The MetaMetrics® company developed the Quantile® Framework for Mathematics, which measures the following two items on the same scale:
- a student's readiness to learn math skills
- the difficulty of the math materials they encounter
The framework then reports these characteristics as a Quantile® measure – a number followed by a “Q”. Students' Quantile measures display in the Imagine Math educator portal in the Benchmark report for Embedded Assessment users and in the NWEA reports for NWEA® MAP™ users. When students take more than 1 assessment per year, you can compare the scores to measure growth over time.
MetaMetrics found that students demonstrated the following average growth in Quantile measure per academic year:
| Grade Level | Expected increase in Quantile Measure from BOY to EOY |
|---|---|
| 4 | 98Q |
| 5 | 92Q |
| 6 | 86Q |
| 7 | 80Q |
| 8 | 74Q |
| 9 | 68Q |
| 10 | 62Q |
| 11 | 56Q |
By conducting a review of approximately 150,000 Imagine Math 3+ users across the country, Imagine Learning discovered that Imagine Math 3+ students showed an average increase of 108Q by the end of the school year. However, students who reached the THINK 30 goal (of completing 30 lessons by the end of the school year) improved an average of 168Q in the same time frame. This additional gain of 60Q is the reason we so strongly recommend that students use the program with fidelity and strive to complete 30 or more lessons each academic year.
Learn more about this study by reading our research flyer.
Note
Results vary by grade level, with lower grades showing a higher increase. Numbers may also vary by student population. For example, schools with a high percentage of emergent multilingual learners may observe different gains than schools with other sociodemographic characteristics.
Tip
MetaMetrics does not provide expected growth numbers for students in Grade 3 and below. For Grades K–3, you can use the Performance Level Guide to see the range of Quantile measures in each proficiency band and identify what scores to aim for by the end of the school year. For example, in the default Imagine Math Performance Levels, look in the Proficient column to see the target Quantile measures for students to be considered on grade level by the end of the year, then compare that to each student's Quantile measure in the Growth report (or NWEA® MAP™ report).
To view your students' Quantile growth, follow the steps in this article.