Author: National Assessment of Educational Progress

Publication Year: 1980

Media Type: Report

Summary:

When the U. S. Office of Education was chartered in 1867, one charge to its commissioners was to determine the nation's progress in education. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was initiated a century later to address, in a systematic way, that charge.

Abstract:

When the U. S. Office of Education was chartered in 1867, one charge to its commissioners was to determine the nation's progress in education. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was initiated a century later to address, in a systematic way, that charge.

Since 1969, the National Assessment has gathered information about levels of educational achievement across the country and reported its findings to the nation. It has surveyed the attainments of 9 year olds, 13 year olds, 17 year olds and sometimes adults in art, career and occupational development, citizenship, literature, mathematics, music, reading, science, social studies and writing. All areas have been periodically reassessed in order to detect any important changes. To date, National Assessment has interviewed and tested nearly 1,000,000 young Americans.

Learning-area assessments evolve from a consensus process. Each assessment is the product of several years of work by a great many educators, scholars and lay persons from all over the nation. Initially, these people design objectives for each subject area, proposing general goals they feel Americans should be achieving in the course of their education. After careful review, these objectives are given to item writers, whose task it is to create exercises appropriate to the objectives.

When the exercises have passed extensive reviews by subject-area specialists, measurements experts and lay persons, they are administered to probability samples. These samples are selected in such a way that the results of their assessment can be generalized to an entire national population. That is, on the basis of the performance of about 2,500 9 year olds on a given exercise, we can make generalizations about the probable performance of all 9 year olds in the nation.

After assessment data have been collected, scored and analyzed, the National Assessment publishes reports and disseminates the results as widely as possible. Not all exercises are released for publication. Because NAEP will readminister some of the same exercises in the future to determine whether the performance levels of Americans have increased, remained stable or decreased, it is essential that the exercises not be released in order to preserve the integrity of the study. (p. ix)

CONTENTS
List of figures, tables and exhibits.
Foreword.
Acknowledgments.
Highlights: Achievement results for the 1978-79 assessment.
Changes in achievement.
Exposure to music.

Chapter 1. Introduction. 
                Data base. 
                Measuring change in achievement. 
                Group definitions. 
                The music objectives. 
                Organization of this report.

Chapter 2. Achievement results 9, 13 and 17 year olds in the 1978-79 music
                assessment. 
                Achievement by objective. 
                Samples of exercises.

Chapter 3. Changes in achievement: 9, 13 and 17 year olds in two music assessments.
                Changes in achievement by objective. 
                Samples of exercises.

Chapter 4. Background questions: exposure to music.

Chapter 5. Results of the second music assessment: some interpretive comments. 
                A perspective on the music results.
                Objective 1. Value music as an important realm of human experience. 
                Objective 4. Identify the elements and expressive controls of music.
                Objective 5. Identify and classify music historically and culturally. 
                Changes in music achievement. 
                General impressions about students' exposure to music.

Appendix A. Participants in development for the Second assessment.
Appendix B. Group results, 1978-79 assessment.
Appendix C. Group results in two music assessments, 1971-72 and 1978-79.
Appendix D. Music objectives, 1971-72 and 1978-79. 

1971-71 Assessment. 
1978-79 Assessment.
Bibliography.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Creative Economies