Appendices C & D NAEP 2014 Wave 2

Appendix C:
Sample Description
Of
School Coordinator Responsibilities

MyNAEP Guide for School Coordinators

The MyNAEP website provides
participating schools and
districts with a convenient way to
prepare for the upcoming
National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP).
•

•

•

•

MyNAEP will serve as your
primary resource and action
center throughout the
assessment process.
Previously, schools prepared for
NAEP by completing paperwork and
holding a preassessment visit with
NAEP representatives.
MyNAEP offers schools an electronic
way to complete the same tasks at
their own pace.
The website’s menu is a virtual
checklist of all activities that
schools will need to complete
throughout the school year, so
it is important to check in
frequently to make sure your
school is on track with
preparations.
Visit the MyNAEP website to
get started:
https://www.mynaep.com.

Each school that will participate in NAEP 2014 has a designated staff member to
serve as its NAEP school coordinator. You have been selected to serve as
coordinator and liaison for all NAEP assessment activities in your school. Thank
you in advance for helping to prepare for this important assessment!

PLACEHOLDER FOR MYNAEP GRAPHIC

In the fall, you will be responsible for the following:
Registering for and using the MyNAEP website. MyNAEP will provide you with all of
the information your school needs to participate in NAEP, including information about
what to expect at each stage. Multiple school staff may register to access the site, but
only schools coordinators will have full access to all menus. Register at
www.mynaep.com by entering the registration ID assigned by your NAEP State
Coordinator. (For more detailed instructions on how to do this, refer to page 3 of this
document.)

Completing and submitting school information. Go to the Provide School
Information page on MyNAEP to enter and submit your school’s contact and
characteristic information, including your school’s name, address, and the number of
students enrolled in the selected grade. Providing up-to-date information about your
school ensures that materials can be prepared for the assessment.

Preparing and submitting a list of your school’s students in the selected grade
level (if requested).
NAEP requires a complete list of students in the selected grade so that a random
sample of students can be selected to participate in the assessment and demographic
information about these students can be collected. Visit the Submit Student List page
on MyNAEP to determine if you will need to prepare and upload this list. Student
names will always be kept confidential and individual student responses or scores on
NAEP are never reported.

In December, the NAEP representative responsible
for administering NAEP in your school will contact
you and discuss how to complete these tasks listed
under the Prepare for Assessment menu:

assessment results. These questionnaires may be
accessed, distributed, and monitored for completion
through the Manage Questionnaires page on
MyNAEP.

Updating student information and preparing for the
assessment of students with disabilities and
English language learners (SD/ELL). Visit the Update
Student List page to identify any withdrawn and
ineligible students that need to be removed from the
original sample. You will also need to review
demographic information and provide updates, in case
any information is missing or inaccurate. To ensure that
NAEP reflects the educational progress of all students,
you will need to submit information on the Include
Students page about how SD/ELL students will
participate in the assessment and the accommodations
they will receive.

Promoting the importance of NAEP with school
staff and students. Teachers are essential for
motivating students to do their best on NAEP. Students
selected to take NAEP will represent hundreds of
students across the state and the nation, so it is vital
that they participate and do their best. Online
resources, 5-minute videos, and strategies for
promoting NAEP are all available on the Encourage
Participation page.

Submitting a current roster of students (if
requested). For NAEP to maintain statistical validity, all
eligible students must have a chance to be selected. If
requested, you will need to visit Submit Current
Roster of Students and upload an Excel file of
students currently enrolled in the selected grade.
Managing the completion of questionnaires by
school staff. You will be responsible for distributing
and ensuring the completion of online questionnaires
designed to help provide contextual information for the

Prepare for
Assessment

Dec
emb
er/J
anu
ary

Submit Student
List

Oct
obe
r/N
ove
mbe
r

Aug
ust/
Sept
emb
er

Provide School
Information

Ensuring that students attend the session. Prior to
the assessment start time, you will need to be available
to ensure that students attend the sessions.
Appointment cards can be created/printed from
MyNAEP’s Support Assessment Activities page. You
and/or teachers of the selected students are
encouraged to remain in the room during the
assessment. If attendance of sampled students is less
than 90 percent, a makeup session will be necessary,
and the NAEP representative will schedule another date
to administer the assessment to the students who were
absent.

Support
Assessment
Activities

Wrap Up

Jun
e 1
or
last
day
of
sch
ool

Other Prepare for Assessment menu tasks will
become available in January:

On the assessment date, you will meet your NAEP
representative and their assessment team, and be
responsible for:

Bef
ore
the
asse
ssm
ent
date

Informing parents/guardians of student
participation. By law, parents/guardians of students
selected to participate in NAEP must be notified in
writing of their child’s selection prior to the
administration of the assessment. An electronic copy of
the Parent/Guardian Notification Letter is available on
the Notify Parents page for downloading, printing, and
distributing.

