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The average
reading scale score for students in
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Students' average
scores in
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The percentage of
students in
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In
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| Introduction
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Who Was Assessed? In 2003, 53 jurisdictions
participated in NAEP: the 50 states, |
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Cautions in Interpreting Results The averages and
percentages in this report have a standard error—a range of up to a
few points above or below the score—which takes into account potential
score fluctuation due to sampling error and measurement error.
Statistical tests that factor in these standard errors are used to
determine whether the differences between average scores or percentages
are significant. All differences were tested for statistical
significance at the 0.05 level. NAEP sample sizes have increased since
2002 compared to previous years, resulting in smaller standard errors.
As a consequence, smaller differences are detected as statistically
significant than in previous assessments. In
this report, statistically significant differences are referred to as
"significant differences" or "significantly
different." Significant differences between 2003 and prior
assessments are marked with a notation (*) in the tables. Any
differences in scores within a year or across years that are mentioned
in the text as "higher," "lower,"
"greater," or "smaller" are statistically
significant. Estimates
based on small subgroups are likely to have large standard errors.
Consequently some seemingly large differences may not be statistically
significant. The reader is cautioned to rely on reported differences in
the tables and/or text, which are statistically significant, rather than
on the apparent magnitude of any difference. Readers are also cautioned
against interpreting NAEP results causally. Inferences related to
subgroup performance, for example, should take into account the many
socioeconomic and educational factors that may affect student
performance. |
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NAEP Reading 2003
Overall Scale Score and Achievement-Level Results for Public School
Students Overall
Scale Score Results In this section
student performance is reported as an average score based on the NAEP
reading scale, which ranges from 0 to 500. Scores on this scale are
comparable from 1992 through 2003. Prior
to 1998, testing accommodations were not provided for students with
special needs in state reading assessments. In 1998 only, results were
reported for two samples of students: one in which accommodations were
permitted and one in which accommodations were not pemitted. Subsequent
assessment results were based on the more inclusive samples. Table
1 shows the overall performance results of grade 8 public school
students in |
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*
Value is significantly different from the value for the same
jurisdiction in 2003. |
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Overall
Achievement-Level Results In this section
student performance is reported as the percentage of students performing
relative to standards set by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB).
These performance standards for what students should know and be able to
do were based on the recommendations of broadly representative panels of
educators and members of the public. In 1998 only, results were obtained
for student samples for which accommodations were permitted and were not
permitted. Table
2 presents the percentage of students at grade 8 who performed below Basic,
at or above Basic, at or above Proficient, and at the Advanced
level. Because the percentages are cumulative from Basic to Proficient
to Advanced, they sum to more than 100 percent. Only the
percentage of students performing at or above Basic (which
includes the students at Proficient and Advanced) plus the
students below Basic will sum to 100 percent (except for
rounding). |
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*
Value is significantly different from the value for the same
jurisdiction in 2003. |
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Comparisons Between In 2003, 53
jurisdictions participated in the reading assessment. These include the
50 states, the Comparisons by Average Scale Scores Figure 1 compares |
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Comparisons by Achievement Levels
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Reading
Performance by Demographic Characteristics This
section of the report presents trend results for students in
Definitions
of NAEP reporting groups are available on the NAEP web site (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/ |
Each
of the variables is reported in tables that present the percentage of
students belonging to each subgroup in the first column and the average
scale score in the second column. The columns to the right show the
percentage of students at or above each achievement-level. The
reader is cautioned against making causal inferences about the
performance of groups of students relative to demographic variables.
Many factors other than those discussed here, including home and school
factors, may affect student performance. NAEP
collects information on many additional variables, including school and
home factors related to achievement. All of this information is in an
interactive database available on the NAEP web site (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/).
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Gender Information on student gender is reported by schools on
rosters of students eligible to be assessed. Table
3 shows scale scores and achievement-level data for public-school
students at grade 8 in |
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*
Value is significantly different from the value for the same
jurisdiction in 2003. |
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Toward a More
Inclusive NAEP NAEP endeavors to assess
all students selected in the randomized sampling process, including
students with disabilities (SD) as well as students who are classified
by their schools as limited-English-proficient (LEP). Some students
sampled for participation in NAEP can be excluded from the sample
according to carefully defined criteria. School personnel, guided by the
student's Individualized Education Program (IEP), as well as eligibility
for Section 504 services, make decisions regarding inclusion in the
assessment of students with disabilities. They also make decisions
regarding inclusion of LEP students, based on NAEP's guidelines. This
includes evaluating the student's capability of participating in the
assessment in English, as well as taking into consideration the number
of years the student has been receiving instruction in English. Percentages
of students excluded from NAEP may vary considerably across states, and
within a state, across years. Comparisons of results across states and
within a state across years should be interpreted with caution if the
exclusion rates vary widely. The percentages of students classified as
SD or LEP in all participating states and jurisdictions are available in
an interactive database at the NAEP web site (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/).
