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NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20418
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
The study was supported by Contract/Grant No. EA 95083001 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Education. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.
Suggested citation: National Research Council. 2001. NAEP Reporting Practices: Investigating District-Level and Market-Basket Reporting. Committee on NAEP Reporting Practices. Pasquale J. DeVito and Judith A. Koenig, editors. Board on Testing and Assessment, Center for Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
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Copyright 2001 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Engineering
Institute of Medicine
National Research Council
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. William A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. William A. Wulf are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
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COMMITTEE ON NAEP REPORTING PRACTICES: INVESTIGATING DISTRICT-LEVEL AND MARKET-BASKET REPORTING
PASQUALE DEVITO (Chair), Office of Assessment, Rhode Island Department of Education
LINDA BRYANT, Westwood Elementary School, Pittsburgh
C. MELODY CARSWELL, Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky
MARYELLEN DONAHUE, Office of Research, Assessment, and Evaluation, Boston Public Schools
LOU FABRIZIO, Division of Accountability Services, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
LEANN GAMACHE, Assessment and Evaluation, Education Services Center, Littleton Public Schools, Littleton, Colorado
DOUGLAS HERRMANN, Department of Psychology, Indiana State University
AUDREY QUALLS, Iowa Testing Program, Iowa City, Iowa
MARK RECKASE, Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education, Michigan State University
DUANE STEFFEY, Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, San Diego State University
JUDITH KOENIG, Study Director
KAREN MITCHELL, Senior Program Officer
KAELI KNOWLES, Program Officer
DOROTHY MAJEWSKI, Senior Project Assistant
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BOARD ON TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
EVA L. BAKER (Chair), The Center for the Study of Evaluation, University of California, Los Angeles
LORRAINE MCDONNELL (Vice Chair), Departments of Political Science and Education, University of California, Santa Barbara
LAURESS L. WISE (Vice Chair), Human Resources Research Organization, Alexandria, Virginia
RICHARD C. ATKINSON, President, University of California
CHRISTOPHER F. EDLEY, JR., Harvard Law School
RONALD FERGUSON, John F. Kennedy School of Public Policy, Harvard University
MILTON D. HAKEL, Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University
ROBERT M. HAUSER, Institute for Research on Poverty, Center for Demography, University of Wisconsin, Madison
PAUL W. HOLLAND, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey
DANIEL M. KORETZ, RAND Corporation, Arlington, Virginia
RICHARD J. LIGHT, Graduate School of Education and John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
BARBARA MEANS, SRI, International, Menlo Park, California
ANDREW C. PORTER, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin, Madison
LORETTA A. SHEPARD, School of Education, University of Colorado, Boulder
CATHERINE E. SNOW, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University
WILLIAM L. TAYLOR, Attorney at Law, Washington, D.C.
WILLIAM T. TRENT, Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
GUADALUPE M. VALDES, School of Education, Stanford University
VICKI VANDAVEER, The Vandaveer Group, Inc., Houston, Texas
KENNETH I. WOLPIN, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania
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Acknowledgments
The Committee on NAEP Reporting Practices wishes to thank the many people who helped to make possible the preparation of this report. An important part of the committee's work was to gather information on the desirability, feasibility, and potential impact of district-level and market-basket reporting for the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). Many people gave generously of their time during committee meetings and workshops and in preparing papers for the committee.
Staff from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), under the direction of Gary Phillips, acting commissioner, and staff from the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), under the leadership of Roy Truby, executive director, were valuable sources of information. Peggy Carr, Patricia Dabbs, Arnold Goldstein, Steve Gorman, Andrew Kolstad, and Holly Spurlock of NCES and Roy Truby, Mary Lyn Bourque, Sharif Shakrani, Lawrence Feinberg, and Raymond Fields of NAGB provided the committee with important background information on numerous occasions. Papers prepared for the committee's workshops by Roy Truby and Andrew Kolstad were particularly helpful as were the papers and information provided by John Mazzeo and Robert Mislevy of ETS, and Keith Rust and Richard Valliant of Westat.
