The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has big plans for the 2023-2024 school year!
- It will be a "big state" NAEP year as the mandatory Math and Reading assessments of Grades 4 and 8 will take place. Arizona has a great 10-year trend in NAEP, and we are hopeful that NAEP 2023-2024 will showcase Arizona and our upward trajectory thanks to all the hard work put in by the educators in Arizona.
- A High School Transcript study involving Grade 12 students will take place. After graduation, NAEP will collect the transcripts of all 12th grade students and do an analysis of their high school experience.
- A Middle School Transcript study is being conducted next academic year. Students who are chosen for the 8th grade assessment will have their transcripts collected and analyzed, and reports of their middle school experiences will be reported and analyzed by the National Commission of Educational Statistics.
- The National Indian Educational Student (NIES) is taking place in the 2023-2024 school year, and Arizona is a big part of this study. Arizona does receive state-specific data on our Native American students as so many Native American students call Arizona their home. Students selected to take the NAEP assessment who are identified as Native Americans will be given an extra survey of their educational experiences to better understand the educational context around their education. The NIES study is conducted every 4 years. Results from the 2019 study can be found here: The National Indian Education Study 2019.
In addition to a school coordinator, all schools selected in the NAEP sample will need to provide a school or district technology specialist. This is a new role for NAEP and its data collection. NAEP is moving towards the future and will be using some school resources to support the assessment activities. NAEP will always meet schools where they are at to ensure the uniform and consistent procedures of NAEP data collection are met.
A question I will be receiving soon is, "Why are we selected to take NAEP again?"
NAEP is a sample; however, if you have a large school or serve a unique population, there is a higher chance you will be selected for NAEP. The Arizona Department of Education does not have any say in the sample. It is drawn by the statisticians that work off the Common Core of Data that the National Commission of Educational Statistics keeps on all schools in the United States. They will draw a sample that is representative of Arizona, and if selected, you are required to participate as it is a requirement once a state takes federal funds for education.
