Part II of the NIES study is a survey that explores the educational experiences of the American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students participating in the NAEP assessments. Throughout the survey, questions were included to examine the extent to which AI/AN students were exposed to native language and culture in their everyday lives and at school. The survey was given to
The NIES Technical Review Panel (TRP), whose members included American Indian and Alaska Native educators and researchers from across the country, oversaw the development of the questionnaires, which included multiple-choice questions and a space at the end for respondents to write in comments.
Although questionnaire results are available from 2005 and 2007, results from prior years are not directly comparable to 2009 because the wording of many questions has changed.
The survey report presents findings from the three types of NIES questionnaires:
The report compares the results for AI/AN students attending high density schools (those in which at least 25 percent of the students are AI/AN), those for students attending low density schools (those in which less than 25 percent of the students are AI/AN), and those for AI/AN students attending Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools.
The NIES Part II sample was designed to produce information representative of the target population of all fourth- and eighth-grade AI/AN students in the United States in different types of schools—public, Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), Department of Defense, and private. The sample selection for NIES took place in conjunction with the sampling activities for the 2009 NAEP assessments at grades 4 and 8.
Sampling for NIES Part II followed a two-stage procedure. The first stage was the sampling of schools. Schools selected for NAEP were asked to provide a list of all enrolled students in the grade(s) of interest from which the sample of students would be drawn—the second stage of sampling. On these student lists, schools report each student’s race/ethnicity based on information from official school records. For NIES Part II, the schools that reported having AI/AN students enrolled in fourth or eighth grade were identified. All BIE schools were part of the sample.
To maximize student sample sizes, all fourth- and eighth-grade AI/AN students in the sampled schools were selected for participation in NIES Part II. This means that, in addition to the fourth and eighth-grade AI/AN students who were assessed in reading or mathematics and whose results are reported in the NIES Part I report, fourth- and eighth-grade AI/AN students in the sampled schools who participated in the NAEP science assessment were also selected to participate in NIES Part II. Including the students assessed in science increased the NIES Part II sample by roughly 3,000 AI/AN students per grade without having to sample additional schools. Nonetheless, the NIES questionnaires were designed to collect information about AI/AN students’ experiences in reading/language arts and mathematics, not science. Therefore, all students participating in NIES Part II completed the same questionnaire regardless of the NAEP subject area in which they were assessed. Furthermore, questionnaires were administered to participating students’ reading/language arts and mathematics teachers to collect information specific to instructional practices in those subject areas. There was no separate questionnaire administered to science teachers.
The NIES Part II sample, which was drawn from the subsample of schools with AI/AN students, included about 15,000 AI/AN students at approximately 2,400 schools at grade 4, and 13,000 AI/AN students at 2,000 schools at grade 8 located throughout the United States. At grades 4 and 8, the sample consisted of 95 percent public and Department of Defense schools, 4 to 5 percent BIE schools, and 1 percent private schools. From this sample, the questionnaires were completed by about 12,300 grade 4 students from 2,300 schools, and 10,400 grade 8 students from 1,900 schools. Also responding to the survey were about 3,800 grade 4 teachers, 4,600 grade 8 teachers, 2,300 grade 4 school administrators, and 1,900 grade 8 school administrators associated with these students. Some school administrators responded for both grade 4 and grade 8.
The NIES Part II survey was designed to obtain a sample that was not only representative of all U.S. AI/AN students at grades 4 and 8, but would also allow comparisons between AI/AN students attending BIE schools and high density and low density schools, where density is defined as the proportion of AI/AN students enrolled. The sample included 300 high density public schools for fourth grade, 300 high density public schools for eighth grade, 2,000 low density public schools for fourth grade, and 1,700 low density public schools for eighth grade. As in 2007, the 2009 sample design allows the NIES Part II survey data to be linked to the achievement data collected in Part I using the NAEP Data Explorer.
NIES representatives (National Center for Education Statistics data collection contractor staff) visited the schools in January and February of 2009 to administer the NIES Part II survey questionnaires. Students completed the questionnaires proctored by the study representatives. The questions were read out loud to all students at grades 4 and 8 who needed assistance. In addition, the study representatives were available to answer any questions that students had as they worked on the questionnaires.
For both NIES and NAEP, teachers and school administrators were asked to complete the questionnaires on their own, either prior to or during the visit from the study representative.
The results gathered from the survey provide a snapshot of the cultural and educational experiences of AI/AN students.
Explore the 2007 NIES survey. Read about the 2005 NIES survey.
