McGraw-Hill Connect vs. NWEA MAP Suite

Content is pretty good, and site is good as standalone tool, but it does not integrate will with any LMS. Grade pass back does not work with Google Classroom or Skyward (unsure about Power School or others) SSO works with Clever, but not Google, so students always have to go through Clever and cannot go directly from Google Classroom to an assignment, even if you posted to Google Classroom through the Connect portal. Problem sets are robust, but difficult to edit and assessments are designed to be web based. Formatting is poor when trying to print assessments that were created online.

Incentivized

The grade level norms are averages and should not be used to set expectations or goals for students. The student score compared to the norm provides a perspective about how each student, or the class, or the grade level is performing. The NWEA MAP test assessments reveal precisely which academic skills and concepts your child has acquired and what he/she is ready to learn. NWEA MAP Suite reports allow teachers to better target instruction based on students’ strengths and needs.

Incentivized

• Integration with Canvas is seamless and easy to use.
• Assignment completion, for students, is straightforward and easy to use.
• The SmartBook allows students to read as they are tested with questions and this helps them learn the material easily without having first trying to read, memorize a chapter and then answer questions.

Incentivized

• NWEA MAP Suite calculates projected growth for individual students based on their grade level and RIT score for each subject.
• Projected growth can be found on many different reports.

Incentivized

• McGraw-Hill Connect could do a better job of staying current and making sure all of its videos and references to real-scenarios are up to date.
• It can do a better job of immediate explanation or advice when an answer is incorrect.
• It can improve upon its ability to autosave assignments. If an internet connection gets buggy and kicks the user out of the system, sometimes the assignment progress will be lost. This is because to save the assignment, it takes you out of the assignment and doesn't just autosave.

Incentivized

• NWEA MAP has technical issues during prime testing times (fall, winter, and spring). It is as if the system gets overloaded and cannot handle all of the students logged on at once.
• I would like to be able to see the reports immediately. Currently, you have to wait until the next day for the scores to be available.

Incentivized

The product will do a majority of what they claim. Your experience will vary depending on how much you love or hate the implementation. The tools are there, but there is a learning curve as people get accommodated to how interaction is expected to be conducted (as opposed to more personal means).

Incentivized

Personally, I did not encounter McGraw-Hill support. However, I worked with colleagues who needed support and were able to receive in a timely manner. Overall, McGraw Hill Connect is user-friendly (at least from teacher interface) and easy to navigate, which minimizes the need to reach out for support. The help button is useful and provides plenty of immediate support.

Incentivized

The customer service is phenomenal! Every time I call, which is not very often, I always get a friendly agent that works hard to solve my problem and does not give up. They look at all angles of the issue and will go above and beyond to help. For example, our students are rostered by connecting NWEA MAP Suite to our SIS, and sometimes there is a glitch. NWEA will call the other software company if necessary, to help get the glitch fixed.

Incentivized

Much of our lecture material comes from McGraw-Hill, so it was an opportunity to marry the learning material to a collaborative system that can make the experience more portable and potentially more affordable for our students. The workings are managed off-site so we do not need to care for it on a daily basis.

Incentivized

NWEA MAP Suite is more directly aligned to our college and career readiness state standards and ACT. The questions are more rigorous than Renaissance Star Assessments. The reports on the NWEA MAP Suite are more detailed and exact in where the data came from.

Incentivized

• Wasted valuable time trying to figure out the "eBook."
• Did not receive good value for the money spent.
• Did not feel as though the company was interested in keeping me satisfied as a customer, or like their customer service was actually interested in solving any problems.

• NWEA MAP is a valuable tool for our district in terms of assessment data. I do not deal with the money directly, but from the teacher standpoint, it is a quality product.

Incentivized