The purpose of this National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Achievement Levels Validity Argument Report is to synthesize evidence currently available to address the validity of the interpretations and uses of the NAEP Achievement Levels. Validity is the extent to which theory and evidence supports or refutes proposed and enacted test…

Assessing the achievement of students in elementary and secondary schools and the nation's educational progress is fundamental to informing education policy approaches. Congressional interest in this area includes and extends beyond the annual assessments administered by states to comply with the educational accountability requirements of Title…

Variation in test performance among examinees from different regions or national jurisdictions is often partially attributed to differences in the degree of content correspondence between local school or training program curricula, and the test of interest. This posited relationship between test-curriculum correspondence, or "alignment,"…

Political perspectives on the advisability of state achievement comparisons have changed substantially over the last half-century. As Selden (2004) noted regarding the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), "[w]hen it began in the 1960s, NAEP specifically was designed "not" to provide comparisons among states. This was…

This article provides examples of how serious misconceptions can result when only "all student" scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are used for simplistic state-to-state comparisons. Suggestions for better treatment are presented. The article also compares Kentucky's eighth grade EXPLORE testing to NAEP…

Discusses results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which examined the use of educational technology. Topics include validity and interpretation of results; and what needs to change about how technology is used in education, including adding technology…

"Classroom Assessment in Action" clarifies the multi-faceted roles of measurement and assessment and their applications in a classroom setting. Comprehensive in scope, Shermis and Di Vesta explain basic measurement concepts and show students how to interpret the results of standardized tests. From these basic concepts, the authors then…

The validity of current standardized competency tests for writing is in doubt as is the need for such testing at all. Some tests, especially those requiring little writing, may not be testing what they purport to test (content validity). Instructional validity (testing what has actually been taught) raises the issue that what is being tested is…

When test data from different sources conflict, the truth is often found somewhere in the middle. As this article shows, reports of achievement trends can be heavily influenced by the particular definition of achievement represented and by testing conditions. Recent progress in science and mathematics must be carefully nurtured in the nineties.…

Because education in the United States is largely determined at the state and local levels, there has been considerable interest in how the performance of students in individual states compares with each other, with the United States as a whole, and with other nations. The comparison of state performance with other states and the nation as a whole…

This brief article presents some of the facts and figures learned from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP is an on-going nationwide survey to determine what America's students are learning. It is conducted by the Educational Testing Service, and, at the time this article was written, was funded by the National Institute…

The validity of interpretations of National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) achievement levels is evaluated by focusing on evidence regarding three types of discrepancies: (1) between standards; (2) among descriptions of achievement levels; and (3) between assessments and content standards. All of these discrepancies raise serious…

This study investigated ways of making present and past results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and other data sources maximally useful as science indicators and to recommend possible changes in instrumentation and procedures that may enhance future NAEP surveys for these purposes. Primary emphasis was given to reviewing…