NWEA MAP Growth · 2025 norms · Updated October 26, 2026

MAP Test Scores by Grade

The average RIT score for every grade and season in math, reading and language usage, from NWEA's 2025 norms, with a calculator to see roughly where your child's score falls.

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Quick answer

What is a good MAP score for my child's grade?

A RIT score near the national average for your child's grade and season is typical. With NWEA's 2025 norms, the fall average is 184 in math and 185 in reading in grade 3, 206 and 204 in grade 5, and 222 and 216 in grade 8. Scores rise through the year, so compare with the same season. A RIT score is not a percent correct.

Source: NWEA: 2025 norms quick reference and NWEA: common questions for families · Updated

What percentile is my child's MAP score?

Pick the subject, grade and season from the report, then type the RIT score.

Enter your child's RIT score to see roughly where it falls. The national average for grade 3 math in the fall is 184.

An estimate from NWEA's 2025 published averages and spread for each grade and season. Your child's MAP report shows the exact percentile.

Average MAP scores by grade (2025 norms)

The national average (mean) RIT score for each grade and testing season. Fall is about the 4th week of school, winter the 20th and spring the 32nd.

Math

GradeFallWinterSpring
K141151158
1159168175
2173181187
3184193199
4197204210
5206212216
6210216220
7217221224
8222226229

Reading

GradeFallWinterSpring
K138146152
1155163168
2170177182
3185190194
4196199202
5204206208
6209211212
7212214215
8216217218

Language Usage (grades 2 and up)

GradeFallWinterSpring
2170178183
3184190193
4195198201
5202205207
6206209210
7210212213
8214215217

Source: NWEA, 2025 MAP Growth norms quick reference (student achievement norms; 13.8 million students, fall 2022 to spring 2024). NWEA also publishes norms for grades 9-12 and for science.

What counts as a good MAP score?

The RIT score at the 50th (average), 75th and 90th percentiles in the fall, estimated from NWEA's 2025 averages and spread for each grade.

Math, fall

Grade50th75th90th
K141149156
1159168176
2173183192
3184195205
4197208218
5206217227
6210221231
7217228239
8222234245

Reading, fall

Grade50th75th90th
K138144150
1155164172
2170181192
3185197208
4196208219
5204215226
6209220231
7212223234
8216227238

Estimates from a normal curve around NWEA's published mean and standard deviation; your child's report shows the exact percentile. Many gifted programs look at percentiles in the 90s, but each district sets its own rule.

How much should a MAP score grow in a year?

Typical fall-to-spring growth in RIT points (NWEA's 2025 student growth norms). Younger children grow more each year, so a smaller gain in grade 7 can still be typical.

GradeMathReadingLanguage
K+17+14-
1+16+12-
2+15+12+12
3+15+9+9
4+13+6+7
5+10+5+5
6+10+3+4
7+7+2+3
8+7+2+3

Source: NWEA, 2025 student growth norms. Schools also report a growth percentile, which compares your child with children who started at a similar score.

Reading a MAP score report

RIT is not percent correct

Most students answer about half the questions right, by design. The RIT score reflects how hard the questions were that your child could answer.

One scale, every grade

A 200 means the same thing in grade 3 or grade 6, so you can follow growth across years.

Percentile is the comparison

A 70th percentile means your child scored as well as or better than about 70% of children in the same grade and season nationally.

Instructional areas

The report also scores each area (NWEA calls them goals), such as number and operations or informational text. The lowest area is the best place to start practising.

Questions parents ask

What is a good MAP test score?
It depends on the grade and the time of year. A RIT score near the national average for your child's grade and season is typical (about the 50th percentile). In fall of grade 3, for example, the 2025 NWEA average is 184 in math and 185 in reading; about 195 in math is roughly the 75th percentile and about 205 the 90th. Use the calculator on this page for your child's grade.
What is the average MAP score for 3rd grade?
Using NWEA's 2025 norms, the average grade 3 RIT score is 184 in math and 185 in reading in the fall, 193 and 190 in the winter, and 199 and 194 in the spring.
What does a RIT score mean?
RIT is NWEA's scale for MAP Growth. It works like a growth chart: the same scale runs across all grades, so a child's scores can be compared from season to season and year to year. A RIT score is not a percentage of questions answered correctly.
Why did my child answer only half the questions right?
MAP Growth is adaptive. NWEA says most students answer about half of the questions correctly, because the test keeps adjusting until it finds questions at the edge of what a child knows. Half right is normal and does not mean a low score.
How much should a MAP score go up in a year?
NWEA's 2025 growth norms give the typical fall-to-spring gain. Younger children grow more: about 15 RIT points in grade 3 math and 9 in reading, about 10 and 5 in grade 5, and about 7 and 2 in grade 8. Growth is compared with children who started at a similar score, so the school's growth percentile is the fairest measure.
Are these the new 2025 MAP norms?
Yes. NWEA released updated norms in 2025, based on 116 million scores from 13.8 million students tested between fall 2022 and spring 2024. Older charts online often still show the 2020 norms.
Can MAP tell me if my child is at grade level?
It can show how your child compares with others in the same grade nationally. NWEA likens its norms charts to a doctor's growth chart. Comparing your child's RIT with the average for their grade and season, and looking at growth over the year, gives the clearest picture.

Try the MAP Growth practice test →

An adaptive test in math, reading and language usage for grades K-8, with every missed question explained.

MAP® Growth™ and RIT are trademarks of NWEA. iMasterly is not affiliated with NWEA. All score figures on this page are NWEA's published 2025 norms or estimates calculated from them. Also see i-Ready scores by grade.