History education scholars have recognized the need for test validity research in recent years and have called for empirical studies that explore how to best measure historical thinking processes. The present study was designed to help answer this call and to provide a model that others can adapt to carry this line of research forward. It employed…

This paper describes a statistical linking between the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Grade 4 reading and the 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) in Grade 4 reading. The primary purpose of the linking study is to obtain a statistical comparison between NAEP (a national assessment) and PIRLS (an…

Introduction: For decades, prior to the inception of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was the only vehicle through which states could assess the progress of their students using a common metric. Now, 45 states, 4 U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia have adopted the CCSS to…

Since its inception more than four decades ago, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has served as a key indicator of what the nation's students know and can do in academic subjects. NAEP assessments provide a mechanism for putting the achievements of students in all states on a common scale; the assessments also serve as…

"Learning progressions" are one of the most important assessment design ideas to be introduced in the past decade. In the United States, several committees of the National Research Council (NRC) have argued for the use of learning progressions as a means to foster both deeper mastery of subject-matter content and higher level reasoning…

Since its first assessment in 1969, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has made a unique contribution to our understanding of American education. It is the only national source of information on the educational achievement of U.S. students, and it is the only vehicle by which states can compare the progress of their students…

Development of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and the creation of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), changes the pattern of accountability testing. These changes raise the question: "How should NAEP's validity and utility be…

This study examines the practical implications of using state tests to measure student achievement in impact evaluations that span multiple states and grades. In particular, the study examines the sensitivity of impact findings to (1) the type of assessment used to measured achievement (state tests or an external assessment administered by the…

This study investigated multiple models for assessing oral reading fluency, including 1-minute oral reading measures that produce scores reported as words correct per minute (wcpm). We compared a measure of wcpm with measures of the individual and combined indicators of oral reading fluency (rate, accuracy, prosody, and comprehension) to examine…

During the past 6 years, under a contract from the National Center for Education Statistics, a Technical Review Panel has overseen and conducted a series of research studies addressing a range of validity questions relevant to the various uses and interpretations of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Study topics included: (1)…

In this publication, designed to serve interested laymen as well as educators, various authors explore the viewpoints of the proponents and the opponents of the National Assessment Program. In their analysis of assessment and its related issues, these authors attempt to provide information that could serve as a basis for an objective consideration…

When the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was designed 20 years ago, comparisons among individual states or localities were not deemed desirable. Today, this lack of information to allow comparison is judged to be a serious weakness of the NAEP, and ways to allow comparisons are actively sought. The focus of this paper is to…

This publication reports the results of a research study on the feasibility and validity of various accommodations in the context of mathematics assessment. The study compared limited English proficiency (LEP) and non-LEP students' scores on 20 science items under three different conditions: standard National Assessment for Educational Progress…

This study is part of continuing research into the meaning of future National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science scales. In this study, the test framework, as examined by NAEP's consensus process, and attributes of the items, identified by science experts, cognitive scientists, and measurement specialists, are examined. Preliminary…

The National Academy of Education Panel is providing the intellectual leadership and coordination for an independent evaluation of the 1990 and 1992 Trial State Assessments (TSA) of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). These instruments provide state-by-state comparisons of educational achievement, which is the first such use of…