MAP Growth practice questions
MAP Growth practice questions for 6th grade math, with answers explained
Ten math questions in the style of MAP Growth. Tap an answer to see whether it is right, and why.
Point of Progress practice questions, not NWEA’s. Tap an answer to start.
Ratios, expressions and equations questions
Question 1 · Ratios, expressions and equations
A sequence starts at 9. Each term after that is 12 less than the term before it. What is term number 6?
Show the answer and why
Answer: C. -51
Term 6 is 9 - 12 x 5 = -51, and the sequence passes below zero.
Why a child might pick a wrong answer:
- A. -63 - applies the rule one time too many
- B. 51 - stops at zero instead of continuing into the negatives
- D. -39 - applies the rule one time too few
Question 2 · Ratios, expressions and equations
12 is subtracted from a number n, and the result is then multiplied by 3. Which expression shows this?
Show the answer and why
Answer: B. 3(n - 12)
Subtracting 12 gives n - 12, and multiplying the whole of that by 3 gives 3(n - 12).
Why a child might pick a wrong answer:
- A. 3(n + 12) - adds where the words say subtract
- C. 3n - 12 - multiplies only the n and not the whole bracket
- D. 3(12 - n) - reverses the order of the subtraction
Question 3 · Ratios, expressions and equations
Solve for x: 0.6x = 10.8
Show the answer and why
Answer: D. 18
Divide both sides by 0.6: x = 10.8 / 0.6 = 18.
Why a child might pick a wrong answer:
- A. 1.8 - moves the decimal point one place too far
- B. 6.48 - multiplies by the coefficient instead of dividing by it
- C. 10.2 - subtracts the coefficient instead of dividing by it
The number system questions
Question 4 · The number system
Which number is the least: -5, 21, 10, -1?
Show the answer and why
Answer: B. -5
On a number line the further left a number sits the smaller it is, so -5 is the least.
Why a child might pick a wrong answer:
- A. -1 - ordered the negatives as if they were positive
- C. 21 - chose the greatest instead of the least
- D. 10 - ignored the minus signs and took the smallest digits
Question 5 · The number system
Order these fractions from least to greatest: 8/9, 5/6, 7/10.
Show the answer and why
Answer: D. 7/10, 5/6, 8/9
Rewritten over a common denominator of 90 they are 63/90, 75/90, 80/90, so the order from least to greatest is 7/10, 5/6, 8/9.
Why a child might pick a wrong answer:
- A. 5/6, 8/9, 7/10 - orders by the denominators and ignores the numerators
- B. 5/6, 7/10, 8/9 - orders by the numerators and ignores the denominators
- C. 7/10, 8/9, 5/6 - separates the far-apart fractions but not the two closest
Question 6 · The number system
What is (-6) x (-6) x (-4)?
Show the answer and why
Answer: B. -144
Three negative factors give a negative product: -(6 x 6 x 4) = -144.
Why a child might pick a wrong answer:
- A. -16 - added the three numbers
- C. 144 - counted the negatives as if there were an even number of them
- D. 140 - lost one factor
Point of Progress in 20 seconds
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See where they stand →Geometry questions
Question 7 · Geometry
An angle measures 72 degrees. What kind of angle is it?
Show the answer and why
Answer: A. Acute
72 degrees is less than 90 degrees, so the angle is acute.
Why a child might pick a wrong answer:
- B. Obtuse - placed the angle on the wrong side of 90 degrees
- C. Straight - confused an angle over 90 degrees with a straight angle
- D. Right - treated any angle that is not straight as a right angle
Question 8 · Geometry
Two angles of a triangle measure 67 degrees and 102 degrees. What is the third angle?
Show the answer and why
Answer: D. 11 degrees
The angles of a triangle add to 180, so the third is 180 - 67 - 102 = 11.
Why a child might pick a wrong answer:
- A. 169 degrees - added the two given angles and stopped
- B. 191 degrees - used 360 degrees instead of 180 for the angle sum
- C. 79 degrees - used 90 degrees as the angle sum
Statistics and probability questions
Question 9 · Statistics and probability
A survey of 24 students records each student's chosen after-school club. Which measure can be used to describe the results?