In September 1999, the committee held a workshop to gather information on issues related to district-level reporting for NAEP. A great many people contributed to the success of this workshop, which brought together representatives from state and local assessment offices, experts in educa-
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tional measurement, and others familiar with the issues related to reporting district-level NAEP results. We are indebted to: Nancy Amuleru-Marshall, Atlanta Public Schools; Albert Beaton at Boston College's School of Education; Peter Behuniak, Connecticut State Department of Education; Carmen Chapman Pfeiffer, Illinois State Department of Education; Mitchell Chester, School District of Philadelphia; Judy Costa, Clark County School District in Nevada; Gerald DeMauro, Office of State Assessment in Albany, New York; Steve Dunbar with the University of Iowa's College of Education; Sharon Lewis, Council of the Great City Schools; Wayne Martin, Council of Chief State School Officers; Thomas McIntosh, Nevada Department of Education; Paula Mosley, Office of Instruction, Los Angeles; Carole Perlman, Chicago Public Schools; Edward Roeber, Measured Progress in Dover, New Hampshire; Harry Selig, Houston Independent School District; Robert Silverman, Office of Public Instruction in Olympia, Washington; Don Watson, Colorado Department of Education; and Lauress Wise, Human Resources Research Organization in Alexandria, Virginia.
The committee conducted a second workshop in February 2000 to collect information on issues related to market-basket reporting. We are grateful to the representatives from state and local assessment offices, experts in educational measurement, and others familiar with the issues related to market-basket reporting who helped make this workshop a success. The committee thanks the many panelists and discussants: R. Darrell Bock with University of Chicago's Departments of Psychology and Education; Paul Cieslak, Milwaukee Public Schools; Richard Lee Colvin, Los Angeles Times; Ronald Costello, Noblesville Schools in Indiana; Marlene Hartzman, Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland; Paul Kimmelman with Illinois' West Northfield School District; David Kroeze with Illinois' Northbrook School District 27; Wayne Martin, Council of Chief State School Officers; Marilyn McConachie, Illinois State Board of Education; Donald McLaughlin, American Institutes for Research; Joseph O'Reilly, Mesa Unified School District in Arizona; Ken Stewart, Bureau of Labor Statistics; David Thissen, Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Carrol Thomas, Beaumont Independent School District in Texas; and C. Scott Trimble, Kentucky Department of Education. We are especially grateful to Patricia Kenney with the University of Michigan for her extensive review and discussion of the plans for constructing NAEP short forms.
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We acknowledge the contribution of a number of individuals at the NRC who provided guidance and assistance at many stages during the organization of the workshops and the preparation of this report. We thank Michael Feuer, executive director of the Center for Education and former director of the Board on Testing and Assessment (BOTA), for his expert guidance and leadership of this project. We are indebted to BOTA staff officer, Karen Mitchell, for her assistance in planning both workshops and writing this report. Karen was a principal source of expertise in both the substance and process for this workshop. We also wish to thank BOTA staff members Patricia Morison, Alix Beatty, and Naomi Chudowsky for their assistance and advice during this study. We thank Kirsten Sampson Snyder for guiding the report through the review process and Yvonne Wise for her editorial assistance.
Special thanks are due to Dorothy Majewski, administrative associate, for her masterful handling of the logistical aspects of this project. In addition to handling the responsibilities associated with setting up committee meetings, Dorothy very capably managed the logistics of holding two workshops within a six-month period, each requiring arrangements for numerous panelists and guests. Subsequent to each workshop, a summary report was prepared and published, and Dorothy was of invaluable assistance in managing the logistics of manuscript preparation, distribution, and review.
Special thanks are also due to Kaeli Knowles, NRC program officer, for her fine work on this project. Kaeli played a major role in setting up the workshop on district-level reporting, contacting workshop participants and guiding them in developing their presentations. Kaeli's assistance during the preparation of both workshop summaries and this final report was immensely helpful.
This project could not have been completed without the capable leadership, management skills, and energy of Judith Koenig, study director. Judith skillfully guided the project through each of its phases to a successful completion. We, as a committee, are truly indebted to Judith for her superb work.
Above all, we thank the committee members for their outstanding contributions to this study. They drafted text, prepared background materials, and helped to organize and run workshops. During the course of the preparation of this final report, the committee chair assumed a new position as BOTA director. Committee members were superbly helpful during this transition, assisting with all aspects of report preparation including writing major portions of this report, responding to reviewer concerns, and revis-
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ing text in accordance with reviewer comments. The chair is particularly grateful to his colleagues on the committee.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Johnny Blair, University of Maryland, College Park; Chris Cross, Council for Basic Education, Washington, DC; Jonathan Dings, Boulder Valley Public Schools, Boulder, Colorado; Stephen Dunbar, University of Iowa; Paul Holland, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey; Don McLaughlin, American Institutes for Research, Palo Alto, California; Thanos Patelis, The College Board, New York City.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Alan Schoenfeld, University of California, Berkeley, appointed by the Center for Education and Lyle Jones, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, appointed by the NRC's Report Review Committee, who were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Pasquale J. DeVito
Chair
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Contents
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