Finalizing assessment arrangements. Assessment
day details, including the location(s) and start time of
the assessment, how students and teachers will be
notified, and SD/ELL student accommodation logistics,
will need to be entered via MyNAEP’s Finalize
Assessment Arrangements page.

How to Register for and Access MyNAEP
Register for and access MyNAEP by following these simple steps:
1. Go to https://www.mynaep.com. On the right side of the screen, select Please register.

2. Enter the MyNAEP registration ID included in the letter
sent by your NAEP State or TUDA Coordinator and
select Continue. If you cannot locate your registration
ID, please contact your coordinator or the NAEP Help
Desk at 800-283-6237 or naephelp@westat.com.
Multiple district and school staff can use the registration
ID to register for the website.

3.
Complete the registration form and
create a password to access MyNAEP (for
detailed instructions, select Registration
Help). MyNAEP is a secure website that
contains confidential information, so all users
will be prompted to update their password
every 120 days. A username will be
automatically generated and emailed to you.
Links are available on the login page in case
you ever forget your username or password.

MyNAEP Resources
Although the website is designed for quick and easy use, MyNAEP offers a variety of support options. The Contact
menu in the website banner allows users to reach the NAEP Help Desk instantly by phone, email, or live chat. The
Resources menu offers tutorials that demonstrate how to quickly enter information for each task and explain why
NAEP collects information from every school.
The NAEP Help Desk and State and TUDA Coordinators are available to help year–round. Your school’s NAEP
representative will be available starting in early December. Your NAEP representative will be responsible for
administering the assessment in your school and will also assist you with the tasks listed under the Prepare for
Assessment menu.

Contact information for State and
TUDA Coordinators, the Help Desk,
and your school’s NAEP
representative.

Includes Frequently Asked
Questions, tutorials, and a
Glossary.

MyNAEP Activity Overview
Timeframe
MyNAEP Menu Location
Actions Steps to Complete and Helpful Resources
https://www.mynaep.com
Now
Register for MyNAEP to gain website access.
AugustProvide School Information
September
Ensure NAEP has the most up-to-date information about your school.
2013
OctoberPrepare and upload an Excel list of all students in the selected grade, including
Submit Student List*
November
demographic information. (If requested.)
2013
Prepare for Assessment [menu goes live in December]
Ensure NAEP has the most up-to-date student information for the selected grade.
•
Update Student List
December
2013-January
Submit information for sampled SD/ELL students, including classification and
•
Include Students
2014
accommodations each receives for state assessments.
Inform parents/guardians of student participation.
•
Notify Parents
Submit an up-to-date student roster to identify eligible students not included in the
•
Submit Current Roster of
list that was submitted for sampling in the fall. (If requested)
Students*
Manage names, email addresses, and questionnaire completion statuses of
•
Manage Questionnaires
teachers in the selected grade and NAEP assessment subject.
January 2014
Discuss strategies with your school principal for motivating students to participate
•
Encourage Participation
in the assessment.
Submit additional information to ensure assessment day runs smoothly, such as
•
Finalize Assessment
the selected assessment location and start time of each session.
Arrangements
One week
before the
Support Assessment Activities
assessment,
Promote student and teacher participation in NAEP.
assessment
day
June 1 or last
Shred all confidential hardcopy materials in the envelope provided in December
Wrap Up
day of school
by your NAEP representative.

Appendix D:

Usability Review Recommendations on e-PAV

Usability Review Comments 
1st round of internal testing – July 3, 2013 

 This document provides usability design recommendations for the development of the NAEP website 
based on an analysis of findings during the usability evaluations made between June 28 and July 2, 2013.  
Specific examples of usability issues are provided however, these recommendations apply across the 
entire design program.  The data presented below reflects a heuristic review conducted by a usability 
expert.

1. Provided Global and Contextual Help 
Issue: There is no global help and few opportunities for contextual help.   

Example: There are a few places on the website where there is no directions on what to do if data is 
missing or in error  (e.g. on the confirm SD/ELL screen, one student didn’t have a FNAME or MNAME but 
no way to add them).  

Recommendation:  The addition of global and contextual help features would greatly serve the 
infrequent and first time user of the NAEP website.  From a global help perspective, there could be a link 
on every page with FAQ’s categorized by topic and section of the website.  From a contextual help 
perspective, new users would benefit from seeing a small graphic symbol (signifying help) next to 
difficult passages, column headers, etc. that when clicked on, would provide information on the task at 
hand. 

2. Design for Error Prevention 
Issue: Eliminate designs which lead to error prone conditions and when that isn’t possible, prove 
meaningful, actionable error messages.  

