Justification

This document contains supplemental information pertaining to the 2011–2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) system clearance proposal. NAEP is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in the Institute for Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education. The National Assessment Governing Board (henceforth referred to as the Governing Board) sets policy for NAEP and determines the content framework for each assessment. The system clearance package was submitted in November 2009 and approved in April 2010 (OMB# 1850-0790 v.26). The terms of clearance for OMB approvals state that each subsequent submittal activity under the system clearance is to be submitted to OMB with a 60-day Federal Register notice waiver.

This NAEP 2013 Wave 2 submittal, which supplements the Wave 1 submittal (OMB# 1850-0790 v.34) approved in May 2012, contains burden information, background questions (also referred to as noncognitive questions), and/or worksheets for the following components of the NAEP 2013 assessments listed in Table 1:

Table 1: List of Components in Wave 2

Component	Part in Volume II
Grade 4
Student Core¹	Part 1a
Student Core (adapted for Puerto Rico)	Part 1b
Student Reading (pilot)	Part 1c
Student Mathematics (pilot)	Part 1d
Student Reading Accessible Blocks Study (Reading)²	Part 1e
Student Knowledge and Skills Appropriate (KaSA) Study (Mathematics)	Part 1f
Teacher Operational — Background, Education, Training (BET), Classroom Organization and Instruction (COI)-Reading, -Mathematics	Part 1g
Teacher Pilot — BET, COI-Reading, COI-Mathematics	Part 1h
T Table 1 — continued eacher Operational — BET (version adapted for Puerto Rico administration), COI-Mathematics	Part 1i
School Operational — School Characteristics and Policies (SCP), Reading, Mathematics, Charter School	Part 1j
School Pilot — SCP Reading, Mathematics, Charter School	Part 1k
School Operational — SCP (version adapted for Puerto Rico administration), Mathematics )	Part 1l
Grade 8
Student Core	Part 2a
Student Core (adapted for Puerto Rico)	Part 2b
Student Reading (pilot)	Part 2c
Student Mathematics (pilot)	Part 2d
Student Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL) ( pilot)	Part 2e
Student Reading Accessible Blocks Study (Reading)³	Part 2f
Student NAEP Reading-Lexile Study (Reading)³	Part 2g
Student KaSA Study (Mathematics)	Part 2h
Teacher Reading Operational — BET, COI-Reading	Part 2i
Teacher Mathematics Operational — BET, COI-Mathematics	Part 2j
Teacher Reading Pilot — BET, COI-Reading	Part 2k
Teacher Mathematics Pilot — BET, COI-Mathematics	Part 2l
Teacher Operational — BET (Version adapted for Puerto Rico administration), COI-Mathematics	Part 2m
School Operational — SCP, Reading, Mathematics, Charter School	Part 2n
School Pilot — SCP, Reading, Mathematics, Charter School	Part 2o
School TEL Pilot — SCP, TEL, Charter School	Part 2p
School Operational — SCP (version adapted for Puerto Rico administration), Mathematics	Part 2q
G Table 1 — continued rade 12
Student Core	Part 3a
Student Grade 12 Reading Questions (operational)	Part 3b
Student Grade 12 Mathematics Questions (operational)	Part 3c
Student NAEP-PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) Linking Study (Mathematics)⁴	Part 3d
Student NAEP-HSLS (High School Longitudinal Study) Study (Mathematics)⁵	Part 3e
School Operational — SCP, Reading, Mathematics, Charter School	Part 3f
All Grade Levels
SD (Students with Disabilities) Worksheets (Reading and Mathematics Version) and Instructions (Public and Private School)	Part 4a
SD Worksheets (TEL version) and Instructions	Part 4b
SD Worksheets and Instructions (Puerto Rico version)	Part 4c
ELL Worksheets (Reading and Mathematics version) and Instructions (Public and Private School)	Part 4d
ELL Worksheets (TEL version) and Instructions	Part 4e
SLL (Spanish Language Learner) Worksheets (Puerto Rico version) and Instructions	Part 4f

These specific questions are the second group (Wave 2) of questions submitted for approval for usage in 2013. Questions are submitted in waves due to questionnaire development and printing schedule requirements.

