Content to be Assessed Across the History of the National Assessment of Educational Progress

Abstract

Performance of US students on large-scale assessments influences the nation’s educational policy and curriculum. Both performance changes over time and comparisons of US students with students from other nations influence federal and state policies and ultimately the curriculum enacted in the classroom. Policy makers are aware of performance differences and explanations for differences posited by policy analysts but are generally ignorant of the science knowledge and skills measured by the assessment instruments that produce the data on which performance comparisons are based. For the most part teachers are familiar with the science knowledge and skills measured by their state’s assessment but not with the science knowledge and skills measured by the US National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) or international assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). This chapter is based on the premise that data on which progress is measured and international comparisons are made should be evaluated using the knowledge and abilities measured by the items as well as statistical criteria that define measurement quality. It describes and compares the science knowledge and abilities to be assessed by Science NAEP from its first administration in 1969 to the present time. This chapter begins with the science knowledge and abilities described in the document Science Objectives (Committee on Assessing the Progress of Education 1969) which provided the specifications for the first Science NAEP assessment and ends with the Science Framework for the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (National Assessment Governing Board 2008). Changes in the knowledge and abilities and the factors such as the US economy and the status of US science that influenced the changes as well as federal/state policy debates surrounding where responsibility for the school curriculum resides are included in this chapter.