Example: There are several pages on the website where the buttons at the bottom of the page (e.g. 
Back  Save Continue Exit) are very close together and as a result, could result in accidental activation of a 
non‐desired button by the user.   

Recommendation: Consider spacing buttons no less than the width of the cursor (arrow). 

3. Provide User Control and Freedom 
Issue: Users should have the control to recover from unintended actions; better yet is a design which 
precludes such events (as noted above in Error Prevention). With respect to ensuring user control and 
freedom, consider the ramifications of using the Back button and its effect on data entered and page 
sequencing.  

Example: Users are frustrated when they enter data, use the Back button to check on a previous screen 
and then return to the data entry screen to find that the data they entered is gone.  Likewise, we 
noticed on this website in an area were skip patterns where used, that hitting the back button and then 
moving forward again brought up an incorrect screen (we assume because after using the Back button 
when we returned to the original screen, the default path was not the path we originally chose).   

For example: on the Promote school encouragement page, on our first pass, we selected YES to 
creating a Certificate and were presented with the certificate distribution option page.  We then 
when  back  and  selected  NO  but  was  again  presented  with  the  certificate  distribution  option 
page. 

Recommendation: Evaluate the effect of using the Back button on each page and either locking it out or 
providing a warning message when its use could/would result in unintended consequences. 

4. Provide a Match Between System and Real World 
Issue: What users see and do on the website should look and operate as other things do to the user. 

Example (1): On several screens, the data entry field populates from right to left which is unexpected. 
https://testing.mynaep.com/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f#register.   

Recommendation (1): Consider populating the data from left to right.  This is how American read (from 
left to right) and a common expectation for data entry. 

Example (2): It is difficult to tell the difference between finish and exit buttons.  If existing the system 
will result in loss data, popup a warning dialog box each time the user clicks on exit except when directly 
after clicking the save button.  If the finish button saves the data prior to exiting the screen, consider 
changing the button text to Save and Exit, which will differentiate it from just Exit.   

Recommendation (2): In general, ensure that the button names clearly describe the functionality.  
Usability testing with end users is the best way to make that determination. 

5. Design for Recognition Rather than Recall  
Issue: High cognitive workload is a strain on users. To avoid this, website designs aspire to be “intuitive” 
such that users instinctively know what to do by looking at the screen.  In other words, users recognize 
what to do (e.g. seeing an 8‐sided, red icon means to stop) rather than having to mentally process 
information to figure out (or recall) what to do (e.g. seeing a box with a paper half way in the box 
requires thought and context to understand what it is referring to).   

Example: The SC does not have to complete her/his work in a specific order (e.g. the order displayed by 
the vertical order of links).  The SC can start the process of gathering the information to put into the 
parent notification and then have to log out of the system due to time, and log in and out several more 
times to complete it.  However, upon returning to the website after a one week delay, the user might 
start back up in the Update Student List and then when working down to notify parent (several days) 
later, look at the purple (already visited) Notify Parent link and mistakenly assume she/he has already 
completed that step, and the letters may never go out.  This is just one hypothetical example of how not 
having a progress indicator could result in a negative outcome. 

Recommendation: Following a limited review of the MyNAEP website, I recommend a progress status 
system be engineered into the My NAEP website. 

6. Build an Aesthetic and Minimalist Design 
Issue: High cognitive workload can result in errors, injury and low satisfaction ratings.  Cognitive 
workload can be reduced by eliminating irrelevant/competing data and minimizing data to essential 
concise language.   

Example (1): On the screen which requests information on the last day of school, the calendar pops up 
with years prior to the current school year.  These choices are irrelevant and compete with visual space 
and unnecessarily consume cognitive bandwidth.   

Recommendation (1): Consider removing all irrelevant data (prior years) so that the amount of design 
can be minimized. 

Example (2): There are several forms with columns which are unnecessarily wide with respect to the 
amount of data in each row.  Reduce the column widths such that the eyes don’t have to travel 
unnecessarily across the page.  Also, there are data fields which are misaligned with their column 
headers.   

Recommendation (2): Aligning field titles and data provides a more aesthetic design and requires less 
cognitive processing. 

7. Use Consistency and Standards in Design 
Issue:  Users should get what they expect when clicking on a link, and designs which mean one thing on 
one page should mean the same thing throughout the website, unless the user is notified otherwise.  
Regarding the former, when the users click on a hyperlink to new content, the page they are brought to 
should have the same title as the hyperlink.   

Example:  When users click on the ID withdrawn of ineligible student’s hyperlink, the title of the page 
they are taken to changes to “confirm withdrawn or ineligible students”.  Obviously, the act of 
Identification and Confirmation can have two distinct meanings.    

Recommendation:  the page title the user is brought to should reflect the hyperlink that took them to it.