2. Overview of Wave 2 NAEP 2013 Assessments

Much of the following broad overview of the 2013 NAEP assessments was included as part of the 2011–2013 system clearance submittal. The Governing Board determines NAEP policy and the assessment schedule, and future Governing Board decisions may result in changes to some aspects of an assessment (e.g., which subjects are assessed in which years). However, the overall methodology and assessment process remains consistent. The national NAEP assessments contain two kinds of questions: cognitive or assessment questions that measure student knowledge of an academic subject, and background or survey questions that gather information on demographic as well as classroom instructional procedures. The Governing Board is responsible for selecting and approving all of NAEP’s background questions, as well as the cognitive items.

These NAEP assessments are currently supported by an alliance of organizations under contract with NCES, within the U.S. Department of Education. The main NAEP assessment reports current achievement levels and trends in student achievement at grades 4, 8, and 12 for the nation and, for certain assessments, states, and select urban districts. These assessments follow subject-area frameworks developed by the Governing Board and use the latest advances in assessment methodology. The subject-area frameworks evolve to match instructional practices.

3. Information Pertaining to the 2013 Questionnaires in This Submittal

Questionnaires used in operational assessments are comprised of trend (i.e. used in previous operational assessments) questions or previously piloted questions that are now being incorporated into the operational assessment. Most pilot questionnaires contain a mix of existing trend questions along with new questions. The TEL pilot questionnaires are comprised of all new questions, which were pretested in cognitive interviews and tryouts. Information related to the pretesting of new questions is contained in appendix D.

Committees that helped define the cognitive and background questions pertaining to the 2013 subjects are listed in appendix A.

Student Questionnaires

Core — The core section is generally the first section of background questions in the assessment booklets. Core questions for all three grades were submitted and approved with Wave 1 but are included here because they are components of the Wave 2 assessments and special studies. (Note: One question in the core at all three grades was revised after the Wave 1 submission for translatability reasons. Do you have the following items at your home? was revised to Do you have any of the following in your home?)

An adapted version of the core questions will be administered in Spanish in Puerto Rico, given that Spanish is the primary language rather than English. For example, the question, “How often do people in your home talk to each other in a language other than English” is adapted to ….” a language other than Spanish.”

Reading — The grade 12 operational reading subject-specific questions are existing trend questions. The grades 4 and 8 pilot reading questions are comprised of trend and newly developed questions being tested for potential use in 2015. The grades 4 and 8 operational questions, which are used in some of the special studies, were part of the Wave 1 submittal.

Mathematics — The grade 12 operational mathematics subject-specific questions are existing trend questions. The grades 4 and 8 pilot mathematics questions are comprised of trend and newly developed questions being tested for potential use in 2015.

TEL — TEL is a new computer-based assessment that will be initially administered operationally in 2014. The purpose of the grade 8 TEL pilot is to test out the TEL items before the 2014 operational probe. Several data collection activities (cognitive interviews in 2011 and a large-scale tryout in March 2012) have informed development for the pilot.

The available questionnaire response time is 15 minutes per student, of which approximately 4 minutes will be devoted to a student core section (e.g., demographic items) that is required to be administered to every student. TEL consists of three sub-areas (i.e., technology and society, design and systems, and information and communication technology) in one assessment. To address contextual topics of interest in all three areas, there are more questions for TEL than can be administered in the remaining 11 minutes.

To administer questions across all the TEL assessment areas within the allotted time, the questions will be divided into separate blocks or sections. Some of the blocks will be administered to all students. Other blocks will vary such that students will receive only a subset of all the questions from a particular TEL assessment area (e.g., design and systems) or TEL common cluster (i.e., questions that are common to all students that cut across the specific three TEL assessment areas such as questions related to student course taking). Through spiraling (or matrix sampling), no student will complete the entire questionnaire, but rather a portion of the questionnaire. Moreover, every student will receive some items from each TEL assessment area and the TEL common cluster. Portions are allotted to different, but randomly equivalent samples of students.

Reading Accessible Blocks Study — The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of NAEP accessible reading blocks as a means of improving measurement at the lower end of the scale. The grades 4 and 8 reading questions in this study are the same questions as the operational reading questions submitted as part of the Wave 1 submittal. These are existing trend questions.

KaSA Study (Mathematics) — This study is planned to replicate and further substantiate the results of the 2011 KaSA study. The grades 4 and 8 subject-specific questions in this study include the operational mathematics questions (submitted in Wave 1) plus three additional KaSA-related questions. All are existing trend questions.

NAEP-Lexile Study (Reading) —The Lexile® Framework and measures have benchmarks derived from text-based, standards-based, and student-based criteria for college and career readiness. The purpose of this study is to link the Lexile scale with the NAEP Reading scale for Grade 8 to obtain scores on the NAEP scale corresponding to preparedness benchmarks on the Lexile scale. These grade 8 reading questions are the same as the operational questions (submitted in Wave 1), which are trend.

NAEP-PISA Linking Study (Mathematics) — This study is planned to support linking between the NAEP and PISA assessments, as well as provide information on growth modeling. The grade 8 mathematics questions used in this linking study are the same as the operational questions (submitted in Wave 1) but will be administered to students at grades 9 through 11. Thus, the burden for this study is included with the grade 12 burden.

NAEP-HSLS Study — The study will ensure an overlap of NAEP and HSLS samples such that student and parent background variable information from HSLS can be used to provide additional context for NAEP scores in the reporting of postsecondary outcomes. The operational grade 12 questionnaires will be used for this study.

Teacher Questionnaires

Teacher questionnaires are comprised of multiple sections, which include:

Background, Education, and Training (BET; also referred to as the teacher core) — The operational BET questions are trend or previously piloted questions and are used in both the operational and pilot questionnaires.

Classroom Organization and Instruction (COI) — The operational COI questions in reading and mathematics are trend or previously piloted questions. The pilot reading and mathematics COI items are being pilot tested at both grades 4 and 8 for potential operational use in 2015. These are existing or newly developed questions that were cognitive interview tested in 2011 in preparation of the 2013 pilot. Teachers in 97-98 percent of schools will complete the operational version of the reading and mathematics teacher questionnaires, while 2-3 percent will complete the pilot versions.

Teacher questionnaires can be completed either online or in hardcopy versions. A version of the teacher questionnaire will be adapted for use in Puerto Rico (hardcopy only) and is included in the Volume II materials.

Tables 2A and 2B depict the composition of the 2013 teacher questionnaires.

Table 2A: Teacher Grade 4 Questionnaires

Grade

Subject(s)

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Version A

Reading Operational
Mathematics Operational

BET _MATHEMATICS/

_READING

COI

_{READING Op}

COI

_{MATHEMATICS Op}

Version B

Reading Pilot
Mathematics Pilot

BET

_MATHEMATICS/

_READING

COI

_{READING
Pilot}

COI

_{MATHEMATICS
Pilot}

BET – Background, Education, and Training

COI – Classroom Organization and Instruction

Op – Operational

Table 2B: Teacher Grade 8 Questionnaires

Grade

Subject(s)

Section 1

Section 2

Version A

Mathematics Operational

BET

_MATHEMATICS

COI

_{MATHEMATICS
Op}

Version B

Reading Operational

BET

_READING

COI

_READING
Op

Version C

Mathematics Pilot

BET

_MATHEMATICS

COI

_{MATHEMATICS
Pilot}

Version D

Reading Pilot

BET

_READING

COI

_{READING
Pilot}

BET – Background, Education, and Training

COI – Classroom Organization and Instruction

Op – Operational

Note: There is not a TEL teacher questionnaire.

School Questionnaires

School questionnaires are comprised of multiple sections, which include:

School Characteristics and Policies (SCP; also referred to as the school core) – One version of SCP questions will be given at each grade. The SCP questions are comprised of some trend questions and some previously piloted questions.

Mathematics and Reading – The operational school questions in reading and mathematics are trend or previously piloted questions. The pilot reading and mathematics school items are being pilot tested at both grades 4 and 8 for potential operational use in 2015. These are existing or newly developed questions that were cognitive interview tested in preparation for the 2013 pilot. Ninety-five percent of schools will complete the operational version of the reading and mathematics school questionnaires, while 5 percent will complete the pilot versions.

Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL) – The school TEL questionnaire will be used only in schools administering the TEL pilot. The TEL section of this questionnaire will consist of new questions, which have been pretested in cognitive interviews.

Charter School – Charter school questions are comprised of trend questions that were administered in the 2011 school questionnaires and some new questions that were pilot tested in 2012. Note that the charter school section is only completed if the school is a charter school.

School questionnaires can be completed either online or in hardcopy versions. A version of the school questionnaire will be adapted for use in Puerto Rico (hardcopy only) and is included in the Volume II materials.

Table 3 depicts the components of the 2013 school questionnaires.

Table 3: 2013 School Questionnaires

Grade	Section 1	Section 2	Section 3	Section 4
4 Version A	SCP	Reading _Op	Mathematics _Op	Charter School
4 Version B	SCP	Reading _Pilot	Mathematics _Pilot	Charter School
8 Version A	SCP	Reading _Op	Mathematics _Op	Charter School
8 Version B	SCP	Reading _Pilot	Mathematics _Pilot	Charter School
8 Version C	SCP	TEL _Pilot	Charter School
12	SCP	Reading _Op	Mathematics _Op	Charter School

SCP – School Characteristics and Policies

Op – Operational

TEL – Technology and Engineering Literacy

SD and ELL Worksheets

Three versions of the SD and ELL worksheets will be used in 2013 and are included in Volume II. One version is for the reading- and mathematics-based subjects, one for the TEL pilot administration, and one adapted for use in Puerto Rico. In 2012, to help determine student inclusion in the assessment, a new decision tree component of the SD and ELL instructions was piloted. The revised version made language refinements to the decision tree so it would be easier for school personnel to use. The 2013 SD and ELL worksheets will use this revised decision tree version. Instructions for each version of the SD and ELL worksheets are also included in the submitted materials, along with a version adapted for the Puerto Rico administration. In addition to the instructions, each state provides schools with state-specific SD and ELL summary guidelines to assist schools in completing the worksheets. Sample generic state specific SD and ELL summary guidelines are included in appendix E. This sample is amended by individual states to fit their particular circumstances.

4. 2013 Wave 2 Burden Information

The nature of NAEP is that samples of students alternate from a relatively low volume in national-level administration years to a substantial volume increase in state-level administration years that include one or more assessments that support the reporting of results by states and certain urban districts. In 2013, NAEP will conduct national-level, state-level, and district-level assessments, so the estimated burden is much higher than in 2012 NAEP.

The total combined burden for the Wave 2 materials is as follows:

Table 4: Total Burden for Wave 2

Respondent Category	Number of Respondents	Total Burden Hours
Student	172,900	37,075
Teachers	75,992	30,786
School	17,756	8,878
School pre-assessment visit and e-filing	(already counted)	2,751
School for SD-ELL	17,756	27,112
Total	284,404	106,602

The per-respondent and overall burden times are included in tables 5 and 6 and include the following categories:

Students - Students in fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades complete paper-based assessment booklets that commonly contain two 25-minute cognitive blocks (for Puerto Rico 35 minutes is allowed), followed by two background question sections that require a total of 15 minutes to complete. The first background question block contains core questions, many of which are related to demographic information. The second background block contains subject-specific questions. For grade 12, only 10 minutes of burden time is included for the reading and mathematics students here since the grade 12 core burden (5 minutes) was part of Wave 1. For TEL, students will complete assessment forms via the computer containing 60-minutes of cognitive items, followed by one background question section, which combines the core and TEL-specific items and requires 15 minutes to complete.

Appendix B includes a sample parental notification letter regarding NAEP. The letter will be adapted for each grade/subject combination and the school principal may edit it. However, the information regarding confidentiality and the appropriate law reference will remain unchanged.

Teachers – The teachers of fourth- and eighth-grade students participating in NAEP will be asked to complete questions about their teaching background, education, training, and/or classroom organization and instruction. The fourth-grade teacher burden is estimated to be 30 minutes, while the eighth-grade teacher burden is 20 minutes. There is no teacher questionnaire for the teachers of students taking the TEL pilot.

Principals/Administrators – The school administrators in the sampled schools will be asked to complete a school questionnaire. The school questionnaire burden is estimated to be 30 minutes at all three grades.

Schools: E-filing – Survey sample information is collected from schools in the form of lists of potential students who may participate in NAEP. The majority of e-filing burden was part of the Wave 1 submittal. Burden for the additional schools that are part of Wave 2 is included in table 5. If this information is gathered at the school or district level, school or district personnel will incur some burden and the e-filing burden is estimated at one hour per school. For 2011, the most recent large assessment year for NAEP, approximately 45 percent of schools and districts employed the e-filing process. Thus, we used 45 percent of total schools for e-filing burden calculation purposes.

Schools: Pre-Assessment Activities – Prior to the assessment, school personnel must prepare for the assessment. Part of the preparation is the pre-assessment visit, which is the opportunity for the NCES contractor field staff to meet with the school personnel to review procedures and logistics for the upcoming assessment. In addition, miscellaneous activities related to information gathering for the pre-assessment visit and communication with the teachers and students are required. Both the pre-assessment visit and the miscellaneous activities are estimated to require one hour each of school personnel time. Thus, the total burden time for pre-assessment related activities is two hours.

A sample brochure communication from the NAEP state coordinators to the participating schools describing these activities is included as appendix C. This brochure outlines what the school coordinator will be responsible for, including a description of e-filing and the pre-assessment visit. The information in the brochure will be updated for the 2013 assessment year and modified for each appropriate grade, subject area, mode of assessment, and timeline combination.

As with e-filing, the majority of pre-assessment burden was part of the Wave 1 submittal. Burden for the additional schools that are part of Wave 2 is included in the burden calculation in table 6.

SD and ELL – The SD and ELL worksheets are completed by teachers or administrators of students identified as SD and/or as ELL. SD and ELL burden is the number of hours that school personnel spend to complete the SD/ELL worksheets for students identified as SD and/or ELL (estimated at 10 minutes per student). Since the SD and ELL worksheets are part of this Wave 2 submittal, the burden for school personnel who complete them is included with Wave 2.

Table 5: Wave 2 Questionnaires - Per Respondent Burden Time

Respondent Category	Time per Respondent
Grade 4
Student Core + Pilot Reading	15 minutes
Student Core + Pilot Mathematics (Mainland and Puerto Rico)	15 minutes
Student Core + Reading Accessible Blocks (Reading)	15 minutes
Student Core + Knowledge and Skills Appropriate (KaSA) Study (Mathematics) (Mainland and Puerto Rico)	15 minutes
Teacher Operational (Mainland and Puerto Rico)	30 minutes
Teacher Pilot	30 minutes
School Operational (Mainland and Puerto Rico)	30 minutes
School Pilot	30 minutes
Grade 8
Student Core + Pilot Reading	15 minutes
Student Core + Pilot Mathematics	15 minutes
Student Core + Pilot TEL	15 minutes
Student Core + Reading Accessible Blocks (Reading)	15 minutes
Student Core + Lexile Study Blocks (Reading)	15 minutes
Student Core + Knowledge and Skills Appropriate (KaSA) Study (Mathematics) (Mainland and Puerto Rico)	15 minutes
Teacher Operational (Mainland and Puerto Rico)	20 minutes
Teacher Pilot	20 minutes
School Operational (Mainland and Puerto Rico)	30 minutes
School Pilot	30 minutes
Grade 12⁶
Student Reading	10 minutes
Student Mathematics	10 minutes
Student Core + NAEP-PISA Linking Study (Mathematics)	15 minutes
Student Core + NAEP-HSLS Linking Study (Mathematics)	15 minutes
School Operational	30 minutes

Table 6: Estimated Burden for NAEP 2013 Questionnaires Contained in This Submittal (Wave 2)

5. How, by Whom, and for What Purpose the Data Will Be Used

The purpose of NAEP is to collect and report assessment data on student achievement in the subject areas assessed for use in monitoring education progress. In addition to reporting overall results of student performance and achievement, NAEP also reports student performance results for various subgroups of students and on various educational factors. The Governing Board sets guidance for what is asked in the questions. NCES is responsible for developing the questions and for selecting the final set of questions. The questions are designed to (a) provide the information for disaggregating data according to categories specified in the legislation,⁷ (b) provide contextual information that is subject specific (e.g. reading, mathematics) and has an impact and known relationship to student achievement, and (c) provide policy-relevant information specified by the Governing Board.

In the original request to OMB for system clearance, NCES requested approval of the data-gathering instruments to be used in the 2011–2013 national- and state-level NAEP assessments. An expanded description of the purposes of the data is provided in the system clearance submittal.

6. Estimates of Costs to the Federal Government

Table 7 provides estimates for the Wave 2 portion of the 2013 administrations.

Table 7: Administration Cost Estimates

Activity	Provider	Estimated Costs
Printing, packaging, and distribution phases of the administration including: prepare and package the assessment and all auxiliary materials distribute assessment booklets and materials to the test administrators for each school	Pearson (the Materials, Distribution, Processing and Scoring (MDPS) contractor)	$8.5 million
F Table 7 — continued ield administration including: administration of assessments pre-assessment contact/visits to school data collection from the field	Westat (the Data Collection contractor and the NAEP State Service Center (NSSC) contractor)	$17 million
Totals		$25.5 million

Appendix A: Committee Lists

NAEP Background Variable Committee

Name Affiliation

Patricia Alexander University of Maryland

Arthur Applebee State University of New York at Albany

Claudia Buchman Ohio State University

Lizanne Destefano University of Illinois

Robert Hauser University of Wisconsin-Madison

Kathleen Heid Penn State University

Henry Levin Columbia University

Peter Levine Tufts University

Linda Levstik University of Kentucky

Samuel Lucas University of California-Berkeley

Senta Raizen West-Ed,

Washington, DC

Andrew Sum Northeastern University

William Walstad University of Nebraska-Lincoln

NAEP Mathematics Committee

Name Affiliation

Sareeta Carter Benjamin Banneker Academic High School,

Washington, DC

Herb Clemens Ohio State University

Marcia Cole District of Columbia Public Schools,

Washington, DC

Carl Cowen Indiana University-Purdue University,

Indianapolis, IN

Bradford R. Findell Ohio Department of Education

Diana Rivera García Departamento de Educación de Puerto Rico

Anne Gonzales South Gate Middle School,

South Gate, CA

Julie Guthrie Texas Education Agency,

Austin, TX

Kathleen Heid Penn State University

Russ Keglovitis Nevada Department of Education,

Carson City, NV

Judy Kinley Morris Elementary School,

Des Moines, IA

Carole Phillip Alice Deal Middle School,

Washington, DC

Penny Roberts Greenville Elementary School,

Greenville, KY

Daren Starnes The Lawrenceville School,

Lawrenceville, NJ

JT Sutcliffe St. Mark’s School of Texas,

Dallas, TX

NAEP Reading Committee

Name Affiliation

Peter Afflerbach University of Maryland

Patricia Alexander University of Maryland

Christine Carriere Carl Von Linne School,

Chicago, IL

Mary Beth Curtis Lesley University,

Cambridge, MA

Patsy Dunton Maine Department of Education

Arzie Galvez Office of Curriculum, Instruction and School Support,

Los Angeles, CA

Pamela Mason Harvard Graduate School of Education

Joe McGonegal Catholic Memorial High School,

West Roxbury, MA

Margaret McKeown University of Pittsburgh

Katie Oliver Morgan Park Middle School,

Duluth, MN

Timothy Shanahan University of Illinois

Alfred Tatum University of Illinois at Chicago

Lisa White Plymouth Public Schools,

Plymouth, MA

Junko Yokota National-Louis University,

Skokie, IL

NAEP Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL) Committee

Name Affiliation

Keith Barton Indiana University

John Behrens Pearson e-LEADS Center,

Mishawaka, IN

Brooke Bourdelat-Parks BSCS,

Colorado Springs, CO

Lewis Chappelear James Monroe High School,

North Hills, CA

Britte Haugan Cheng SRI International,

Menlo Park, CA

Meredith Davis North Carolina State University

Chris Dede Harvard Graduate School of Education

Richard Duran University Of California, Santa Barbara

Maurice Frazier Oscar Smith High School,

Chesapeake, VA

Camilla Gagliolo Arlington Public Schools,

Arlington, VA

Christopher Hoadley New York University

Eric Klopfer Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Beth McGrath Stevens Institute of Technology,

Hoboken, NJ

Greg Pearson National Academy of Engineering,

Washington, DC

John Poggio University of Kansas

Erin Reilly Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism,
Los Angeles, CA

Troy Sadler Missouri University Science Education Center,

Columbia, MO

Kimberly Scott Arizona State University

Teh-Yuan Wan New York State Education Department,

Albany, NY

Appendix B: Parent/Guardian Notification Letter

NAEP (NAEP Assessment Year) PARENT/GUARDIAN NOTIFICATION LETTER

(School Letterhead)

(Insert Date Here)

Dear Parent or Guardian:

We are pleased to tell you that (school name) has been selected to represent schools across our state and the nation by participating in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP is given by the National Center for Education Statistics within the U.S. Department of Education and tells us what our nation’s students know and can do in key subject areas. It is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment and has been providing valid and reliable data on student performance since 1969.

The results of NAEP are published in a report called The Nation's Report Card, which provides information about student achievement to educators, parents, policymakers, and the public.

In our school, the NAEP assessment will be given on (date) in (subject). Your child (may be/has been) selected to take the assessment. In addition to subject area questions, students will be asked some questions about themselves and their educational experience. You can access student and sample assessment questions at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/parents/.

It will take about (assessment time) minutes for most students to complete NAEP. The results are completely confidential (in accordance with the Confidential Information Protection provisions of Title V, Subtitle A, Public Law 107-347), and the information provided will be used for statistical purposes only. Your child’s grades will not be affected. Your child may be excused from participation for any reason, is not required to finish the assessment, and may skip any test question. While NAEP is voluntary, we depend on student participation to provide an accurate measure of student achievement that will inform improvements in education. Your child will represent many other students, so participation is very important. However, if you do not want your child to participate, please notify me in writing by (date).

There is no need to study in preparation for NAEP. We do ask parents to encourage their children to do their best and to have them get plenty of rest the night before the assessment.

If you would like to have additional information about NAEP, please visit http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard. If you have questions or would like to review a booklet that includes sample subject area and student questions, please contact me at (telephone number) or via e-mail at (e-mail address).

We are excited that our school will be participating in NAEP, and we are pleased that your child (may be/has been) selected. We know that (school name)'s students will help us show what (state name)’s students know and can do.

Sincerely,

School Principal

Appendix C: Sample Description of School Coordinator Responsibilities

NAEP (NAEP Assessment Year) School Coordinator Responsibilities

As the school coordinator, you are the liaison for all NAEP assessment activities in your school.

In the fall, you will be responsible for:

Registering for the MySchool website.

MySchool is used to collect information about your school and provide you with documents that you can download and customize throughout the NAEP assessment process. Multiple school staff may register to access the site. To register for MySchool, go to www.mynaep.com and complete the form using the registration ID provided by your NAEP State or Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) Coordinator.

Completing and submitting school information.

Click on “Provide School Information” on MySchool to enter and submit information about your school so that materials can be prepared for the assessment.

If requested, providing the NAEP State or TUDA Coordinator with a list of <selected> grade students.

NAEP requires a complete list of students in the selected grade in order to select a random sample of students to participate in the assessment. This list provides demographic information about students who will be assessed. It is usually submitted electronically and may be prepared by the school, district, or state. Your NAEP State or TUDA Coordinator will inform you if you need to provide this list. Student names will always be kept confidential and individual student responses or scores are never reported.

Before the assessment date, you will be responsible for:

Preparing for the assessment.

Numerous activities need to be completed early in January to ensure a successful assessment.

Identify teachers who teach the assessed subjects to your <selected>-grade students.
Arrange logistics for the assessment.
Review the instructions for distributing and completing the worksheets for students identified as English language learners and/or students with disabilities, and distribute them to the staff person(s) most knowledgeable about how these students are tested on your state assessment.

Informing parents/guardians.

By law, parents/guardians of children selected to participate in NAEP must be informed prior to administration of the assessment that their child has been selected for the assessment, may be excused from participation for any reason, is not required to finish the assessment, and is not required to answer all test questions. Your NAEP State or TUDA Coordinator will provide a Sample Parent/Guardian Notification Letter and additional information about how this requirement should be fulfilled. These details, as well as electronic copies of the letter, will be provided through MySchool. Parent notification should be completed prior to the pre-assessment visit. Parents may also visit http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/parents/ to find out more about NAEP.

Meeting with the NAEP staff during the scheduled pre-assessment visit.

In late January, you will meet with the NAEP representative to go over information related to the NAEP administration. During the meeting, you will review the list of selected students to verify that their demographic information is accurate and complete. Details for the assessment day will be finalized, such as which students will require accommodations, how NAEP will be administered, the time and locations of the assessment, and how students and teachers will be notified. The NAEP representative will also verify that parents have been notified and will collect a copy of the parent notification letter during this visit.

Promoting the importance of NAEP with school staff.

Teachers are essential for motivating students to do their best on NAEP. The following are some suggestions on how to gain teacher support:

Show the 5-minute NAEP video, Introducing NAEP to Teachers, at a faculty meeting. This video can be accessed at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/videos/naep4th8th.asp.
Inform teachers that released NAEP questions and responses, which they can use in their classroom, are accessible on the NAEP Questions Tool at http://nces.ed.gov/
nationsreportcard/itmrlsx/.

Promoting the importance of NAEP with students.

Students who are selected for NAEP will represent students across the nation, so it is vital that these <selected grade>-graders participate and do their best. The following are some suggestions on how to encourage students to do their best:

Speak with participating students prior to assessment day. Let them know why NAEP is important.
Consider ways to thank students for their participation.
Inform students that they can find past NAEP results by visiting The Nation’s Report Card website, http://nationsreportcard.gov/.
Inform students that individual results are not released to the public and that NAEP only takes 90–120 minutes to complete.

On the assessment date, you will be responsible for:

Ensuring that students attend the session.

Prior to the assessment start time, you will need to be available to ensure that students attend. You are encouraged to remain in the room during the assessment. NAEP staff will bring all assessment materials to the school and will conduct the session(s). It is very important that attendance rates be as high as possible to avoid the need for makeup sessions. If attendance of sampled students is less than 90 percent, a makeup session will be needed, and the NAEP representative will schedule another date to administer the assessment to the students who were absent.

Thank you in advance for your help preparing for this important assessment!

Appendix D: Cognitive Interview, Pretest, Pilot Reports on NAEP Questions

The following reports contain pretesting or cognitive interview data and information from various pretest activities for new or piloted questions related to Wave 2 NAEP questionnaires:

Fall 2011 TEL Student cognitive interview report:

Fall 2011 TEL School cognitive interview report:

TEL Tryout Report and Report addendum

Reading and Math Pilot Cog Lab Reports (Fall 2011)

List of New Operational Items for 2013

Appendix E: Sample Generic State SD and ELL Guidelines

The following are samples of generic state guidelines used in conjunction with the NAEP SD and ELL worksheets.

SD Inclusion Guidelines

ELL Inclusion Guidelines

1¹NCES collects student data that are required by law (20 U.S.C. § 9622; i.e., race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status) and provide a context for reporting student performance. These questions are referred to as core questions. The core questions were submitted in Wave 1.

2 The Reading Accessible Blocks Study questions are the same as the grade 4 operational reading questions submitted in Wave 1.

3 The Reading Accessible Blocks Study and the Lexile Study questions are the same as the grade 8 operational reading questions submitted in Wave 1.

4 The NAEP-PISA Study questions are the same as the grade 8 operational mathematics questions that were submitted in Wave 1 and will be administered to the NAEP-PISA sample in grades 9-11.

5 The grade 12 NAEP-HSLS Study questions are the same as the grade 12 operational mathematics questions.

6 Burden for the Student Core (5 minutes) for the Reading and Mathematics assessments was accounted for in Wave 1 burden.

7 Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA), National Assessment of Educational Progress (20 USC § 9622).

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File Title	NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF
Author	joconnell
File Modified	0000-00-00
File Created	2021-01-31