MEMORANDUM OMB # 1850-0803 v.38
DATE: February 22, 2011
TO: Shelly Martinez
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
FROM: Patricia Etienne
National Center for Education Statistics
THROUGH: Kashka Kubzdela
National Center for Education Statistics
SUBJECT: Response to OMB passback on NAEP Grade 4 WCBA Usability Study
Next steps – this seems like a very small number of students from which to generalize computer skills. What are the next steps after this test?
While this is a small study from which to generalize computer skills, it will inform, for this particular CBA writing interface design – whether the students have difficulty and in which areas. The next stage for testing the computer based assessment will be the 2012 pilot, in which 14,000 students will be given the assessment. We will provide our findings and recommended system interface designs to OMB when seeking approval for the 2012 pilot. The assessment pilot will provide a broader opportunity to assess computer skills. The results of the 2012 Writing pilot at Grade 4 will provide a wealth of data that will enable the Governing Board and NCES to determine the structure of the Grade 4 Writing operational assessment in 2013.
To increase the representativeness of the results at this, usability study, stage, and to assure that we will test a variety of students, we have increased the intended sample from 4 to 5schools and from 24 to 60 students.
Confidentiality -- NCES cites CIPSEA on page 7 but uses the ESRA pledge on page 9. We need to be consistent. ESRA use throughout seems sufficient.
We have taken out the language pertaining to CIPSEA (see the attached Volume I).
On the student oral survey, why bound the “keyboarding lessons” to school or home? What if it was at an after-school program or at a summer camp?
We have revised the text in the oral survey by removing the ‘home or school’ references and thereby making the question more generic (see the attached Volume II).
| File Type | application/msword |
| Author | joconnell |
| Last Modified By | #Administrator |
| File Modified | 2011-02-23 |
| File Created | 2010-05-18 |