NAEP 8th Grade Student Questionnaires

THE NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF

EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS

VOLUME II

Part 2 of 6

(Part of System Clearance Submittal)

Student Questionnaires

BACKGROUND QUESTIONS

FOR 2008-2010 ASSESSMENTS

Student Grade 8 Background Questions

• Core Questions

• Mathematics Subject-specific Questions

• Reading Subject-specific Questions

Volume II contains:

• Part 1 of 6 Student Grade 4 Background Questions

• Part 2 of 6 Student Grade 8 Background Question

• Part 3 of 6 Student Grade 12 Background Question

• Part 4 of 6 Student Age 9 Background Question

• Part 5 of 6 Student Age 13 Background Question

• Part 6 of 6 Student Age 17 Background Question

January 29, 2006

Student Questionnaires

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Student Questionnaire

Core – Grade 8

SECTION X

In this section, please tell us about yourself and your family. The section has 13 questions. Mark your answers in your booklet.

1. Are you Hispanic or Latino? Fill in one or more ovals. [4/8/12] (VB331330)

A No, I am not Hispanic or Latino.

B Yes, I am Mexican, Mexican American, or Chicano.

C Yes, I am Puerto Rican or Puerto Rican American.

D Yes, I am Cuban or Cuban American.

E Yes, I am from some other Hispanic or Latino background.

2. Which of the following best describes you? Fill in one or more ovals. [4/8/12] (VB331331)

A White

B Black or African American

C Asian

D American Indian or Alaska Native

E Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander

For the rest of the questions in this section, fill in only one oval for each question.

3. Does your family get a newspaper at least four times a week? [4/8/12] (VB331333)

A Yes

B No

C I don’t know.

4. Does your family get any magazines regularly? [4/8/12] (VB331334)

A Yes

B No

C I don’t know.

5. About how many books are there in your home? [4/8/12] (VB331335)

A Few (0–10)

B Enough to fill one shelf (11–25)

C Enough to fill one bookcase (26–100)

D Enough to fill several bookcases (more than 100)

6. Is there a computer at home that you use? [4/8/12] (VB331336)

A Yes

B No

7. Is there an encyclopedia in your home? It could be a set of books, or it could be on the computer. [4/8/12] (VB331337)

A Yes

B No

C I don’t know.

8. About how many pages a day do you have to read in school and for homework?
[4/8/12] (TB001101)

A 5 or fewer

B 6–10

C 11–15

D 16–20

E More than 20

9. How often do you talk about things you have studied in school with someone in your family? [4/8/12] (VB331339)

A Never or hardly ever

B Once every few weeks

C About once a week

D Two or three times a week

E Every day

10. How many days were you absent from school in the last month? [4/8/12] (VB331447)

A None

B 1 or 2 days

C 3 or 4 days

D 5 to 10 days

E More than 10 days

11. How far in school did your mother go? [8/12] (VB330870)

A She did not finish high school.

B She graduated from high school.

C She had some education after high school.

D She graduated from college.

E I don’t know.

12. How far in school did your father go? [8/12] (VB330871)

A He did not finish high school.

B He graduated from high school.

C He had some education after high school.

D He graduated from college.

E I don’t know.

13. How often do people in your home talk to each other in a language other than English? [4/8/12] (VB331451)

A Never

B Once in a while

C About half of the time

D All or most of the time

Student Questionnaire

Mathematics – Grade 8

SECTION 4

This section has 11 questions. Mark your answers in your booklet. Fill in only one oval for each question.

1. What math class are you taking this year? (VB543277) [8]

A Geometry

B Algebra II

C Algebra I (one-year course)

D First year of a two-year Algebra I course

E Second year of a two-year Algebra I course

F Introduction to algebra or pre-algebra

G Basic or general eighth-grade math

H Integrated or sequential math

I Other math class

2. What math class do you expect to take next year? (VB543278) [8]

A Geometry

B Algebra II

C Algebra I (one-year course)

