NRRF - - Validity of 1998 NAEP Test Scores Under Scrutiny

NRRF - Validity of 1998 NAEP Test Scores Under Scrutiny Validity of 1998 NAEP Test Scores Under Scrutiny

Two recent articles by the Associated Press regarding 1998 NAEP testing are worth noting:

April 13, 1999
Reading Gains Now Questioned
Some pupils excluded in high-scoring states

WASHINGTON — A much-heralded recent gain in children's reading may have been overstated because some states excluded more students with disabilities.

The issue is whether the excluded students, if they had taken the National Assessment of Educational progress test, would have performed poorly.

The test is given roughly every two years to a nationwide sample of children in three grade levels in core subjects like math and reading. It's generally the only way to compare student progress nationwide, because states' tests vary.

For the first time in a decade, many states participating in the 1998 test showed significant increases in the reading scores of fourth-graders over 1994, the last time reading was tested.

The scores, released by the Education Department, drew particular attention because low-ranking states — many of which suffered political fallout over previous poor showings — also made gains.

Further review found that some states with high gains also left out more students from the testing.

Kentucky pulled out 10 percent of students selected for its 1998 sample, compared with 4 percent in 1994. Louisiana pulled 13 percent in 1998, up from 6 percent. And Connecticut, the highest-scoring state, removed 10 percent, up from 6 percent.

Jim Parks, spokesman for Kentucky's Department of Education, said, "Nobody knows what those students would have scored if they had taken the test."

Kent Orlander of the Lexington-based Family Foundation, which has questioned Kentucky's educational efforts, agrees but says the increase is troubling.

"If you're taking out so many more students who are judged as less likely to achieve well on the test, how can you confidently assert that you are in fact improving?" Orlander said.

Saturday, April 17, 1999
N.C. Reading Gains May Not Be So Good After All

RALEIGH — One month after state leaders touted gains by fourth-graders on a national reading test, it appears that results may be recalculated because large numbers of children with disabilities were excluded. Results from the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress showed North Carolina's fourth graders had an average scale score of 217 points, up from 214 in 1994 and compared to a national average of 215.

However, the number of students excluded from taking the test because they were classified as learning disabled jumped to 10 percent in 1998 compared to only 5 percent in 1994. Concerns about similar disparities across the country has prompted the U.S. Department of Education to announce that it will revise the scores of some states. Federal officials have not said whether North Carolina will be among those.

"I don't think they did anything intentionally wrong, but if they are really on top of testing...they should have been concerned and made plans to find out what the story really was," said Don Carrington, vice president of the John Locke Foundation.

The Locke Foundation, a conservative think-tank based in Raleigh, will release its own report Monday.

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