The Nation's Report Card

National Assessment of Educational Progress

NAEP testing is based on a subject-specific framework that covers subject specific content and thinking skills that are necessary for students to have in and outside of the classroom. The content of the NAEP tests must be flexible enough that they can be changed in response to changes made to educational curriculum. In addition, the assessments must be future-focused and balance what teachers are currently doing with what research suggests are the best practices.

NAEP provides a common “yardstick” that allows us to measure how the nation’s students are performing in different subject areas. The assessments also allows us to see how student performance has changed over time and allows comparison amongst other states in America. In order to be a comparable measure, NAEP testing is based on a representative sample of students. In other words, not every student in America will complete this assessment. NAEP selects the fewest possible schools and students that will provide an accurate picture of a state or the nation. That makes it very important that all of the students within the selected schools take part in the assessment to provide an accurate reflection of how they compare to other schools with similar geographic location, minority enrollment, and other similar characteristics.

Although NAEP tests allow comparison amongst the states, they are not the same as individual state assessments. State tests measure performance within their own states standards according to what they consider is and is not important for their students to know. State tastes can allow for monitoring of progress over time but not as a benchmark or comparable unit of measure nationwide.

NAEP results are reported as scaled scores and achievement score. Scaled scores are derived from the overall level of performance of groups of students on assessment items. NAEP subject area average scale scores are typically expressed on a 0–500 for reading, mathematics, history, and geography or 0–300 for science, writing, and civics. When used in conjunction with interpretive aids, such as item maps, average scores provide information about what a particular aggregate of students in the population knows and can do.

NAEP assessments may be favored because they do not require teachers to teach to the test or provide incentives to teachers who do so since there are not individual scores reported for students, teachers, or schools. In addition, the assessment requires 90 minutes of testing time and can be administered within the classroom setting. The obvious disadvantage pointed out by many critics is that the test items lack instructional validity, where the items must be based on objectives which are taught to every student.

Kimberly Green