National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2012 Wave I (LTT Reading and Mathematics)

Appendix C: Sample Description of School Coordinator Responsibilities

NAEP (NAEP Assessment Year) School Coordinator Responsibilities

As the school coordinator, you are the liaison for all NAEP assessment activities in your school.

In the fall, you will be responsible for:

Registering for the MySchool website. MySchool is used to collect information about your school and provide you with documents that you can download and customize throughout the NAEP assessment process. Multiple school staff may register to access the site. To register for MySchool, go to www.mynaep.com and complete the form using the registration ID provided by your NAEP State or Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) Coordinator.

Completing and submitting school information. Click on “Provide School Information” on MySchool to enter and submit information about your school, so that materials can be prepared for the assessment.

If requested, providing the NAEP State or TUDA Coordinator with a list of <selected> grade students. NAEP requires a complete list of students in the selected grade in order to select a random sample of students to participate in the assessment. This list provides demographic information about students who will be assessed. It is usually submitted electronically and may be prepared by the school, district, or state. Your NAEP State or TUDA Coordinator will inform you if you need to provide this list. Student names will always be kept confidential and individual student responses or scores are never reported.

Before the assessment date, you will be responsible for:

Preparing for the assessment.

Numerous activities need to be completed early in January to ensure a successful assessment:

• Identify teachers who teach the assessed subjects to your <selected> grade students.

• Arrange logistics for the assessment.

• Review the instructions for distributing and completing the worksheets for students identified as English language learners and/or students with disabilities and then distribute them to the staff person(s) most knowledgeable about how these students are tested on your state assessment.

Informing parents/guardians.

By law, parents/guardians of children selected to participate in NAEP must be informed prior to administering the assessment that their child has been selected for the assessment, may be excused from participation for any reason, is not required to finish the assessment, and is not required to answer all test questions. Your NAEP State or TUDA Coordinator will provide a Sample Parent/Guardian Notification Letter and additional information about how this requirement should be fulfilled. These details, as well as electronic copies of the letter, will be provided through MySchool. Parent notification should be completed prior to the pre-assessment visit. Parents may also visit http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/parents/ to find out more about NAEP.

Meeting with the NAEP staff during the scheduled pre-assessment visit.

In late January, you will meet with the NAEP representative to go over information related to the NAEP administration. During the meeting, you will review the list of selected students to verify that their demographic information is accurate and complete. Details for the assessment day will be finalized, such as which students will require accommodations, how NAEP will be administered, the time and locations of the assessment, and how students and teachers will be notified. The NAEP representative will also verify that parents have been notified and will collect a copy of the parent notification letter during this visit.

Promoting the importance of NAEP with school staff.

Teachers are essential for motivating students to do their best on NAEP. Here are some suggestions on how to gain teacher support:

• Show the 5-minute NAEP video, Introducing NAEP to Teachers, at a faculty meeting. This video can be accessed at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/videos/naep4th8th.asp.

• Inform teachers that released NAEP questions and responses, which they can use in their classroom, are accessible on the NAEP Questions Tool at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/itmrlsx.

Promoting the importance of NAEP with students.

Students who are selected for NAEP will represent students across the nation, so it is vital that these <selected grade>-graders participate and do their best. Here are some suggestions on how to encourage students to do their best:

• Speak with participating students prior to assessment day. Let them know why NAEP is important.

• Consider ways to thank students for their participation.

• Inform students that they can find past NAEP results by visiting The Nation’s Report Card website, http://nationsreportcard.gov.

• Inform students that individual results are not released to the public and that NAEP only takes 90–120 minutes to complete.

On the assessment date, you will be responsible for:

Ensuring that students attend the session.

Prior to the assessment start time, you will need to be available to ensure that students attend. You are encouraged to remain in the room during the assessment. NAEP staff will bring all assessment materials to the school and will conduct the session(s). It is very important that attendance rates be as high as possible to avoid the need for makeup sessions. If attendance of sampled students is less than 90 percent, a makeup session will be needed, and the NAEP representative will schedule another date to administer the assessment to the students who were absent.

Thank you in advance for your help preparing for this important assessment!

2012 Wave 1 Supporting Statement 2