MAP Growth scores are benchmarked against US students only. PISA 2022 data shows the US ranks 26th in Mathematics among OECD countries, scoring 465 — 7 points below the OECD average of 472. A US student at the 90th national percentile in Grade 5 Math (MAP RIT ≈ 225) would rank around the 75th international percentile. If your child is competing for university places internationally — or will work in a global economy — US-only norms tell only part of the story.
What MAP Scores Actually Measure
NWEA MAP Growth is an excellent tool for tracking your child's academic progress within the US education system. It measures how much your child has learned relative to other American students at the same grade level, using a continuous RIT scale that covers Kindergarten through Grade 12.
But MAP Growth is normed exclusively against US students. The 2020 national norming study — the most recently published and the current reference for 2025–26 — surveyed approximately 5.5 million US students across 27,000+ schools. These are the peers your child is being compared against.
This matters because the US is a middle-of-the-road academic performer by international standards. A child at the 50th US national percentile is not at the 50th global percentile. And a child at the 90th US percentile may be closer to the 70th–75th percentile in the highest-performing countries.
How the US Compares Internationally (PISA 2022)
PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), run by the OECD every three years, is the most rigorous international benchmark of academic performance. PISA 2022 tested 690,000 students across 81 countries in Mathematics, Reading, and Science at age 15.
| Country | PISA 2022 Math | vs. OECD average (472) |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore | 575 | +103 |
| Japan | 536 | +64 |
| South Korea | 527 | +55 |
| Canada | 497 | +25 |
| United Kingdom | 489 | +17 |
| Australia | 487 | +15 |
| United States | 465 | −7 |
| OECD average | 472 | baseline |
Source: PISA 2022 Results (OECD, 2023). Scores are for 15-year-olds.
The US scores 7 points below the OECD average in Mathematics — roughly equivalent to 3–4 months of learning behind the OECD average student. Against Singapore, the gap represents approximately 2.5 years of additional schooling.
What Your Child's MAP Score Means Globally
The table below gives approximate international context for US Grade 5 MAP Math percentiles, based on PISA–NAEP linking studies and NWEA RIT–PISA correlations. These are approximations, not official NWEA or OECD figures.
| MAP Math RIT (Grade 5) | US national %ile | Approx. OECD %ile | International context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 197 | 50th (avg) | ~43rd | Below OECD average — typical US student |
| 205 | 60th | ~50th | Near OECD median |
| 216 | 75th | ~63rd | Above OECD average |
| 225 | 90th | ~75th | Strong internationally |
| 235+ | 99th | ~90th+ | Top international performers |
See where your child stands globally — not just in the US
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Why International Benchmarking Matters
For most families, US national norms are sufficient context — if your child is heading to a US university and working in the US economy, knowing they are at the 90th US national percentile is very useful information.
But parents who want global context — either because they are educating with international universities in mind, because they are expats or internationally mobile, or simply because they want the most rigorous benchmark available — benefit from an international reference point.
Key insight: A US Grade 5 student at the 90th national percentile (MAP Math RIT ≈ 225) is performing at approximately the 75th international percentile — still strong globally. But a student at the 50th US percentile (RIT ≈ 205) is performing at approximately the 43rd international percentile — slightly below the global median. The gap matters more at the average than at the top.
Frequently Asked Questions
MAP Growth is used in some international schools and a small number of non-US districts, but its national norms are based exclusively on US students. NWEA does not publish international norming studies. If your child attends an international school that uses MAP, their percentile rank is still relative to US national peers, not global peers.
MAP Growth is an adaptive achievement test that measures curriculum mastery in Reading, Math, Language, and Science for students K–12. PISA is a literacy assessment that measures 15-year-olds' ability to apply knowledge in real-world contexts — it deliberately avoids testing rote curriculum knowledge. Despite these differences, the underlying skills correlate strongly, and high MAP performers typically also perform well on PISA-style applied questions.
Singapore consistently ranks first globally across PISA subjects. East Asian education systems (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China) dominate the top 10. Within Europe, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Estonia perform significantly above the OECD average. Canada and Australia perform above the US average across all three PISA domains.