What Does the NAEP Geography Assessment Measure?

NAEP measures the geography knowledge and skills of fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-graders. According to the NAEP Geography Framework, developed by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), the assessment should be organized around two primary dimensions: a content dimension and a cognitive (or thinking) dimension.

The cognitive dimension of the assessment included the following three categories:

• knowing;
• understanding; and
• applying.

The percentages of assessment time devoted to these three cognitive dimensions were established by the framework.

The content dimension included the following three areas:

• space and place;
• environment and society; and
• spatial dynamics and connections.

The distribution of assessment time for all three grades was:

• space and place: 40 percent;
• environment and society: 30 percent; and
• spatial dynamics and connections: 30 percent.

The framework required that the assessment test the elements in an interactive manner: items were created by applying each cognitive dimension to each content dimension. See the elements of the geography assessment and NAEP Questions Tool.

For more detailed information, see the complete NAEP Geography Framework (261K PDF file: requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).

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Last updated 7 May 2004 (CC)