Naperville School District 203 students as a whole continued to outpace state and national averages, according to a recent year-end report from administrators that delved into student achievement data from the past year.
Patrick Nolten, Naperville 203’s assistant superintendent for assessment, accountability, and information, provided an update on student achievement data during the 2025-26 school year at a board of education meeting Monday, July 20. Nolten specifically zeroed in on results from MAP Growth results from assessments offered through the NWEA Research organization.
Details on NWEA’s MAP Growth assessment
Naperville 203 is in its seventh year of using NWEA’s MAP Growth assessment tool to gauge student progress. It is an optional assessment, separate from such standardized tests as the Illinois Assessment of Readiness that is a component of the annual state report card.
“We started using this product in the fall of 2019, right before COVID,” Nolten said. “This is an assessment that the district chooses to use. In our case, we administer it universally, which means virtually every student in grades kindergarten through eighth grade are assessed in ELA, reading, and mathematics.”
While the NWEA MAP Growth assessment is optional, Nolten said the offering within Naperville 203 does take into account state protocols.
“It’s aligned to the Illinois learning standards,” he said. “That’s important, because we want to do benchmark testing on students that has some connection to what we’re held accountable for and care about.”
The NWEA MAP Growth assessment differs from other tools because it is customizable. Nolten in his presentation described it as “adaptive.”
“It adjusts to higher or lower levels on individual student success, by item,” he said.
Achievement levels by quintile outpace national norms
The bulk of Nolten’s recent report focused on reading and math achievement data, gauging student performance at different points in the school year.
In terms of reading achievement by quintile, Nolten noted 39% of students ranked “high” in the fall, 44% achieved the top-level ranking in the winter, and 40% hit the top-level benchmark in the spring.
An average school district, Nolten explained, would have 20% of its students ranking “high,” with matching percentages in each of the other four benchmarks: “high average,” “average,” “low average,” and “low.”
In math, 41% of Naperville 203 students taking the assessment ranked “high.” Numbers inched up to 42% in the winter, and continued an upward trajectory to 45% in the spring.
“These results parallel what we see on other accountability measures,” Nolten said.
Growth an increased focus, alongside proficiency
Student assessments are a longtime staple of the school environment. School officials have long emphasized the importance of focusing on student proficiency in a specific subject area, but alongside that metric is a more recent consideration of individual student growth.
“For districts that solely focus on proficiency, you’re not really regarding students that are well below that proficiency bar,” Nolten said. “Growth really works on all students, no matter where they are.” “We really want to recognize, at the individual level, how much growth they’re demonstrating. This product allows us to see that.”
Nolten said data from the NWEA MAP Growth assessment and other tools indicates Naperville 203 as a whole continues to be above average, relative to national norms.
“That tells us that our students gain knowledge, concepts, skills at a greater pace than typical,” he said.
The increased individualized focus also means the district can focus on specific population groups or a particular student to help foster continued achievement, Nolten and other district officials indicated.
Superintendent Dan Bridges said data from the NWEA MAP Growth assessment will be part of a set of documents that will be unveiled early this fall, shortly after the start of the new school year.
“You’ll see, in September, the integration of some of this data and information into the school improvement plans when we bring those forward,” Bridges said.
During the recent presentation, School Board President Charles Cush and other elected officials said they were pleased with the results.
“These are really results that should be celebrated, because they’re phenomenal,” Cush said.
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