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[Federal Register: February 5, 2010 (Volume 75, Number 24)]
[Notices]               
[Page 6012-6013]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05fe10-58]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

 
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Education, National Assessment Governing 
Board.

ACTION: Notice of opportunity for public comment for evaluating and 
finalizing achievement levels definitions for the National Assessment 
of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading.

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SUMMARY: The National Assessment Governing Board is soliciting public 
comment and recommendations for improvements to the achievement levels 
definitions for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 
in reading. These achievement levels definitions describe the reading 
skills and abilities that students should demonstrate at each 
achievement level.
    Public and private parties and organizations are invited to provide 
written comments and recommendations. Voluntary participation by all 
interested parties is urged. This notice sets forth the review 
schedule, identifies the kind of information that the Governing Board 
is required to verify regarding achievement levels, and provides 
information for accessing additional materials that will be useful for 
this review. This document is intended to notify members of the general 
public of their opportunity to provide comment.

Background

    Under Public Law 107-279, the National Assessment Governing Board 
(NAGB) is authorized to formulate policy guidelines for NAEP. The 
legislation specifies that the Governing Board is to develop 
appropriate student achievement levels for each subject and grade 
tested, as provided in section 303(e). Such levels are determined by 
identifying the knowledge that can be measured and verified objectively 
using widely accepted professional assessment standards; and developing 
achievement levels that are consistent with relevant widely accepted 
professional assessment standards and

[[Page 6013]]

based on the appropriate level of subject matter knowledge for grade 
levels to be assessed, or the age of the students, as the case may be.
    In preparation for reporting the results of the new assessment of 
reading at grades 4, 8, and 12, the Governing Board convened panels of 
reading content experts to participate in a study for producing draft 
achievement levels descriptions. The Governing Board seeks comment on 
the draft achievement levels descriptions and recommendations for 
improvements. All responses will be taken into consideration before 
finalizing the definitions for Board adoption. Once adopted, these 
descriptions will be used in reporting performance on NAEP relative to 
the achievement levels in 2009 and for all subsequent assessments until 
a new framework is developed for the reading NAEP.

Review Materials for Comment and Review

    Materials for this review are located at http://www.nagb.org/newsroom/release/release-012710.htm.
    (1) Policy Definitions: The Governing Board adopted policy 
definitions of student performance that identify in very general terms 
what is meant by Basic, Proficient, and Advanced achievement levels. 
These policy definitions apply for any subject and grade assessed in 
NAEP, and they are used for developing the achievement levels 
descriptions to be used in reporting NAEP results in a specific subject 
and grade--such as for the 2009 reading NAEP at grades 4, 8, and 12. 
The policy definitions are posted on the web site for this review.
    (2) Draft Achievement Level Descriptions for Reading: The draft 
achievement levels descriptions for reading at the Basic, Proficient, 
and Advanced levels for grades 4, 8, and 12. The achievement levels 
descriptions (ALDs) were written to describe how students should be 
able to perform on the reading NAEP assessment in order to demonstrate 
achievement that the Governing Board has defined as Basic, Proficient, 
and Advanced for NAEP.
    (3) Reading Framework: In addition to the policy definitions of 
Basic, Proficient, and Advanced achievement, the achievement levels 
descriptions must represent the framework used for developing the 
reading NAEP. Please see chapter 2 of the Reading Framework for the 
2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress for more information 
about the NAEP reading assessment and details regarding the cognitive 
targets assessed.
    (4) Focus Questions: Finally, some of the aspects of the 
achievement levels descriptions that the Governing Board must address 
are included. All comments will be appreciated, and your comments on 
and recommendations regarding these aspects will be especially 
appreciated.
    The Board is seeking comment from policymakers, teachers, 
researchers, state and local reading specialists, members of 
professional reading and teacher organizations, and members of the 
public.
    It is anticipated that the finalized achievement levels 
descriptions will be presented for approval at the Governing Board 
meeting on March 4-6, 2010.

Timelines

    Comments must be received by February 10, 2010 and sent to:

National Assessment Governing Board, 800 North Capitol Street, NW., 
Suite 825, Washington, DC 20002, Attention: Susan Loomis: Public 
Comment, FAX: (202) 357-6945, E-mail: Susan.Loomis@ed.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Susan Loomis, National Assessment 
Governing Board, 800 North Capitol Street, NW., Suite 825, Washington, 
DC 20002-4233, Telephone: (202) 357-6940.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Specific questions that the Board seeks responses to include the 
following:
    1. How well do the reading achievement levels descriptions (ALDs) 
for each grade and level represent the policy definitions overall? You 
may want to address each grade level separately.
    2. Does the progression within each grade from Basic to Proficient 
to Advanced in the reading skills that students should demonstrate seem 
reasonable?
    3. Does the progression across the three grade levels of reading 
skills required for performance within each achievement level (Basic/
Proficient/Advanced) seem reasonable?
    4. Is the relative emphasis of the cognitive targets in the 
achievement levels descriptions appropriate for each achievement level 
and grade?
    5. Finally, are the achievement definitions useful, i.e., do they 
convey an understanding of what students should be able to do in 
reading at the different grade levels?
    Your comments and recommendations for improving the achievement 
levels descriptions will be appreciated.
    Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as 
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal 
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the 
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister/index.html. To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is 
available free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, 
call the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free at 1-888-293-
6498; or in the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.

    Note: The official version of this document is the document 
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the 
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal 
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.


    Dated: February 2, 2010.
Mary Crovo,
Deputy Executive Director, National Assessment Governing Board, U.S. 
Department of Education.
[FR Doc. 2010-2550 Filed 2-4-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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