More About NAEP GeographyThe NAEP geography assessment presents a broad view of what America's students know and can do in geography. The assessment was developed by a committee of geography and measurement experts to capture the goals of the NAEP Geography Framework. The framework, which describes the goals of the assessment and what kind of exercises it ought to feature, was created by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) through a developmental process involving teachers, curriculum coordinators, geographic educators, academic geographers, assessment experts, and lay people. The Geography Development Committee was instrumental in the development of the assessment. At grades 4, 8, and 12, the assessment consisted of the following types of questions:
Approximately 50 percent of assessment time was devoted to open-ended tasks. NAEP also gives background questionnaires to teachers, students, and schools that are part of the NAEP sample. Responses to these questionnaires give NAEP information about school policies affecting geography instruction, as well as information from schools about educational resources. For more information about NAEP, the nation's only ongoing assessment of what students know and can do in various subjects, go to Overview.
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