Some form of a short interrupted time series (ITS) is often used to evaluate state and national programs. An ITS design with a single treatment group assumes that the pretest functional form can be validly estimated and extrapolated into the postintervention period where it provides a valid counterfactual. This assumption is problematic. Ambiguous…

For more than four decades the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has tracked the achievement of U.S. students in major academic subjects. This national resource is the only assessment that states and now many urban districts can look to as an objective yardstick of their performance over time, relative to national benchmarks, and…

The 1994 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) monitored the performance of students in American schools in reading, U.S. history, geography, mathematics, science, and writing. The sample involved more than 135,000 public and private school students who were 9, 13, or 17 years old and/or in grades 4, 8, and 12. This technical report…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has been the subject of many evaluations during its history. Those evaluations are reviewed, focusing on external evaluations, and the influences of recommendations made in the evaluations are discussed. The report concludes that many of the recommendations of evaluators have been heeded by…

The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of computer use in U.S. schools and the relation of computer use to academic achievement in mathematics, reading, and writing. The report discusses methodological issues and presents the results of analyses of the social distribution of computer use and the relation of computer use to academic…

This paper discusses different perspectives associated with the use of multiple measures in educational assessment and explores some of the technical considerations for selecting and combining multiple measures. The paper concludes with an example of the use of multiple measures with regard to the recent No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2002.…

In redesigning the data program of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), there is a need for standard definitions, constant vigilance against redundancy and excessive data collection, audits and verification on local school data and continued attention to equity results as well as excellence and achievement. Major test scores, such…

This paper describes the creation of the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) in 1998 and examines the background characteristics of the Board members and their attendance at NAGB meetings. The staffing and financing of the NAGB and the relationship between the agency and the National Center for Education Statistics is also considered. The…

Identifies trends in educational achievement in the 1970s. Presents hypotheses concerning the relationship between research and gains/declines in educational achievement during that period. Discusses a project for individualized learning programs and its theoretical rationale, and describes a research project based on that educational improvement…

With the growing interest in comparing student achievement state by state, there is a need to develop better techniques for making such comparisons. Approaches available now, particularly the use of Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Test (ACT) scores, have obvious shortcomings but nonetheless continue to be prominent because…

Features of the design of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are discussed, with emphasis on the design of the 1992 assessment. Student sample designs for the NAEP and the Trial State Assessment are described, and the focused-balanced incomplete block spiraling method of item sampling is discussed. (SLD)

The value of statistical research depends on valid comparisons which can usefully influence educational policy. Educational research needs to extend the measures of learning (such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress) through nationally-calibrated absolute measures and through computer-assisted and adaptive testing. Direct sampling…

This is the final report of the National Academy of Education's Panel on the Evaluation of the National Assessment of Education (NAEP) Progress Trial State Assessment. In this report, the Panel considers philosophical, technical, and policy issues concerning the NAEP in the immediate future and in the long term. The high technical quality of the…

The 1994 High School Transcript Study (HSTS) provides the Department of Education and other policymakers with information about current course offerings and students' course-taking patterns in the nation's secondary schools. One objective was to determine changes in course offering and selection patterns since the previous studies in 1982, 1987,…

In 1982, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) proposed to implement a new, complex design for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The major features of this design are described in "A New Design for a New Era" (Messick, Beaton, and Lord, 1983). The purpose of this document is to describe the actual implementation of…