This project involves secondary analysis of secure data from the Main and Long-Term-Trend (LTT) mathematics assessments of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Specifically, the project will investigate the issues of (a) current knowledge and change over time on specific mathematics skills, (b) the extent to which the performance is related to specific mathematics curricula, and (c) the connection between courses taken in high school and mathematics performance. Whenever possible, results will be disaggregated by demographic variables, including SES and race/ethnicity variables available in the NAEP data set. Results of the study will point to aspects of the curriculum that impact performance and will identify mathematics concept and skill clusters where student knowledge is underdeveloped.
Both the Main and LTT mathematics assessments are representative of the nation as a whole. They contain items aligned with frameworks established by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) with consideration not only to mathematics-specific content but also to the cognitive processes involved in arriving at a solution. By partnering with researchers who are familiar with the secure items used on NAEP, analyses conducted will allow for description of skills measured by NAEP that portray the mathematics skills of U.S. students across a variety of topics. One of the unique aspects of this project is that data from the Main and LTT NAEPs will be pooled to provide richer data that encompass a body of key mathematics concepts and skills. The item equating process will begin with content analyses to match Main and LTT items that involve the same cognitive processes and solution algorithms. The research team anticipates that content analyses will result in multiple item clusters at each age level. The project will take a bi-directional focus, at times focusing on students' current knowledge while at other times focusing on how the mathematics knowledge of students today compares to knowledge of students 15 to 30 years ago. An external advisory board will provide input on the analyses and an external evaluation team will evaluate the project.
The primary indicator for success of the project will be the extent to which the research products benefit school personnel, curriculum developers, and other researchers. Building upon the last two edited volumes on NAEP mathematics results published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, project researchers will produce articles and a book that go beyond existing baseline data on student knowledge on major topics in the mathematics curriculum. Results will provide a stronger statistical basis for making claims about change in student knowledge over time and a broader picture of accomplishment at the level of individual items. This may provide important implications for curriculum and teacher development.
