​​​​​​NAEP Technical DocumentationStudent Sample Selection for the 2022 Eighth-Grade Public School National Assessment in Civics and U.S. History

The sampling of students for the public school assessments in civics and U.S. history at eighth grade involved two steps: (1) sampling of students in the targeted grade (eighth) from each sampled school, and (2) assignment of assessment subject (civics or U.S. history) to the sampled students. 

Sampling Students within Sampled Schools

Within each sampled school, a sample of students was selected from a list of students in the targeted grade such that every student had an equal chance of selection. The student lists were submitted either electronically using a system known as E-filing or on paper. In E-filing, student lists are submitted as Excel files by either school coordinators, NAEP State Coordinators, or NAEP TUDA Coordinators.  The files can be submitted for one school at a time (known as single school E-file submission) or for an entire jurisdiction at once (known as multiple school E-file submission). E-filing allows schools to easily submit student demographic data electronically with the student lists, easing the burden on field supervisors and school coordinators.

Schools that are unable to submit their student lists using the E-filing system provide hardcopy lists to NAEP field supervisors. In 2022, approximately 99 percent of the participating eighth-grade public schools in the national assessment in civics and U.S. history E-filed their student lists while approximately 1 percent of the participating schools submitted hardcopy lists.

In year-round multi-track schools, students in tracks scheduled to be on break on the assessment day were removed from the student lists prior to sampling. (Student base weights were adjusted to account for these students.)

The sampling process was very similar, regardless of list submission type. The sampling process was systematic (e.g., if the sampling rate was one-half, a random starting point of one or two was chosen, and every other student on the list was selected). For E-filed schools only, where demographic data was submitted for every student in the school, students were sorted by gender and race/ethnicity before the sample was selected to implicitly stratify the sample.

In schools with up to 52 students in the targeted grade, all students were selected. In schools with more than 52 students, systematic samples of 50 students were selected.

Some students enrolled in the school after the sample was selected. In such cases, new enrollees were sampled at the same rate as the students on the original list.

Sampled students, including new enrollees, in each participating sampled school were assigned to either the civics or U.S. history assessment at rates of 49 percent and 51 percent, respectively, using a process known as spiraling. In this process, test forms were randomly assigned to sampled students from test form sets that had, on average, a ratio of 26 civics forms to 26 U.S. history forms. Students receiving a civics form were in the civics assessment, and students receiving a U.S. history form were in the U.S. history assessment. 

Printer-friendly Version