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Title:  Comparison Between NAEP and State Mathematics Assessment Results: 2003
Description: In late January through early March of 2003, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) grade 4 and 8 reading and mathematics assessments were administered to representative samples of students in approximately 100 public schools in each state. The results of these assessments were announced in November 2003. Each state also carried out its own reading and mathematics assessments in the 2002-2003 school year, most including grades 4 and 8. This report addresses the question of whether the results published by NAEP are comparable to the results published by individual state testing programs. OBJECTIVES: Comparisons to address the following four questions are based purely on results of testing and do not compare the content of NAEP and state assessments. How do states’ achievement standards compare with each other and with NAEP? Are NAEP and state assessment results correlated across schools? Do NAEP and state assessments agree on achievement trends over time? Do NAEP and state assessments agree on achievement gaps between subgroups? How do states’ achievement standards compare with each other and with NAEP? Both NAEP and State Education Agencies have set achievement, or performance, standards for mathematics and have identified test score criteria for determining the percentages of students who meet the standards. Most states have multiple performance standards, and these can be categorized into a primary standard, which, since the passage of No Child Left Behind, is generally the standard used for reporting adequate yearly progress (AYP), and standards that are above or below the primary standard. Most states refer to their primary standard as proficient or meets the standard. By matching percentages of students reported to be meeting state standards in schools participating in NAEP with the distribution of performance of students in those schools on NAEP, cutpoints on the NAEP scale can be identified that are equivalent to the scores required to meet a state’s standards.
Online Availability:
Cover Date: April 2008
Web Release: April 2, 2008
Print Release:
Publication #: NCES 2008475
General Ordering Information
Center/Program: NCES
Authors:
Type of Product: Research and Development Report
Survey/Program Areas: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
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