D First year of a two-year Algebra I course

E Second year of a two-year Algebra I course

F Introduction to algebra or pre-algebra

G Basic or general math

H Integrated or sequential math

I Business or consumer math

J Other math class

K I don’t know

3. How often do you feel the following way in your math class? Fill in one oval on each line. (NEW) [4/8]

	Never or hardly ever	Once or twice a month	Once or twice a week	Almost every day	[Same at:]
a. I have a clear understanding of what my teacher is asking me to do.	A	B	C	D	[8]	(VB518854)
b. The math work is too easy.	A	B	C	D	[4/8]	(VB518855)
c. The math work is boring.	A	B	C	D	[8]	(NEW)
d. I have done a good job on my homework.	A	B	C	D	[4/8]	(NEW)
e. I have done a good job on my classwork.	A	B	C	D	[8]	(NEW)
f. The math work is challenging.	A	B	C	D	[8]	(NEW)
g. The math work is engaging and interesting.	A	B	C	D	[8]	(NEW)
h. I am learning.	A	B	C	D	[8]	(NEW)

4. How often do you use a computer for math at school? (VB525162) [4/8]

A Never or hardly ever

B Once every few weeks

C About once a week

D Two or three times a week

E Every day or almost every day

5. On a typical day, how much time do you spend doing work for math class on a computer? Include work you do in class and for homework. (VB543148) [8]

A None

B Half an hour or less

C About 1 hour

D About 2 hours

E More than 2 hours

6. When you are doing math for school or homework, how often do you use these different types of computer programs? Fill in one oval on each line. (VB543155) [8]

	Never or hardly ever	Once every few weeks	About once a week	Two or three times a week	Every day or almost every day	[Same at:]
a. A spreadsheet program for math class assignments	A	B	C	D	E	[8]	(VB543157)
b. A program to practice or drill on math facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)	A	B	C	D	E	[8]	(VB543158)
c. A program that presents new math lessons with problems to solve	A	B	C	D	E	[8]	(VB543160)
d. The Internet to learn things for math class	A	B	C	D	E	[8]	(VB543159)
e. A calculator program on the computer to solve or check problems for math class	A	B	C	D	E	[8]	(VB543161)
f. A graphing program on the computer to make charts or graphs for math class	A	B	C	D	E	[8]	(VB543262)
g. A statistical program to calculate patterns such as correlations or cross tabulations	A	B	C	D	E	[8]	(VB517157)
h. A word processing program to write papers for math class	A	B	C	D	E	[8]	(VB543156)
i. A drawing program to work with geometric shapes for math class	A	B	C	D	E	[8]	(VB543263)

7. How often do you use these different types of calculators in your math class? (VB517159) [8]

	Never use	Sometimes, but not often	Usually use	[Same at:]
a. Basic four-function (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)	A	B	C	[8]	(VB517160)
b. Scientific (not graphing)	A	B	C	[8]	(VB517161)
c. Graphing	A	B	C	[8]	(VB517282)

8. When you take a math test or quiz, how often do you use a calculator? (VB517158) [4/8]

A Never

B Sometimes

C Always

9. How hard was this test compared to most other tests you have taken this year in school? (VB595182) [4/8]

A Easier than other tests

B About as hard as other tests

C Harder than other tests

D Much harder than other tests

10. How hard did you try on this test compared to how hard you tried on most other tests you have taken this year in school? (VC034559) [4/8]

A Not as hard as on other tests

B About as hard as on other tests

C Harder than on other tests

D Much harder than on other tests

11. How important was it to you to do well on this test? (VB595184) [4/8]

A Not very important

B Somewhat important

C Important

D Very important

Student Questionnaire

Reading – Grade 8

SECTION X

This section has 13 questions. Mark your answers in your booklet. Fill in only one oval for each question.

