Council of State Science Supervisors Involved in the NAEP Reform
CSSS in cooperation with CCSSO and NAGB helped provide feedback from
every region of the country last spring. Eleven regional sessions
were planned and carried out by CSSS members and regional colleagues. This
feedback was an important part of helping to update the new Science
Framework for the upcoming (2009) NAEP Science Assessment.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Since 1969, assessments have been conducted periodically in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and the arts.
NAEP Science
Science was tested in 2000 and
2005 under the NAEP system of rotating content areas. Science will next be tested in 2009. NAEP
has been revising the frameworks on which the 2009 Science Assessment
will be based.
Framework Reform Process
Each NAEP assessment is built around an organizing framework, which is
the blueprint that guides the development of the assessment instrument
and determines the content to be assessed. The National
Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) develops the NAEP frameworks.
Frameworks capture a range of subject-specific content and thinking
skills needed by students in order to deal with the complex issues they
encounter inside and outside their classrooms. The NAEP frameworks are
determined through a framework development process that ensures they
are appropriate for current educational requirements. Because the assessments
must remain flexible to mirror changes in educational objectives and
curricula, the frameworks must be forward-looking and responsive, balancing
current teaching practices with research findings.
Developing a framework generally involves the following steps:
- widespread participation and reviews by educators and state education officials;
- reviews by steering committees whose members represent policymakers, practitioners, and members of the general public;
- involvement of subject supervisors from education agencies;
- public hearings; and
- reviews by scholars in the field, by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) staff, and by a policy advisory panel.
