Sensitivity of NAEP to the Effects of Reform-based Teaching and Learning in Middle School Mathematics

American Institutes For Research In The Behavioral Sciences, Arlington VA

Investigators

Abstract

The project will assess the validity of the NAEP in mathematics by testing the adequacy of the NAEP for detecting effects of mathematics education reform (using the "Connected Mathematics Program") by comparing student achievement on the NAEP, state assessments (Arkansas' use of the ITBS and the Colorado state assessment), and the NSF supported "Balanced Assessment in Mathematics (BAM)." The project hopes to determine whether large-scale assessments are sensitive enough to monitor instructional impacts on higher-level cognitive abilities (what the BAM purports to assess). This work is a joint effort between the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and two divisions (REC and ESIE) within the NSF. The project hypothesis is that the NAEP will be more effective than traditional multiple choice tests (ITBS in Arkansas and a state assessment program in Colorado), but not as effective as BAM in capturing student learning gains (and performance in process areas) in Connected Mathematics Program (CMP) classrooms. Such results have the potential to advise if not revise the NAEP and state assessment programs. Given the November, 2004, Loveless report (Brookings Institute) that critiques existing assessments for having an insufficient number of arithmetic NAEP items, this research may provide useful scientific evidence about the role and importance of such items within assessments and curriculum.