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The NAEP Database → NAEP Database Products → Secondary-Use Data Files and Data Companion → Data Companion

NAEP Technical DocumentationData Companion

The Data Companion provides documentation to the user including background and special considerations for the specific NAEP assessment. This document is included on the CD-ROM in a portable document format file (PDF) that may be browsed, excerpted, and printed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader program on a variety of platforms. Generally, each Data Companion includes the following sections:

• Part One: Introduction to the NAEP Assessment and Secondary-Use Data Files for a given year and subject area. This section includes an overview of: the specific assessment, the framework, design, samples, data collection, scoring, and scaling information.

• Part Two: Special Considerations for Users. This section includes information such as SD/LEP accommodations and the reporting sample, instrument design, reporting subgroups, scale score variables, identity of professionally scored items, and release status for items.

• Part Three: Conducting Statistical Analyses with NAEP Data. This section includes information on using weights to account for differential representation; procedures used by NAEP to estimate sampling variability and handling imprecision of individual measurement; approximations; additional sources of error; and notes concerning multiple comparisons.

• Part Four: Content and Format of Data Files, Layouts, and Codebooks. This section describes in detail the content and format of the data files and printable documents contained on the CD-ROM.

• Part Five: Analysis Examples with SPSS and SAS. This section discusses the use of the statistical software SPSS and SAS in analyzing NAEP data, as well as procedures for creating SPSS, SAS, and STATA (beginning in 2003) system files.

• Part Six: Supplemental Information. This section contains information such as the IRT parameters for the items in the assessment that were scaled.

• Appendix: Background Questionnaires. This section includes the background questionnaires presented to students, teachers, schools, and those responsible for SD/LEP students.

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