NAEP 2018 Recruitment Change Memo

Memorandum United States Department of Education

Institute of Education Sciences

National Center for Education Statistics

DATE: Septeber 19, 2017

TO: Robert Sivinski, OMB

THROUGH: Kashka Kubzdela, OMB Liaison, NCES

FROM: Linda Hamilton, NEAP Project, NCES

SUBJECT: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2018 Recruitment Materials Change Request (OMB# 1850-0928 v.8).

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), is a federally authorized survey of student achievement at grades 4, 8, and 12 in various subject areas, such as mathematics, reading, writing, science, U.S. history, civics, geography, economics, technology and engineering literacy (TEL), and the arts. The National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (Public Law 107-279 Title III, section 303) requires the assessment to collect data on specified student groups and characteristics, including information organized by race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, disability, and limited English proficiency. It requires fair and accurate presentation of achievement data and permits the collection of background, noncognitive, or descriptive information that is related to academic achievement and aids in fair reporting of results. The intent of the law is to provide representative sample data on student achievement for the nation, the states, and subpopulations of students and to monitor progress over time. The nature of NAEP is that burden alternates from a relatively low burden in national-level administration years to a substantial burden increase in state-level administration years when the sample has to allow for estimates for individual states and some of the large urban districts. The NAEP results are reported to the public through the Nation’s Report Card as well as other online NAEP tools. The request to conduct NAEP in 2018 and 2019, including operational assessments, pilot tests, and special studies was approved by OMB in July 2017 with the latest change request approved in September 2017 (OMB# 1850-0928 v.5-7).

This request is to include the final set of Communication Materials for NAEP 2018, as an updated Appendix J. Each appendix part is noted as being (1) the same as in a previously approved version (the approved OMB# 1850-0928 version is indicated for each appendix part) or (2) updated for 2018 (to be approved in this request). The three sub-appendices that have been updated and require approval in this request are: Appendix J-12 (Templates for State-Specific SD Inclusion Policy; pages 60-78), Appendix J-13 (Templates for State Specific ELL Inclusion Policy; pages 79-94), and Appendix J-15 (NAEP Facts for Teachers Brochure Policy; pages 102-106).

Also, the library of Communication Materials for NAEP 2018 and 2019 in Appendix D, was updated with minro language corrections (where applicable, “administered by” was replaced with “conducted by”, and “Cybersecurity Enhancement of 2015” was replaced with “Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2015”).

In addition, Supporting Statement Part B was modified to add a fourth sub-bullet under the bullet “Review and Verify List of Students Selected for NAEP” on page 9. The new added statement states: “In addition to the information displayed in the screenshot below, school coordinators will also be asked to indicate whether students were displaced from a natural disaster in 2017”. This additional information is being collected to potentially inform analyses of the NAEP 2018 data that will be collected.

This amendment does not change the estimated respondent burden or the cost to the federal government.