Mapping State Proficiency Standards Onto NAEP Scales: Results From the 2017 NAEP Reading and Mathematics Assessments

August 21, 2019

Author: Bandeira de Mello, V., Rahman, T., Fox, M.A., and Ji, C.S. (2019).

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Executive Summary

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The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has periodically published reports using results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to compare the proficiency standards that states set for their students. Since standards vary across states, the results of the various state assessments cannot be used to directly compare students’ progress. However, by placing a state standard onto the NAEP scale, a common metric for all states, a NAEP equivalent score is produced, which can be compared across states. The last mapping study report released by NCES (NCES 2018-159) compared state proficiency standards for school year 2014-15.

The 2017 edition of this report highlights the results of mapping state proficiency standards onto the NAEP scales using state assessment results from the 2016–17 school year and the 2017 NAEP assessments for public schools. The study focuses on the reading and mathematics standards that states set for grades 4 and 8. For each state, the report displays the NAEP equivalent scores with a range of 0 to 500. The NAEP equivalent scores are shown with respect to the NAEP achievement levels: NAEP Basic and NAEP Proficient.

As is typical in NAEP reporting, 2017 results are compared with 2015 results to show more immediate changes and with 2007 results to show longer-term trends. The analyses conducted for this edition of the study address the following questions:

1). How do the 2017 NAEP equivalent scores for states compare with each other?

2). How do the 2017 NAEP equivalent scores compare with those from 2015 and 2007?

Overall, in 2017, most state standards for both grades and both subjects mapped at the NAEP Basic achievement level. In addition, for states with all three years of data, the difference between the highest and lowest NAEP equivalent scores of the state standards was smaller in 2017 than in 2015 and 2007 for each grade and subject, with the exception of grade 8 mathematics standards. It should be noted that the 2017 mapping study did not include all states for various reasons. A brief explanation for exclusion is provided in the report.

Key Findings from the 2017 NAEP State Mapping Analysis

The 2017 study—the seventh in the series—analyzed the standards set for public school students for the 2016–2017 school year in reading and mathematics at grades 4 and 8. This report also analyzed the standards of proficient performance of the three major testing programs: ACT Aspire (ACT), The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC).

• For grade 4 reading and mathematics, overall, state standards for proficiency have mapped at a higher NAEP achievement level over time. In addition, variations among state achievement standards are narrowing.
• For grade 8 reading, overall, state standards for proficiency have mapped at a higher NAEP achievement level over time. In addition, variations among state achievement standards are narrowing. For grade 8 mathematics, state standards for proficiency have changed little over time.

See below for the number of states that mapped at the NAEP achievement levels in 2017 for grades 4 and 8 in reading and mathematics.

Number of states that mapped at the NAEP achievement levels, by grade and subject: 2017

NAEP achievement level	Grade 4		Grade 8
	Reading	Mathematics	Reading	Mathematics
Total	50	51	48	32
NAEP Proficient	2	11	5	7
NAEP Basic	45	39	43	25
Below NAEP Basic	3	1	0	0

Suggested Citation
Bandeira de Mello, V., Rahman, T., Fox, M.A., and Ji, C.S. (2019). Mapping State Proficiency Standards Onto NAEP Scales: Results From the 2017 NAEP Reading and Mathematics Assessments (NCES 2019-040). U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics.