New digitally-based assessments (DBA)
While most NAEP assessments are administered in a paper-and-pencil based format, NAEP is evolving to address the changing educational landscape through its transition to digitally-based assessments. NAEP is using the latest technology available to deliver assessments to students, and as technology evolves, so will the nature of delivery of the DBAs. The goal is for all NAEP assessments to be paperless by the end of the decade. The 2011 writing assessment was the first to be fully computer-based.
Interactive Computer Tasks (ICTs)
In 2009, ICTs were administered as part of the paper-and-pencil science assessment. The computer delivery affords measurement of science knowledge, processes, and skills not able to be assessed in other modes. Tasks included performance of investigations that include observations of phenomena that would otherwise take a long time, modeling of phenomena on a very large scale or invisible to the naked eye, and research of extensive resource documents.
Mathematics Computer-Based Study
This special study in multi-stage testing, implemented in 2011, investigated the use of adaptive testing principles in the NAEP context. A sample of students were given an online mathematics assessment which adapts to their ability level. All of the items in the study are existing NAEP items.
Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL) Assessment
The TEL assessment framework describes technology and engineering literacy as the capacity to use, understand, and evaluate technology as well as to understand technological principles and strategies needed to develop solutions and achieve goals. The three areas of the assessment are:
Technology and society – deals with the effects that technology has on society and on the natural world and with the sorts of ethical questions that arise from those effects.
Design and systems – covers the nature of technology; the engineering design process by which technologies are developed; and basic principles of dealing with everyday technologies, including maintenance and troubleshooting.
Information and communication technology – includes computers and software learning tools; networking systems and protocols; hand-held digital devices; and other technologies for accessing, creating, and communicating information and for facilitating creative expression.
Eighth-grade students throughout the nation took the assessment in winter of 2014. Results from this assessment were released in May 2016.
Writing Computer-Based Assessment
In 2011, NAEP transitioned its writing assessment (at grades 8 and 12) from paper and pencil to a computer-based administration in order to measure students' ability to write using a computer. The assessment takes advantage of many features of current digital technology and the tasks are delivered in multimedia formats, such as short videos and audio. Additionally, in an effort to include as many students as possible, the writing computer-based assessment system has embedded within it several universal design features such as text-to-speech, adjustable font size, and electronic spell check. In 2012, NAEP piloted the computer-based assessment for students at grade 4.
In addition to the assessments, NAEP coordinates a number of related special studies that often involve special data collection processes, secondary analyses of NAEP results, and evaluations of technical procedures.
Achievement gaps
Achievement gaps occur when one group of students outperforms another group and the difference in average scores for the two groups is statistically significant (that is, larger than the margin of error). In initial report releases NAEP highlights achievement gaps across student groups. However, NAEP has also releases a number of reports and data summaries that highlight achievement gap. – Some examples include the School Composition and the Black-White Achievement Gap and the Hispanic-White and the Black-White Achievement Gap Performance.These publications use NAEP scores in mathematics and/or reading for these groups to either provide data summaries or illuminate patterns and changes in these gaps over time. Research reports, like the School Composition and Black-White Achievement Gap, also include caveats and cautions to interpreting the data.
High School Transcript Study (HSTS)
The HSTS explores the relationship between grade 12 NAEP achievement and high school academic careers by surveying the curricula being followed in our nation's high schools and the course-taking patterns of high school students through a collection of transcripts. Recent studies have placed an emphasis on STEM education and how it correlates to student achievement on the NAEP mathematics and science assessments.
NAEP-TIMSS Linking Study
The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international assessment by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) that measures student learning in mathematics and science. NCES initiated the NAEP-TIMSS linking study so that states and selected districts can compare their own students' performance against international benchmarks. The linking study was conducted in 2011 at grade 8 in mathematics and science. NCES will "project", state and district-level scores on TIMSS in both subjects using data from NAEP.
National Indian Education Study (NIES)
The NIES is a two-part study designed to describe the condition of education for American Indian/Alaska Native students in the United States. The first part of the study consists of assessment results in mathematics and reading at grades 4 and 8. The second part presents the results of a survey given to American Indian/Alaska Native students, their teachers and their school administrators. The surveys focus on the students' cultural experiences in and out of school.
Mapping State Proficiency Standards
Under the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, states develop their own assessments and set their own proficiency standards to measure student achievement. Each state controls its own assessment programs, including developing its own standards, resulting in great variation among the states in statewide student assessment practices. This variation creates a challenge in understanding the achievement levels of students across the United States. Since 2003, NCES has supported research that compares the proficiency standards of NAEP with those of individual states. State assessments are placed onto a common scale defined by NAEP scores, which allows states' proficiency standards to be compared not only to NAEP, but also to each other. NCES has released the Mapping State Proficiency Standards report using state data for mathematics and reading in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, and most recently 2013.
Past studies
Over the years, NCES has conducted a number of other studies related to different aspects of the NAEP program. A few studies from the recent past are listed below:
The Oral Reading Study was undertaken to discover how well the nation's fourth-graders can read aloud a typical grade 4 story. The assessment provided information about students' fluency in reading aloud and examined the relationship between oral reading, accuracy, rate, fluency, and reading comprehension.
America's Charter Schools was a pilot study conducted as a part of the 2003 NAEP assessments in mathematics and reading at the fourth-grade level. While charter schools are similar to other public schools in many respects, they differ in several important ways, including the makeup of the student population and their location.
Private Schools educate about 10 percent of the nation's students. In the first report, assessment results for all private schools and for the largest private school categories—Catholic, Lutheran, and Conservative Christian—were compared with those for public schools (when applicable). The second report examined differences between public and private schools in 2003 NAEP mean mathematics and reading scores when selected characteristics of students and/or schools were taken into account.
Technology-Based Assessment project was designed to explore the use of technology, especially the use of the computer as a tool to enhance the quality and efficiency of educational assessments
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