The NAEP Mathematics Achievement LevelsNAEP assessment results provide information about what students know and can do (see the NAEP mathematics scale). Additionally, NAEP provides information about what students should know and be able to do. This information comes from the NAEP achievement levels, which are intended to measure how well students' actual achievement matches the achievement desired of them in different subjects assessed by NAEP. The National Assessment Governing Board, as directed by the NAEP legislation, has been developing achievement levels for NAEP since 1990. A broadly representative panel of teachers, education specialists, and members of the general public help define and review achievement levels. As provided by law, the achievement levels are to be used on a trial basis and should be interpreted and used with caution. There are three achievement levels for each grade assessed by NAEP (4, 8, and 12): Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. The following definitions apply to all subjects and all grades assessed by NAEP:
Explore how the achievement levels are used to describe mathematics performance at each of the three grade levels. For each achievement level listed, the score on the NAEP mathematics scale that corresponds to the beginning of that achievement level is shown. The cut score that indicates the lower end of the score range for each level is shown in parentheses. Cut scores show the connection between scale scores and achievement levels. For grades 4 and 8, the scale score range is from 0–500. In 2005, the scale for grade 12 was changed from 0–500 to 0–300. The achievement levels for grades 4 and 8 have remained the same since 1990. With the introduction of changes in the mathematics framework in 2005, the description and cut score for grade 12 changed. These changes are intended to reflect recent curricular emphases and to ensure that NAEP assesses an appropriate balance of content. Because of the changes in the framework at grade 12, it was not possible to maintain trend on the 0–500 scale. Trend will be maintained for grades 4 and 8. The National Assessment Governing Board site provides a reference booklet (718K PDF file; requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) with descriptions of the NAEP mathematics achievement levels, cut scores, and sample questions with illustrations of student knowledge and skills required within each achievement level.
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