Show the answer and why
Answer: D. The mode
A student's chosen after-school club is a category, not a number, so only the most frequent value, the mode, makes sense.
Why a child might pick a wrong answer:
- A. The median - tried to order data that has no numerical order
- B. The range - tried to subtract data that has no numerical value
- C. The mean - tried to average data that has no numerical value
Question 10 · Statistics and probability
A data set is listed in the order it was collected: 65, 11, 3, 74, 51, 20, 48, 5, 72. What is its interquartile range?
Show the answer and why
Answer: C. 60.5
In order the data is 3, 5, 11, 20, 48, 51, 65, 72, 74. The lower half is 3, 5, 11, 20 with median 8 and the upper half is 51, 65, 72, 74 with median 68.5, so the interquartile range is 60.5.
Why a child might pick a wrong answer:
- A. 71 - gives the range instead of the interquartile range
- B. 54 - includes the median in both halves
- D. -4 - splits the list where it stands instead of ordering it first
How these questions work
MAP Growth math is adaptive: every right answer makes the next question harder and every wrong one makes it easier, so the test settles where your child is working and most children get about a third of the questions wrong. A typical 6th grader scores 210 in math in the fall and 220 in the spring on the 2025 norms.
Each question has one right answer out of four. Where our bank records it, the explanation also names the likely thinking behind each wrong answer: added instead of multiplied, forgot to carry, read the question too fast. That is the useful part. A wrong answer with a reason tells you what to practise; a wrong answer on its own only tells you it was wrong.
From a school score to a plan
Ready to turn the score into a plan?
Get the test and workbook →What your child’s answers tell you
Ten questions are a taste, not a measurement. A child can miss one through a slip and get another by guessing, so read the pattern rather than the total: two wrong answers in the same skill area, for the same reason, say more than the score out of ten.
To see the whole picture, the full Point of Progress test does the same thing across math and reading & writing in about forty minutes: it adapts like MAP Growth, then reports every skill as strong or worth work and every wrong answer with the likely thinking behind it, and turns the gaps into a ten-week workbook. For what a 6th grade math score means, see what is a good MAP score for 6th grade, and try the 6th grade reading questions too.
Questions parents ask
Are these real MAP test questions?
No. NWEA does not share the questions in its tests, and anything sold as the real MAP questions is not. These are Point of Progress’s own questions, written in the same multiple-choice style and spread across the same kind of skill areas.
What is a good MAP math score for 6th grade?
On the 2025 norms the average 6th grader scores 210 in math in the fall and 220 in the spring. The full ranges, percentiles and the proficiency bar are on what is a good MAP score for 6th grade.
Will practising questions raise my child’s MAP score?
Knowing the format helps a child stay calm, which is worth something. What moves a RIT score is the skills underneath, so the useful step after a practice set is to work on the area where the wrong answers cluster, not to repeat more questions of the same kind.
Why does my child see questions above their grade?
Because MAP Growth is adaptive and not tied to a grade. It keeps raising the difficulty until your child starts getting questions wrong, so meeting harder questions usually means the earlier ones went well.
Is the MAP Growth math test timed?
No. MAP Growth is untimed, so there is no reason to rush. A child who slows down and checks each option usually does better than one who races, which is worth practising on the questions above.
Sources and dates
NWEA, 2025 MAP Growth Norms Quick Reference, October 2025: student achievement means by grade and season. The questions are Point of Progress’s own, from the item bank behind its adaptive test, October 2026. Point of Progress is independent and is not affiliated with NWEA. MAP and MAP Growth are trademarks of NWEA.
Where does your child actually stand?
Point of Progress is an independent at-home adaptive test for grades 3 to 10. One purchase covers math and reading & writing, and the report comes the same day: the level, what the child can already do, and the specific skills to practise next. It is not an official assessment and no school accepts the result - it is for you.
Test your child, $9.99 →or with the ten-week workbook, $19.99