1. Please indicate how much you DISAGREE or AGREE with the following statements about reading and writing. Fill in one oval on each line. (VB345622)

	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Agree	Strongly Agree	[Same at:]
When I read books, I learn a lot.	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345623)
Reading is one of my favorite activities.	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345624)
Writing things like stories or letters is one of my favorite activities.	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345625)
Writing helps me share my ideas.	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345626)

2. How often do you do each of the following? Fill in one oval on each line. (VB379288)

	Never or hardly ever	Once or twice a month	Once or twice a week	Almost every day	[Same at:]
Read for fun on your own time	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB379289)
Talk with your friends or family about something you have read	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB379290)
Write e-mails to your friends or family	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB379293)

3. NOT including reading that you do for school, how often do you spend time reading each of the following types of fiction? Fill in one oval on each line. (VB345628)

	Never or hardly ever	A few times a year	Once or twice a month	At least once a week	[Same at:]
Comic books or joke books	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345629)
Fiction books or stories (books or stories about imagined events)	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345630)
Plays	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345631)
Poems	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345632)

4. NOT including reading that you do for school, how often do you spend time reading each of the following types of non-fiction? Fill in one oval on each line. (VB345657)

	Never or hardly ever	A few times a year	Once or twice a month	At least once a week	[Same at:]
Biographies or autobiographies	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345658)
Books about science (for example, nature, animals, astronomy)	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345659)
Books about technology (for example, machines, computers)	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345660)
Books about other countries	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345661)
Books about history	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345662)
Other non-fiction books	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345664)

5. NOT including reading that you do for school, how often do you spend time reading each of the following types of articles or stories? Fill in one oval on each line. (VB345640)

	Never or hardly ever	A few times a year	Once or twice a month	At least once a week	[Same at:]
Articles or stories in a newspaper	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345641)
Articles or stories in a magazine	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345642)
Articles or stories on the Internet	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345643)

6. Now think about reading and writing you do for school. For your English class this year, how often do you do each of the following? Fill in one oval on each line. (VB345644)

	Never or hardly ever	A few times a year	Once or twice a month	At least once a week	[Same at:]
Have a class discussion about something that the whole class has read	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345645)
Work in pairs or small groups to talk about something that you have read	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345646)
Write in a journal about something that you have read for English class	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB345647)

7. For your English class so far this year, how many times have you done each of the following? Fill in one oval on each line. (VB345648)

	Never	Once	2 or 3 times	4 or 5 times	6 or more times	[Same at:]
Written a report or paper about something that you have read (for example, a book report)	A	B	C	D	E	[8/12]	(VB345649)
Made a presentation to the class about something that you have read	A	B	C	D	E	[8/12]	(VB345650)
Done a project about something that you have read (for example, written a play, created a web site)	A	B	C	D	E	[8/12]	(VB345651)

8. Think about the classes that you are taking this year. How often do you read something that is NOT a textbook for each of the following classes? Fill in one oval on each line. (VB345652)

	Never or hardly ever	A few times a year	Once or twice a month	At least once a week	I don’t take this class	[Same at:]
English class (for example, plays, fiction books)	A	B	C	D	E	[8/12]	(VB345653)
Science class (for example, science magazines, biographies of scientists)	A	B	C	D	E	[8/12]	(VB345654)
Social studies or history class (for example, books about people who lived a long time ago, real letters written a long time ago)	A	B	C	D	E	[8/12]	(VB345655)
Math class (for example, math word-games)	A	B	C	D	E	[8/12]	(VB345656)

9. For school this year, how often have you been asked to write long answers to questions on tests or assignments that involved reading? [4/8/12] (VB345715)

A Never

B Once or twice this year

C Once or twice a month

D At least once a week

10. When you have reading assignments in school, how often does your teacher do each of the following? Fill in one oval on each line. (VB429520)

	Never or hardly ever	Once or twice a month	Once or twice a week	Almost every day	[Same at:]
Ask you to explain or support your understanding of what you have read	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB429521)
Ask you to discuss different interpretations of what you have read	A	B	C	D	[8/12]	(VB429582)

11. How hard was this test compared to most other tests you have taken this year in school? [4/8/12] (VB595182)

A Easier than other tests

B About as hard as other tests

C Harder than other tests

D Much harder than other tests

11. How hard did you try on this test compared to how hard you tried on most other tests you have taken this year in school? [4/8/12] (VC034559)

A Not as hard as on other tests

B About as hard as on other tests

C Harder than on other tests

D Much harder than on other tests

11. How important was it to you to do well on this test? [4/8/12] (VB595184)

A Not very important

B Somewhat important

C Important

D Very important

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