Data Collection Reporting Systems

For all NAEP assessments, automated reporting systems are used to relay information about the participation status of schools and students. These systems are also used to document other pertinent information, such as dates materials are shipped and tracking numbers.

An automated School Control System (SCS) was developed to report on recruiting and data collection. The SCS contained a record for each sampled school. A disposition code structure was developed to indicate the status of each school's participation (e.g., school cooperating, decision pending, school refusal, district refusal, school closed). For the 2000 and 2001 national main assessments, the NAEP data collection staff downloaded information on a weekly basis at the data collection central offices. The staff then reviewed the progress of securing cooperation from the sampled schools. For the 2000 state assessment, information was sent regularly to the field manager for that state and then transmitted to the data collection central offices where participation reports were run by NAEP staff.

Data Collection Reporting Systems for National Main NAEP Assessments

During the 2000 and 2001 national main assessments, as student sampling and assessments were conducted, the SCS was used to enter data on the number of students selected to be assessed, the number assessed, and the number absent for each school. The NAEP materials processing staff provided data on the completed assessment materials that were received. The system was also used to alter school assessment dates if needed and to monitor makeup sessions. During the assessment period, weekly reports were produced to monitor the progress of the assessment in terms of making sure that sessions were on schedule and that a high response rate was achieved. The sampling statisticians used these reports to monitor the sample yield by school, primary sampling unit (PSU), and age/grade level.

Data Collection Reporting Systems for State NAEP Assessments

During the 2000 state assessment, the field manager visited the state coordinators and trained him/her or a member of his/her staff in the use of the SCS. The state coordinators maintained the system in his/her office on either a NAEP-provided portable laptop computer or the state's own computer system. Field managers were provided with the same system.

For each district and/or selected school, the SCS enabled the state coordinators to:

• update names/addresses of schools;

• enter cooperation status;

• enter/verify assessment dates;

• indicate the status of student lists; and

• produce status reports.

After identifying the assessment administrator (AA) and completing the training schedule, the coordinator was also able to enter the following information:

• the assessment administrator's name;

• the AA training date; and

• the shipping address for the school's assessment materials.

There was no state NAEP assessment given in 2001.

Last updated 08 May 2008 (MH)

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