At the request of the U.S. Department of Education, the National Research Council (NRC) established the Committee on NAEP Reporting Practices to examine the feasibility and potential impact of district-level and market-basket reporting practices. As part of its charge, the committee sponsored a workshop in February 2000 to gather information on issues related to market-basket reporting for the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). Designing a Market Basket for NAEP: Summary of a Workshop explores with various stakeholders their interest in and perceptions regarding the desirability, feasibility, and potential impact of market-basket reporting for the NAEP. The market-basket concept is based on the idea that a relatively limited set of items can represent some larger construct. The general idea of a NAEP market basket is based on an image of a collection of test questions representative of some larger content domain and an easily understood index to summarize performance on the items.

At the request of the U.S. Department of Education, the National Research Council (NRC) established the Committee on NAEP Reporting Practices to examine the feasibility and potential impact of district-level and market-basket reporting practices. As part of its charge, the committee sponsored a workshop in February 2000 to gather information on issues related to market-basket reporting for the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). Designing a Market Basket for NAEP: Summary of a Workshop explores with various stakeholders their interest in and perceptions regarding the desirability, feasibility, and potential impact of market-basket reporting for the NAEP. The market-basket concept is based on the idea that a relatively limited set of items can represent some larger construct. The general idea of a NAEP market basket is based on an image of a collection of test questions representative of some larger content domain and an easily understood index to summarize performance on the items.

A committee of the National Research Council studied the desirability, feasibility, and potential impact of two reporting practices for National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results: district-level reporting and market-basket reporting. NAEP's sponsors believe that reporting district-level NAEP results would support state and local education reform efforts. The proposal for a market-based approach to NAEP reporting is based on the belief that the large-scale release of a market-basket set of items could demystify the assessment by providing many examples of the content and skills assessed and the format of items. Using percent correct scores to summarize performance on the market basket would be an attempt to make test results more user friendly. Data from a variety of sources, including workshops attended by representatives of the National Assessment Governing Board, the National Center for Education Statistics, and other interested parties, were used to examine these issues and those posed by the use of a NAEP short form. Market research emphasizing both needs analysis and product analysis is necessary to evaluate the level of interest in district-level reporting, and the decision to move ahead should be based on real interest. Any decisions about the configuration of the NAEP market basket will involve tradeoffs, and some methods would result in simpler procedures than others without supporting the desired inferences. If the decision is made to design a market basket for the NAEP, its configurations should be based on a clear articulation of the purposes and objectives of the market basket. These new reporting practices would provide information that would receive attention from new audiences for NAEP results. The potential of these reporting methods for significant impact on curriculum and assessment at local levels is high. If either is implemented, program sponsors should develop intensive support systems. One appendix discusses the background and current uses of the consumer price index, and the other illustrates a usability evaluation of depicting changes in reading scores. (Contains 4 figures, 2 tables, and 103 references.) (SLD)

At the request of the Department of Education, the National Research Council formed the Committee on NAEP Reporting Practices to address questions about the desirability, feasibility, and potential impact of implementing these reporting practices. The committee developed study questions designed to address issues surrounding district-level and market-basket reporting.

Drawing on the work of internationally acclaimed experts in the field, Handbook of Item Response Theory, Volume 3: Applications presents applications of item response theory to practical testing problems. While item response theory may be known primarily for its advances in theoretical modeling of responses to test items, equal progress has been made in its providing innovative solutions to daily testing problems. This third volume in a three-volume set highlights the major applications. Specifically, this volume covers applications to test item calibration, item analysis, model fit checking, test-score interpretation, optimal test design, adaptive testing, standard setting, and forensic analyses of response data. It describes advances in testing in areas such as large-scale educational assessment, psychological testing, health measurement, and measurement of change. In addition, it extensively reviews computer programs available to run any of the models and applications in Volume One and Three. Features Includes contributions from internationally acclaimed experts with a history of advancing applications of item response theory Provides extensive cross-referencing and common notation across all chapters in this three-volume set Underscores the importance of treating each application in a statistically rigorous way Reviews major computer programs for item response theory analyses and applications. Wim J. van der Linden is a distinguished scientist and director of research and innovation at Pacific Metrics Corporation. Dr. van der Linden is also a professor emeritus of measurement and data analysis at the University of Twente. His research interests include test theory, adaptive testing, optimal test assembly, parameter linking, test equating, and response-time modeling as well as decision theory and its applications to problems of educational decision making.

Since the late 1960s, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)--the nation's report card--has been the only continuing measure of student achievement in key subject areas. Increasingly, educators and policymakers have expected NAEP to serve as a lever for education reform and many other purposes beyond its original role. Grading the Nation's Report Card examines ways NAEP can be strengthened to provide more informative portrayals of student achievement and the school and system factors that influence it. The committee offers specific recommendations and strategies for improving NAEP's effectiveness and utility, including: Linking achievement data to other education indicators. Streamlining data collection and other aspects of its design. Including students with disabilities and English-language learners. Revamping the process by which achievement levels are set. The book explores how to improve NAEP framework documents--which identify knowledge and skills to be assessed--with a clearer eye toward the inferences that will be drawn from the results. What should the nation expect from NAEP? What should NAEP do to meet these expectations? This book provides a blueprint for a new paradigm, important to education policymakers, professors, and students, as well as school administrators and teachers, and education advocates.