. Trends are then expressed relative to a 2019 baseline, showing differences in RIT points above or below that benchmark.

Oct 15, 2026

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