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NAEP Sample Design → NAEP 2014 Sample Design → Selection of Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) for the 2014 Assessment → Formation of the Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) for the 2014 Assessment: Certainty PSUs

NAEP Technical DocumentationFormation of the Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) for the 2014 Assessment: Certainty PSUs


Any primary sampling unit (PSU) was defined as a certainty PSU if it had 500,000 or more youths or if it represented more than 80 percent of its assigned stratum. The estimated number of youths is the number of persons age 17 or under from the 2010 Decennial Census. These PSUs were so large that a sample of schools was taken from all of them (rather than from only a subsample of them, as with noncertainty PSUs). The Honolulu, Hawaii PSU was included as a certainty by design in order to reduce the variability of including Asian/Pacific Islander students. A total of 29 PSUs were classified as certainties in the 2014 frame. The table below provides a listing of the certainty PSUs by Census region.  Note that the names of the Metropolitan Statistical Areas do not represent the cities proper, rather they can and do cross state and county boundaries (for example, the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
 
Metropolitan statistical area definition for certainty PSUs, by primary sampling unit (PSU): 2014
PSUMetropolitan statistical areaStateNumber of countiesNumber of youths

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2014.

Grand total241 32,344,374
Total Northeast396,496,238
1--1Boston-Cambridge-QuincyMA-NH7976,008
1--2New York-Northern New Jersey-Long IslandNY-NJ-PA234,290,304
1--3Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington (Northeast part)PA-NJ91,229,926
Total Midwest645,379,420
2--1Chicago-Joliet-NapervilleIL-IN-WI142,356,087
2--2Detroit-Warren-LivoniaMI61,020,832
2--3Kansas CityMO-KS15520,835
2--4Minneapolis-St. Paul-BloomingtonMN-WI13819,439
2--5St. LouisMO-IL16662,227
Total South989,742,265
3--1Atlanta-Sandy Springs-MariettaGA281,400,227
3--2Baltimore-TowsonMD7619,623
3--3Dallas-Fort Worth-ArlingtonTX121,805,410
3--4Houston-Sugar Land-BaytownTX101,687,472
3--5Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano BeachFL31,208,722
3--6Orlando-Kissimmee-SanfordFL4501,779
3--7San Antonio-New BraunfelsTX8583,611
3--8Tampa-St. Petersburg-ClearwaterFL4587,642
3--9Washington-Arlington-AlexandriaDC-VA-MD-WV221,347,779
Total West4010,726,451
4--1Denver-Aurora-BroomfieldCO10640,787
4--2HonoluluHI1211,553
4--3Las Vegas-Paradise NV1489,207
4--4Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa AnaCA23,115,490
4--5Phoenix-Mesa-GlendaleAZ21,107,303
4--6Portland-Vancouver-HillsboroOR-WA7528,336
4--7Riverside-San Bernardino-OntarioCA21,216,300
4--8Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--RosevilleCA4532,064
4--9San Diego-Carlsbad-San MarcosCA1726,602
4--10San Francisco-Oakland-FremontCA5923,774
4--11San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa ClaraCA2448,301
4--12Seattle-Tacoma-BellevueWA3786,734

Last updated 31 August 2021 (ML)
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