Return to Normal View

DOE Homepage Students Educators Community Family Administrators and Staff MyFlorida.com

Florida Department of Education
DOE Home

Assessment & School Performance (ASP)

 

 Assessment & School Performance (ASP) 

Text Index Google Custom Search

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

Assessment Home | Feedback | Contact Us | NAEP Home

NAEP Contractors

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) contracts with various organizations to develop, carry out, and analyze the results of NAEP. These contractors, selected by NCES, are responsible for the core activities of NAEP, such as design, sampling, data collection, printing and scoring, analysis, and reporting. The contractors who carry out the core NAEP activities are referred to as the “NAEP Alliance.” NCES also awards funding to each State Education Agency to support a fulltime NAEP State Coordinator (NSC) in each state.

NSCs:

  • serve as the liaison between the State Education Agency and NAEP
  • review NAEP assessment items and processes as the state’s representative
  • oversee the NAEP administration in their state
  • analyze and report NAEP data
  • coordinate the use of NAEP results for policy and program planning

The current members of the NAEP Alliance (PDF, 42KB) are Westat, Educational Testing Service (ETS), American Institutes for Research (AIR), Pearson Educational Measurement (Pearson), Fulcrum IT, and Hager Sharp and HumRRO.

NAEP Alliance Contractors

Westat:

  • responsible for Sampling and Data Collection (SDC)
    • selects representative samples of schools and students
    • prepares sample weights for NAEP assessments
    • administers assessments and collects data from pilot and field tests, operational assessments, and special studies
    • ships completed assessment materials to the scoring sites
  • manages the NAEP State Service Center (NSSC)
    • develops and delivers technical assistance and training for the NSCs through the NSSC
    • answers information requests regarding NAEP
    • maintains a NAEP Information Center

ETS:

  • serves as the Design, Analysis, and Reporting (DAR) Coordinator
    • designs operational assessments, pilot and field tests, and special studies
    • analyzes data to ensure the reporting of valid results
    • proposes and studies psychometric and statistical analyses compatible with previous NAEP methodologies
    • determines the data needed to meet the goals for reporting
    • prepares national and selected state NAEP reports
    • provides the tools NSCs use to analyze NAEP data and prepare state reports

American Institutes for Research (AIR):

  • serves as Item Developer (ID) in conjunction with ETS
    • develops NAEP background variables, cognitive items, and scoring rubrics
    • assists in scoring and training of scorers
    • conducts small-scale pilot tests of the items and rubrics
    • participates in reviews of items
  • performs the duties of State Analysis (SA)
    • monitors academic progress and the performance trends of states and their identified subgroups
    • portrays patterns of achievement gaps between the subgroups on NAEP state assessments
    • explains the NAEP state results
    • identifies patterns of performance that could affect NAEP assessments in states/jurisdictions

Pearson Educational Measurement (PEM):

  • responsible for Material Preparation, Distribution, and Scoring (MDS)
    • prepares and packages the assessment and auxiliary materials
    • distributes assessment booklets and materials to the test administrators for each school
    • develops training and scoring materials
    • scores all assessments

Fulcrum IT

  • responsible for Web Operations and Maintenance (WOM)
    • acquires, develops, implements, and supports Internet-related applications and services for NAEP and NAEP contractors
    • identifies and deploys emerging technologies and new products to improve NAEP's offerings
    • ensures timely services and release of quality products using web technologies
    • oversees the public NAEP website, hosts the NAEP Network website, and develops and hosts an information management system for NAEP contractors
    • supports and provides access to web-based analysis tools that NSCs use to prepare state-specific analyses and reports

Hager Sharp:

  • responsible for Dissemination and Outreach (DO)
    • creates products to promote public awareness of NAEP and to facilitate the administration of NAEP
    • designs and produces a booth to display materials and showcase NAEP
    • provides staffing of booths for two major conferences per year
    • creates dissemination plans for NAEP reports, special studies, and secondary analysis grants
    • issues press releases, handles data release events, and maintains relationships with the press
  • handles Meeting Logistics (ML)
    • plans and staffs meetings
    • arranges travel and related activities for meetings within and external to the Washington, DC metropolitan area

Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO):

  • handles NAEP Quality Assurance (QA)
    • monitors and identifies potential technical and operational errors
    • staff often attend NSSC workshops along with NSCs

Contact

The NAEP contact for the state of Florida is Michele Sonnenfeld. She can be contacted by e-mail at or by telephone at (850) 245-0513.

The direct link to Florida’s NAEP state profile page is http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/Default.aspx?st=FL