Prep for the NWEA MAP Language Usage Test!

Is your child preparing for the MAP Language Usage Test? Learn more about the test here. Start practicing with TestPrep-Online's MAP practice packs. Get information, explanations, and plenty of sample questions!

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About the MAP Language Usage Section

The MAP language usage section is the third of the three subtests of the MAP Growth test. This test assesses students' writing and grammar across a range of levels. Like the rest of the MAP test, the language usage section is an untimed computer adaptive test. Students may begin taking the language section in 2nd grade, and they are tested throughout every school year to track their progress. 

MAP Language Usage Questions

The MAP language usage section is made up of 40-43 questions that assess students' knowledge of writing process, usage of sentence structure, mechanics, and parts of speech. 

  • Writing process questions ask students to apply their knowledge of prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing, as well as their knowledge of different writing techniques and genres. 
  • The usage (sentence structure) questions on the test provide students with sentences and paragraphs, and ask them to respond with correct revisions as well as to demonstrate an understanding of the various types of sentences and their components. . 
  • The mechanics questions on the test assess punctuation, capitalization, and spelling. In the parts of speech questions, students are asked to show comprehension of word forms and tenses, the different roles that words play in a sentenceas well as the agreement between different types of words in the sentence as they are supposed to be used.. 

Give your child a chance to practice with every one of these question-types by purchasing our MAP practice packs, equipped with hundreds of questions, followed by hundreds of explanations.


NWEA Language Usage Standards

MAP scores use a curriculum developed scale system called the RIT scale. Because MAP tests are meant to benchmark student progress across school years, there are no high or low scores. Students are in competition with their most recent highest scores, and are meant to use the knowledge they have learned throughout the school year to improve these scores. There are, however, national standards of RIT scores that have been calculated based on past testing years:

GradeMedian RIT Score
2203
3211
4218
5223
6224
7228
8230

*students may begin taking the MAP language usage exam in second grade*

MAP Language Usage Practice

Properly preparing for every section of the MAP test can help your child improve his or her score. As part of our practice packs, TestPrep-Online offers a full MAP language usage practice test that exposes your child to the test's structure, question types, and basic tips that will ensure his or her success. 

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