​​​​​​​​​​​​​NAEP Technical DocumentationIndices Based on Questionnaire Data

The NAEP survey questionnaires are given to students, teachers, and school administrators who participate in a NAEP assessment. These questionnaires collect contextual information that helps put student achievement results into context and allow for meaningful student group comparisons. 

Historically, NAEP has designed its survey questionnaires around single questions, and questionnaire results were therefore reported for single questions. In 2014, the program moved towards an enhanced survey questionnaire design and reporting approach to examine information of key interest to NAEP audiences. Specifically, while some survey questions are still analyzed and reported as single items (e.g., gender), several questions on the same topic are combined into indices measuring a single underlying construct or concept. This approach aims to provide both breadth and depth of coverage of the factors being examined.  

The current approach to survey questionnaire design and reporting directly addresses the National Assessment Governing Board's policy principles laid out in their 2012 policy statement NAEP Background Questions and the Use of Contextual Data in NAEP Reporting, particularly the principles that "NAEP reporting should be enriched by greater use of contextual data derived from background or non-cognitive questions asked of students, teachers, and schools" (National Assessment Governing Board 2012​, p. 2). It also aligns with the design and reporting approaches followed by large-scale international assessments (e.g., PISA, TIMSS, and PIRLS) and student surveys (e.g., Gallup Student Poll).  

The table below summarizes the difference between the historic and current approach in terms of both questionnaire design and reporting. 

In 2014 and 2015, indices were created from existing survey questions accompanying the mathematics, reading, science, and social studies​ assessments. Beginning with the 2014 technology and engineering literacy (TEL) assessment and 2017 mathematics and reading assessments, new survey questions were developed with the intention of developing indices to measure specific constructs of interest (e.g., students' enjoyment of complex problems or TEL confidence). More information about the development and creation of specific indices for the questionnaire data can be found by clicking on the page links in the table below. 

Printer-friendly Version