University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Creating an accessible block alternative for the fourth and eighth grade NAEP mathematics assessments

Johnson, Jeremiah M.

Content Files
Johnson_Jeremiah.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/26386

Description

Title
Creating an accessible block alternative for the fourth and eighth grade NAEP mathematics assessments
Author(s)
Johnson, Jeremiah M.
Issue Date
2011-08-26T15:34:04Z
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
DeStefano, Lizanne
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
DeStefano, Lizanne
Committee Member(s)
  • Chang, Hua-Hua
  • Lubienski, Sarah T.
  • Zhang, Jinming
Department of Study
Educational Psychology
Discipline
Educational Psychology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Date of Ingest
2011-08-26T15:34:04Z
Keyword(s)
  • Educational Measurment
  • Educational Assessment
  • Accessibility
  • National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
  • Item Development
  • English Language Learners
  • Students with Disabilities
Abstract
For several years NAEP developers and administrators have been interested in creating accessible blocks as a means of improving measurement of student achievement at the lower levels of the NAEP performance continuum, including students with disabilities (SD) and English language learners (ELL). Increased precision at the lower levels represents an important validity issue regarding the use of NAEP as a means of benchmarking and interpreting change in national and state performance over time. The purpose of the current study was to design and field test an accessible block alternative for the grade 4 and grade 8 NAEP math assessments. The study was conducted in two phases. The first phase of the study focused on the development of a set of Item Modification Guidelines and Item Modification Procedures, and concluded with a small pilot (n = 671 per block). The second phase of the study focused on applying the Item Modification Guidelines and Item Modification Procedures to create two accessible blocks at each grade level (grade 4 and grade 8), administering the blocks to nationally representative samples of NAEP participants (n = 3,504 for grade 4; n = 3,608 for grade 8), and evaluating the results of the study. Results indicated that accessible blocks significantly reduced estimates of standard error for students at the lower end of the NAEP performance continuum. In addition, results indicated that students who completed an accessible block were significantly less likely to skip items and significantly more likely to complete each item on the assessment. The Item Modification Guidelines and Item Modification Procedures outlined in this study have been incorporated into the regular NAEP item development and review process.
Graduation Semester
2011-08
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/26386
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2011 Jeremiah M. Johnson

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