Publications & Products

Pub Number	Title	Date
NCES 2013450	Mega-States: An Analysis of Student Performance in the Five Most Heavily Populated States in the Nation California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas enroll close to 40 percent of the nation’s public school students. The importance of these “Mega-States” goes beyond the sheer size of their population. They now serve more than half of the nation’s English language learners (ELL), as well as some of the largest concentrations of children from lower-income families. As policymakers and educators look at the nation’s changing demographics and explore ways to close achievement gaps, the educational progress of children in these states is of interest far beyond their state borders. That’s why the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Assessment Governing Board focused this special report on educational outcomes in the five largest states. Mega-States generally do not perform higher than the nation, but they have made some gains over time. The most recent NAEP results reveal some achievements and challenges across the Mega-States. They include the following: California scored lower than the nation in reading, mathematics, and science. Florida scored higher than the nation in grade 4 reading, but lower in grade 8 mathematics and science. Illinois scored higher than the nation in grade 8 reading, but lower in science. New York scored higher than the nation in grade 4 reading, but lower in grade 4 mathematics and grade 8 mathematics and science. Texas scored higher than the nation in grade 8 mathematics and science, and lower in reading. The report features more information on the performance of different student groups in these assessments, and looks at gains over time. In many cases, students in the Mega-States have made significant gains, or rival the nation in the percentage of students at the Proficient achievement level.	2/21/2013
NCES 2013454	Testing Integrity: Issues and Recommendations for Best Practice This report is part of a broader effort by the Department of Education to identify and disseminate practices and policies to assist efforts to improve the validity and reliability of assessment results. The report draws upon the opinions of experts and practitioners who responded to the Department’s Request for Information (RFI), the comments and discussions from NCES’ Testing Integrity Symposium, and, where available, policy manuals or professional standards published by State Education Agencies (SEAs) and professional associations. The report focuses on four areas related to testing integrity: (1) the prevention of irregularities in academic testing; (2) the detection and analysis of testing irregularities; (3) the response to an investigation of alleged and/or actual misconduct; and (4) testing integrity practices for technology-based assessments.	2/12/2013
NCES 2013452	Vocabulary Results from the 2009 and 2011 NAEP Reading Assessments This report presents results focusing on the vocabulary component of the 2009 and 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessments. Examples of vocabulary questions at grades 4, 8, and 12 are presented in the report along with the percentages of students who responded correctly. Students’ overall performance on the vocabulary questions is reported as average scores on the NAEP vocabulary scale. Results are provided for fourth- and eighth-graders in the nation, the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Department of Defense schools. At grade 12, results are reported for the nation and 11 states that volunteered to participate in the 2009 state pilot program (the NAEP reading assessment was not administered in 2011 at grade 12). Results for student groups based on race/ethnicity, gender, and indicators of family income are also included. The Technical Notes provide information on the vocabulary assessment design, and appendix tables present data supporting results highlighted in the body of the report. At all three grades, students who scored higher on vocabulary questions also scored higher in reading comprehension. For example, in 2011, fourth-grade students performing above the 75th percentile in reading comprehension also had the highest average vocabulary score; and lower-performing fourth-graders at or below the 25th percentile in reading comprehension had the lowest average vocabulary score. For each of the three grades, average vocabulary scores for White and Asian/Pacific Islander students were higher than the scores for Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native students. Female students scored higher on average than male students at grades 4 and 8 in 2011; however, no gender gap was observed in the performance of male and female twelfth-graders in 2009. Vocabulary scores in 2011 for both fourth- and eighth-graders in 17 states and the Department of Defense schools were higher than the national averages.	12/6/2012

NCES 2013450

Mega-States: An Analysis of Student Performance in the Five Most Heavily Populated States in the Nation
California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas enroll close to 40 percent of the nation’s public school students. The importance of these “Mega-States” goes beyond the sheer size of their population. They now serve more than half of the nation’s English language learners (ELL), as well as some of the largest concentrations of children from lower-income families. As policymakers and educators look at the nation’s changing demographics and explore ways to close achievement gaps, the educational progress of children in these states is of interest far beyond their state borders. That’s why the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Assessment Governing Board focused this special report on educational outcomes in the five largest states.

Mega-States generally do not perform higher than the nation, but they have made some gains over time. The most recent NAEP results reveal some achievements and challenges across the Mega-States. They include the following:

California scored lower than the nation in reading, mathematics, and science.
Florida scored higher than the nation in grade 4 reading, but lower in grade 8 mathematics and science.
Illinois scored higher than the nation in grade 8 reading, but lower in science.
New York scored higher than the nation in grade 4 reading, but lower in grade 4 mathematics and grade 8 mathematics and science.
Texas scored higher than the nation in grade 8 mathematics and science, and lower in reading.

The report features more information on the performance of different student groups in these assessments, and looks at gains over time. In many cases, students in the Mega-States have made significant gains, or rival the nation in the percentage of students at the Proficient achievement level.

2/21/2013

NCES 2013454

Testing Integrity: Issues and Recommendations for Best Practice
This report is part of a broader effort by the Department of Education to identify and disseminate practices and policies to assist efforts to improve the validity and reliability of assessment results. The report draws upon the opinions of experts and practitioners who responded to the Department’s Request for Information (RFI), the comments and discussions from NCES’ Testing Integrity Symposium, and, where available, policy manuals or professional standards published by State Education Agencies (SEAs) and professional associations.

The report focuses on four areas related to testing integrity: (1) the prevention of irregularities in academic testing; (2) the detection and analysis of testing irregularities; (3) the response to an investigation of alleged and/or actual misconduct; and (4) testing integrity practices for technology-based assessments.

2/12/2013

NCES 2013452

Vocabulary Results from the 2009 and 2011 NAEP Reading Assessments
This report presents results focusing on the vocabulary component of the 2009 and 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessments. Examples of vocabulary questions at grades 4, 8, and 12 are presented in the report along with the percentages of students who responded correctly. Students’ overall performance on the vocabulary questions is reported as average scores on the NAEP vocabulary scale. Results are provided for fourth- and eighth-graders in the nation, the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Department of Defense schools. At grade 12, results are reported for the nation and 11 states that volunteered to participate in the 2009 state pilot program (the NAEP reading assessment was not administered in 2011 at grade 12). Results for student groups based on race/ethnicity, gender, and indicators of family income are also included. The Technical Notes provide information on the vocabulary assessment design, and appendix tables present data supporting results highlighted in the body of the report.

At all three grades, students who scored higher on vocabulary questions also scored higher in reading comprehension. For example, in 2011, fourth-grade students performing above the 75th percentile in reading comprehension also had the highest average vocabulary score; and lower-performing fourth-graders at or below the 25th percentile in reading comprehension had the lowest average vocabulary score. For each of the three grades, average vocabulary scores for White and Asian/Pacific Islander students were higher than the scores for Black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Native students. Female students scored higher on average than male students at grades 4 and 8 in 2011; however, no gender gap was observed in the performance of male and female twelfth-graders in 2009. Vocabulary scores in 2011 for both fourth- and eighth-graders in 17 states and the Department of Defense schools were higher than the national averages.

12/6/2012

Publications & Products Search