​​​​​​NAEP Technical Documentation Development of Final Raking Dimensions

The raking procedure involved three dimensions. The variables used to define the dimensions are listed below along with the categories making up the initial raking cells for each dimension.

Race/Ethnicity
  1. White, not Hispanic
  2. Black, not Hispanic
  3. Hispanic
  4. Asian
  5. American Indian/Alaska Native
  6. Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
  7. Two or More Races
Student disability (SD)/English learner (EL) status
  1. SD, but not EL
  2. EL, but not SD
  3. SD and EL
  4. Neither SD nor EL
Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female​

For the mathematics and reading samples, in states containing districts that participated in Trial Urban District Assessments (TUDA) at grades 4 and 8, the initial cells were created separately for each TUDA district and the balance of the state. For the science samples at grade 8 and for the mathematics and reading samples at grade 12, the initial cells were created at the national level. Similar to the procedure used for school and student nonresponse adjustments, limits were placed on the magnitude of the cell sizes and adjustment factors to prevent unstable raking adjustments that could have resulted in unacceptably large or small adjustment factors. Levels of a dimension were combined whenever 1) there were fewer than 30 assessed or excluded students (20 for any of the replicates) in a category, 2) the smallest adjustment was less than 0.5, or 3) the largest adjustment was greater than 2 for the full sample or for any replicate.

If collapsing was necessary for the race/ethnicity dimension, individual groups with similar student achievement levels were combined first. If further collapsing was necessary, the next closest race/ethnicity group was combined as well, and so on until all collapsing rules were satisfied. In some instances, all seven categories had to be collapsed.

If collapsing was necessary for the SD/EL dimension, the SD/not EL and SD/EL categories were combined first, followed by EL/not SD if further collapsing was necessary. In some instances, all four categories had to be collapsed.

If collapsing was necessary for the gender dimension, the non-binary and the male categories were combined. Further collapsing is generally not expected. However, in the rare event that it is necessary, male and female categories would be collapsed.

Last updated 07 January 2026 (SK)
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