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The
results displayed in this report and in other publications of the NAEP
2003 reading results are based on representative samples that include SD
and LEP students who were assessed either with or without
accommodations, based on NAEP's guidelines. Prior to 1998, however, in
state NAEP reading assessments no testing accommodations or adaptations
were made available to the special-needs students in the samples that
served as the basis for reported results. In the
1998 national and state reading assessments and the 2000 national (grade
4 only) reading assessment, NAEP drew a second representative sample of
schools. Accommodations were made available for students in this sample
who required them, provided the accommodation did not change the nature
of what was tested. For example, students could be assessed one-on-one
or in small groups, receive extended time, or use a large-print test
book. However, for reading students were not permitted to have passages
or test items read aloud. NAEP has used these comparable samples to
study the effects of allowing accommodations for special-needs students
in the assessments. A series of technical research papers covering
various NAEP subject areas has been published with the results of these
comparisons (see http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/inclusion.asp
#research). Table
4 presents the total number of students assessed, the percentage of
students sampled that were excluded, and average scale scores for all
participating states and other jurisdictions at grade 8. |
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NOTE:
The NAEP reading scale ranges from 0 to 500. The standard errors of the
statistics in the table appear in parentheses. |
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Appendix Drawing Inferences from the Results The reported statistics
are estimates and are therefore subject to a measure of uncertainty.
There are two sources of such uncertainty. First, NAEP uses a sample of
students rather than testing all students. Second, all assessments have
some amount of uncertainty related to the fact that they cannot ask all
questions that might be asked in a content area. The magnitude of this
uncertainty is reflected in the standard error of each of the estimates.
When the percentages or average scale scores of certain groups are
compared, the estimated standard error should be taken into account.
Therefore, the comparisons are based on statistical tests that consider
the estimated standard errors of those statistics and the magnitude of
the difference among the averages or percentages. For
the data from this report, all the estimates have corresponding
estimated standard errors of the estimates. For example, the following
tables show the average national public-school scale score for the NAEP
1992–2003 national assessments and achievement-level results. In both
tables, estimated standard errors appear in parentheses next to each
estimated scale score or percentage. For the estimated standard errors
corresponding to other data from this report, the reader can go to the
data tool on the NCES web site at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/. Average reading scale
scores and standard errors, grades 4 and 8 public schools: 1992–2003
Percentage of students
and standard errors, by reading achievement level, grades 4 and 8 public
schools: 1992–2003
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Using
confidence intervals based on the standard errors provides a way to take
into account the uncertainty associated with sample estimates and to
make inferences about the population averages and percentages in a
manner that reflects that uncertainty. An estimated sample average scale
score plus or minus 1.96 standard errors approximates a 95 percent
confidence interval for the corresponding population quantity. This
statement means that one can conclude with an approximately 95 percent
level of confidence that the average performance of the entire
population of interest (e.g., all fourth-grade students in public
schools) is within plus or minus 1.96 standard errors of the sample
average. For
example, suppose that the average reading scale score of the students in
a particular group was 256 with an estimated standard error of 1.2. An
approximately 95 percent confidence interval for the population quantity
would be as follows: Average
± 1.96 standard errors Thus,
one can conclude with a 95 percent level of confidence that the average
scale score for the entire population of students in that group is
between 253.6 and 258.4. It should be noted that this example and the
examples in the following sections are illustrative. More precise
estimates carried out to one or more decimal places are used in the
actual analyses. Similar
confidence intervals can be constructed for percentages, if the
percentages are not extremely large or extremely small. Extreme
percentages should be interpreted with caution. Adding or subtracting
the standard errors associated with extreme percentages could cause the
confidence interval to exceed 100 percent or fall below 0 percent,
resulting in numbers that are not meaningful. |
Where to Find
More Information The
NAEP Reading Assessment The latest news about the
NAEP 2003 reading assessment and the national results can be found on
the NAEP web site at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/results/.
The individual snapshot reports for each participating state and other
jurisdictions are also available in the state results section of the web
site at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/states/. The Nation's
Report Card: Reading Highlights 2003 may be ordered or downloaded
from the NAEP web site. The Nation's Report Card: Additional
Results from the For more findings from
the 2003 reading assessments, refer to the NAEP 2003 results at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/.
The interactive database at this site includes student, teacher, and
school variables for all participating states and other jurisdictions,
the nation, and the four regions. Data tables are also available for
each jurisdiction, with all background questions cross-tabulated with
the major demographic variables. Technical
Documentation For explanations of NAEP
survey procedures see Allen, N. L., Donoghue, J. R., and Schoeps, T. L.
(2001). The NAEP 1998 Technical Report. (NCES 2001–509). Publications
on the inclusion of students with disabilities and
limited-English-proficient students Olson, J. F., and
Goldstein, A. A. (1997). The Inclusion of Students with Disabilities
and Limited English Proficient Students in Large-Scale Assessments: A
Summary of Recent Progress (NCES 97–482). Mazzeo, J., Carlson, J.
E., Voelkl, K. E., and Lutkus, A. D. (2000). Increasing the
Participation of Special-Needs Students in NAEP: A Report on 1998
Research Activities (NCES 2000–473). Lutkus, A. D., and Mazzeo,
J. (2003). Including Special-Needs Students in the NAEP 1998 Lutkus, A. D.
(forthcoming). Including Special-Needs Students in the NAEP 1998 To
Order Publications Recent NAEP publications
related to reading are listed on the reading page of the NAEP web site
and are available electronically. Publications can also be ordered from:
Education Publications
Center (ED Pubs) |