The National Center for Education Statistics, a branch of the U.S. Department of Education, recently released a research and development report that compares the standards that states use in reporting 4th- and 8th- grade reading and mathematics proficiency using National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results as a common metric. The state standards used in reporting 2008-09 results were mapped onto the NAEP scales to compare the standards across the states and in relation to the NAEP achievement levels.
The mapping procedure is designed to offer an approximate way to assess the relative rigor of the states’ adequate yearly progress (AYP) standards established under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001. Once mapped, the NAEP scale equivalent score representing the state’s proficiency standards may be compared to indicate the relative rigor of those standards.
Use of the term rigor does not imply a judgment about state standards, but is descriptive of state-to-state variation in the location of the state standards on a common metric.
Since 2003, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has supported research that focuses on comparing NEAP results and state proficiency standards. By showing where states’ standards lie on the NAEP scale, the mapping analyses are designed to offer several contributions:
- allowing each state to compare the stringency of its criteria for proficiency with that of other states;
- informing a state whether the rigor of its standards, as represented by the NAEP scale equivalent of the state’s standard, changed over time; and
- allowing NAEP to substantiate state-reported changes in student achievement when key aspects of a state’s assessment or standards remain the same.
To access the complete report, please visit:
Media report:
Wall Street Journal: States Fail to Raise Bar in Reading, Math Tests (11 AUG 11)
Background information:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment