[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 231 (Friday, November 29, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60688-60690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30452]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

National Assessment Governing Board; Opportunity for Comment

AGENCY: National Assessment Governing Board; Education.

ACTION: Notice of request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Assessment Governing Board announces the 
opportunity for public comment on a proposed long-range schedule for 
the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The National 
Assessment, authorized by Congress, is our only continuing measure of 
student achievement providing both national and state-level results in 
academic subjects at grades 4, 8, and 12.
    The subjects to be assessed are stated in the National Assessment 
legislation. These subjects are: ``reading, writing, and other subjects 
listed in the third National Education Goal'' (i.e., mathematics, 
science, history, geography, civics, the arts, foreign language, and 
economics). However, the frequency of testing in each subject is not 
specified.
    The National Assessment Governing Board sets policy for NAEP; this 
includes determining the schedule of assessments. On November 16, 1996, 
the Governing Board approved a proposed schedule for the purpose of 
obtaining public comment.
    The Governing Board's intent is to provide the public with a 
predictable, reliable schedule of subjects to be assessed by the 
National Assessment. The Governing Board has conducted feasibility 
studies and, in conjunction with the National Center for Education 
Statistics (NCES), prepared cost estimates for the proposed schedule. 
The Governing Board and NCES have concluded that the proposed schedule 
is achievable under conservative assumptions about costs, future 
appropriations, and continued legislative authority for the National 
Assessment. However, if resources permit, additions to the schedule may 
be made, with advance public notice. The Governing Board will consider 
comments received by February 3, 1997 in developing a final schedule. 
The Governing Board intends to take action at its meeting on March 6-8, 
1997.
Background
    The National Assessment tested annually, about three subjects per 
year, during its first decade (1970-1980). However, during the 1980s 
and into the 1990's, a period of growing demand for National Assessment 
data, the testing schedule became reduced by half. NAEP testing 
occurred only every other year and was limited to two or three subjects 
each time.
    In November 1994, the Governing Board established a work group on 
planning to evaluate the current operating design of the National 
Assessment. The work group's goal was to identify options to improve 
the design of the National Assessment, so that more subjects could be 
assessed more frequently.
    In August 1996, after 21 months of review and study, the Governing 
Board redesigned the National Assessment. Its redesign statement 
includes the following:

    The National Assessment shall assess all subjects listed in the 
third National Education Goal * * * according to a publicly released 
schedule adopted by the National Assessment Governing Board, 
covering eight to ten years, with reading, writing, mathematics and 
science tested more frequently than the other subjects.
    The National Assessment shall be conducted annually, two or 
three subjects per year, in order to cover all required subjects at 
least twice a decade.

    The NAEP redesign statement requires the Governing Board to adopt a 
long-range schedule for two primary reasons. First, to provide states 
and others with adequate time to plan for participation in the national 
and state assessments. Second, to enable NCES to include the schedule 
as a part of the requirements for new NAEP operations grants, the next 
of which is to be awarded during fiscal year 1998.
    The redesign statement expresses six major principles intended to 
increase efficiency, permit the testing of more subjects more 
frequently, and control costs. These principles are to: (1) Focus the 
purpose of NAEP on measuring and reporting student achievement, (2) 
specify the main audience for reports, (3) limit activities that NAEP 
is not well-designed to carry out, (4) vary testing and reporting, (5) 
provide stability in the NAEP tests and predictability in the NAEP 
schedule, and (6) simplify the design of NAEP. (The full text of the 
NAEP redesign statement is available on the Governing Board's web 
site--http://www.nagb.org--or by request to the address below.)
    Two of these principles bear directly on the schedule and have a 
large impact on costs. The first is ``vary testing and reporting.'' The 
redesign statement calls for three kinds of testing and reporting: 
standard, comprehensive, and focused. Working definitions for standard, 
comprehensive, and focused reports are described in Attachment A. 
Beginning in the year 2000, the schedule provides for standard and 
comprehensive assessments in the various subjects. The schedule assumes 
that focused assessments will be approved on an ``as-needed'' basis and 
as resources permit. The second principle has to do with the 
``stability of tests.'' Under this principle, National Assessment tests 
in a subject would remain stable for at least ten years.
The Proposed Schedule: Overview
    The schedule for the years 1996-1998 is set. The proposed schedule 
begins in the year 1999 and provides for annual testing. The national 
and state assessments in reading, writing, mathematics, and science 
would be conducted once every four years and assessments at the 
national level in the other subjects once every eight years. This 
ensures at least two assessments in

[[Page 60689]]

a ten-year period in each subject, at a minimum. Reading and writing 
would be paired for testing, as would mathematics and science. Each 
pair of subjects would be tested in alternating even-numbered years. 
The state-level assessments in reading, writing, mathematics, and 
science would be in grades 4 and 8.
    The long-term trend assessments would be conducted once every four 
years beginning in 1999. Long-term trend assessments report results in 
reading, writing, mathematics and science. These assessments provide 
trend data from as early as 1970. The tests used for long-term trends 
are based on conceptions of the curricula prevalent during the 1970s. 
They are markedly different from the more recently developed ``main'' 
NAEP tests in mathematics, science, reading and writing displayed in 
the schedule in 1996 and beyond. The schedule provides for three more 
administrations of the long-term trend assessments while the transition 
is being made to ``main NAEP'' for long-term trend reporting.
    By the year 1998, ``new'' tests (i.e., developed since 1990) will 
be in use for the ``main NAEP'' in reading, writing, mathematics, 
science, U.S. history, geography, civics, and the arts. A foreign 
language assessment will be developed for use in 2003 and world history 
and economics assessments will be developed for use in 2005. In 
planning for comprehensive assessments in mathematics in 2004, and in 
reading, the arts, science, U.S. history, and writing in 2006-2010, 
respectively, the Governing Board will decide whether to change the 
content of the tests.

Instructions for Submitting Comments on the Proposed Schedule

    Comments on the proposed schedule should be submitted so they are 
received by February 3, 1997. Comments submitted by mail should be 
addressed to Ray Fields, Assistant Director for Policy and Research, 
National Assessment Governing Board, Suite 825, 800 North Capitol 
Street, NW, Washington, DC 20002-4233. Comments submitted by e-mail 
over the Internet should be addressed to Ray __ [email protected] with 
subject title ``NAEP Schedule Comments.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ray Fields, Assistant Director for 
Policy and Research, Suite 825, 800 North Capitol Street, N.W., 
Washington, DC 20002-4233. Telephone: (202) 357-0395.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Assessment of Educational 
Progress is the primary means by which the public is able to know how 
students in grades 4, 8 and 12 are achieving nationally and state-by-
state. The National Assessment Governing Board is established to 
formulate policy guidelines for the National Assessment. The National 
Assessment and its Governing Board are authorized under sections 411 
and 412, respectively, of the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994. 
(Pub. L. 103-382).
    At its November 14-16, 1996 meeting, the Governing Board gave 
approval to disseminate the proposed schedule for public comment. The 
public comment period closes on February 3, 1997. The Governing Board 
intends to take action on a final policy at its meeting scheduled for 
March 6-8, 1997, in Charleston, South Carolina.
    Records are kept of all Board proceedings, and are available for 
public inspection at the National Assessment Governing Board, 800 North 
Capitol Street, N.W., Suite 825, Washington, DC, from 8:30 am to 5:00 
pm, Monday through Friday.

  Proposed Schedule for the National Assessment of Educational Progress 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Year                   National                     State        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1996..............  Math........................  Math (4, 8).          
                    Science.....................  Science (8).          
                    Long-term trend* (reading,    ......................
                     writing, math, science).                           
1997..............  Arts (8)....................  ......................
1998..............  Reading.....................  Reading (4, 8).       
                    Writing.....................  Writing (8).          
                    Civics......................  ......................
1999..............  Long-term trend* (reading,    ......................
                     writing, math, science).                           
2000..............  Math........................  Math (4, 8).          
                    Science.....................  Science (4, 8).       
2001..............  U.S. History................  ......................
                    Geography...................  ......................
2002..............  Reading.....................  Reading (4, 8).       
                    Writing.....................  Writing (4, 8).       
2003..............  Civics......................  ......................
                    FOREIGN LANGUAGE (12).......  ......................
                    Long-term trend* (reading,    ......................
                     writing, math, science).                           
2004..............  MATH........................  MATH (4, 8).          
                    Science.....................  Science (4, 8).       
2005..............  WORLD HISTORY (12)..........  ......................
                    ECONOMICS (12)..............  ......................
2006..............  READING.....................  READING (4, 8).       
                    Writing.....................  Writing (4, 8).       
2007..............  ARTS........................  ......................
                    Long-term trend* (reading,    ......................
                     writing, math, science).                           
2008..............  Math........................  Math (4, 8).          
                    SCIENCE.....................  SCIENCE (4, 8).       
2009..............  U.S. HISTORY................  ......................
                    Geography...................  ......................
2010..............  Reading.....................  Reading (4, 8).       
                    WRITING.....................  WRITING (4, 8).       
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Grades 4, 8 and 12 will be tested unless otherwise indicated.     
  Comprehensive assessments are indicated in BOLD ALL CAPS; standard    
  assessments are indicated in upper and lower case.                    
* Long-term trend assessments are conducted in reading, writing         
  mathematics and science. These assessments provide trend data as far  
  back as 1970 and use tests developed by the National Assessment at    
  that time.                                                            


[[Page 60690]]

Attachment A--Working Definitions

Types of National Assessment Reports

    The Redesign Policy Statement, adopted by the National 
Assessment Governing Board on August 2, 1996, provides for three 
types of National Assessment reports:
     Standard Reports
     Comprehensive Reports
     Focused or Special Reports.
    The content of these reports is described below. To provide the 
data needed for each report, the design of each assessment should be 
of high technical quality and cost-effective while not going beyond 
reporting requirements.

Standard Report Card

    This shall be the primary vehicle for reporting the National 
Assessment of Educational Progress and shall present the principal 
results for grades 4, 8, and 12. Whenever state NAEP is conducted, 
the standard report card will include both national and state 
results. Data shall be reported in terms of both achievement levels 
and a scale score or percent-correct metric.
    The standard report card will be prepared for a general public 
audience and written in understandable, jargon-free style with 
attractive charts, tables, and graphics. The report will be 
relatively modest in length--about 50 to 100 pages. In addition to 
key results, it will include a substantial sample of test questions 
and student responses--with item-level data--to illustrate 
performance standards and actual student work for each grade tested.
    For each subject the standard report card will be based on the 
assessment framework and specifications approved by the Governing 
Board. However, the size of student samples may be more limited than 
in comprehensive assessments, described below. Also, special studies 
carried out in comprehensive assessments may be omitted.
    The report card will be publicly released within six months 
after the end of student testing. This normally would be by the end 
of September of the assessment year.
    Data shall be reported on a representative-sample basis for the 
nation, states, and demographic subgroups. Overall scores and 
achievement-level results must be strictly comparable to previous 
assessments based on the same NAEP framework so that trends in 
achievement may accurately be reported. However, the content-area 
subscales reported in previous comprehensive assessments may or may 
not be included, depending on the subject assessed.
    Data in the standard report card shall be reported by the 
following categories, as required by law: sex, race/ethnicity, 
public and private schools, and factors bearing on socio-economic 
status. Such factors may include the education level of parents, 
type of community, and participation in Title I and subsidized lunch 
programs.
    Any report with state-by-state results shall include information 
on demographic characteristics and resource inputs that may provide 
context for understanding results. In addition to data collected by 
NAEP, the contextual information may include data from other 
sources, such as per capita income, the poverty rate for school-aged 
children, current expenditures per pupil, pupil/teacher ratio, and 
average teacher salary.
    States will appear in tables listed alphabetically. However, an 
overall rank order shall be prepared using average scores and 
indicating where differences are not statistically significant.
    The report shall include information on a limited number of 
student background characteristics directly related to academic 
achievement, which may be obtained from student questionnaires or 
from data needed to draw samples of schools and students, such as 
census and Title I data. It will also include information on the 
proportion of students tested with disabilities and limited English 
proficiency. However, the standard report card will not include 
surveys of instructional practices or school policies, though these 
shall be included in comprehensive NAEP assessments.

Comprehensive Reports

    These reports shall be based on large-scale assessments which 
implement fully the test frameworks and specifications adopted by 
the Governing Board. Normally, a comprehensive assessment shall be 
the first one done for a new test framework. Its results shall be 
issued in a series of reports, designed for general and specialized 
audiences, including national and state policymakers, educators, and 
researchers.
    The first report--with key results for a general audience--shall 
be comparable to the standard report described above, though it may 
be somewhat more extensive and may be issued within nine months 
after testing rather than six months. Included in this series, 
though not necessarily in each report, shall be content area 
subscales and data on a wide range of school policies, instructional 
practices, and student work-habits and behavior, gathered from 
background questionnaires for students, teachers, and schools.
    Comprehensive assessments and reporting shall be done for 
national samples in grades 4, 8, and 12 and for state-level samples 
in some subjects and grades.

Focused Reports

    These reports shall be more limited and focused than the 
standard NAEP report. They may be targeted to a particular grade or 
group of students rather than being based on representative samples 
of the population. Generally, the cost would be less than that of a 
standard assessment, although focused reports may also be used to 
assess in a particular subject, such as the performing arts, where 
testing costs are high.
    The focused reports may extend the range of the National 
Assessment and permit the testing of new populations, e.g., out-of-
school youth. They will also provide NAEP with the opportunity to 
develop new methods of assessment and reporting without the 
constraints of the standard report. Some may be financed by a 
particular organization, e.g., the Department of Labor for a test of 
work readiness skills, rather than from the regular NAEP 
appropriation.
    In most cases the special reports will involve only national 
samples, although states that wish to participate may do so at their 
own expense.

    Dated: November 25, 1996.
Roy Truby,
Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board.
[FR Doc. 96-30452 Filed 11-27-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-M