• The NAEP 1998 Writing Assessment
• NAEP Writing Assessment Results for the Nation
• National Results for Selected Student Subgroups
• School and Home Factors Related to Writing Achievement
• Writing Performance Within States
• References

NAEP is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) with oversight by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB). In 1998, NAEP administered a writing assessment to a national sample representative of all students at grades 4, 8, and 12 and to state samples representative of all students at grade 8 in the states and other jurisdictions participating in the state-by-state assessment. The results of the assessment provide a snapshot of American students' achievement in writing.

This article presents highlights from the NAEP 1998 Writing Assessment, describing its content, major findings at the national and state levels, and students' experiences at home and in school that appear to be associated with achievement in writing. Student performance is reported as an average score based on the NAEP writing scale, which ranges from 0 to 300. The average scale score reflects the overall writing performance of a particular group of students. Student writing performance is also reported in terms of three achievement levels: Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. The achievement levels are performance standards adopted by NAGB as part of its statutory responsibilities. The levels are collective judgments of what students should know and be able to do for each grade tested. They are based on recommendations by broadly representative panels of classroom teachers, education specialists, and members of the general public.

As provided by law, the Commissioner of Education Statistics, upon review of a congressionally mandated evaluation of NAEP, has determined that the achievement levels are to be considered developmental and should be interpreted and used with caution. However, both the Commissioner and NAGB believe these performance standards are useful for understanding student achievement. They have been widely used by national and state officials, including the National Education Goals Panel, as a common yardstick of academic performance.

In the 1998 writing assessment, a variety of tasks were used to engage students' interest and facilitate their best "first-draft" writing. The Writing Framework and Specifications for the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAGB 1997) provided the guidelines for developing the writing assessment. This framework, developed by NAGB, represents the expertise and experience of a wide array of specialists and concerned citizens, such as writing teachers, researchers, business leaders, scholars, and policymakers.

The framework is based on six objectives that should guide students' development as writers:

• Objective 1: Students should write for a variety of purposes: narrative, informative, and persuasive.

• Objective 2: Students should write on a variety of tasks and for many different audiences.

• Objective 3: Students should write from a variety of stimulus materials and within various time constraints.

• Objective 4: Students should generate, draft, revise, and edit ideas and forms of expression in their writing.

• Objective 5: Students should display effective choices in the organization of their writing. They should include detail to illustrate and elaborate their ideas, and use appropriate conventions of written English.

• Objective 6: Students should value writing as a communicative activity.

The NAEP 1998 Writing Assessment measured students' performance on three types of writing: narrative, informative, and persuasive. These three broad types, or "purposes for writing," are commonly used in writing instruction, and thus were deemed most appropriate for NAEP's assessment of student achievement.

Narrative writing. Narrative writing involves the production of stories or personal essays. It encourages writers to use their creativity and powers of observation to develop stories that can capture a reader's imagination.

The narrative tasks in the 1998 writing assessment asked students to write many kinds of stories (mostly fiction, some nonfiction). Some of the tasks asked students to write in response to photographs, cartoons, poems, or stories, which were provided with the assessment.

Informative writing. Informative writing communicates information to the reader, whether it is to share knowledge or to convey messages, instructions, and ideas. It may involve reporting on events or experiences, or analyzing concepts and relationships.

The informative tasks in the 1998 writing assessment allowed students to write on specified subjects in a variety of formats, such as reports, reviews, and letters. Many of the tasks asked students to write in response to information provided with the assessment, such as newspaper articles, charts, photographs, and reported dialogues.

Persuasive writing. Persuasive writing seeks to influence the reader to take some action or bring about change. It may contain factual information, such as reasons, examples, or comparisons; however, its main purpose is not to inform, but to persuade.

The persuasive tasks in the 1998 writing assessment asked students to write letters to friends, newspaper editors, or prospective employers; to refute arguments; or to take sides in a debate. Many of the tasks asked students to respond to letters, cartoons, or arguments, which were provided with the assessment.

As shown in table A, 23 percent of 4th-graders, 27 percent of 8th-graders, and 22 percent of 12th-graders were at or above Proficient-the level identified by NAGB as the standard all students should reach.

While table A shows the cumulative percentages of students "at or above" each achievement level, figure A shows the percentage of students who fell below the Basic achievement level and those within the Basic, Proficient, and Advanced levels. The figure makes it clear that over half of the students at each grade were within the Basic level of writing performance.

Table A.-Percentage of students at or above the writing achievement levels: 1998

Figure A.-Percentage of students within each writing achievement-level range: 1998

The NAEP writing scores at each grade (4, 8, and 12) range from 0 to 300, with a national average of 150 (including both public and nonpublic school students). These scores can be used to compare various subgroups of students.

At all three grades, females had higher average scores than males. At each grade, a higher percentage of female students than male students were at or above Proficient. Across the three grades, between 29 and 36 percent of female students were at or above Proficient. In comparison, between 14 and 17 percent of male students were at or above this level.

At grade 4, Asian/Pacific Islander students had higher scores than white students, who, in turn, had higher scores than black, Hispanic, and American Indian students. American Indian students also scored higher than black students at grade 4. At grades 8 and 12, Asian/Pacific Islander students and white students had higher scores than black, Hispanic, and American Indian students.

Across the three grades, the percentages of students who reached or exceeded the Proficient achievement level were 26 to 34 percent among white students, 8 percent among black students, 10 to 11 percent among Hispanic students, 24 to 36 percent among Asian/Pacific Islander students, and 9 to 11 percent among American Indian students.

At all three grades, students attending nonpublic schools had higher scores than students attending public schools. Differences between the performance of students in public and nonpublic schools may be due to factors such as admission standards and the likelihood of greater parental involvement at nonpublic schools.

At each grade, a higher percentage of nonpublic school students reached or exceeded the Proficient level than did public school students. Across the three grades, between 35 and 44 percent of nonpublic school students were at or above the Proficient level of performance. In comparison, between 20 and 24 percent of public school students reached or exceeded this level.

What classroom activities are related to students' writing performance? Are there aspects of students' home environments that seem to encourage and support writing achievement? NAEP collects information that may help researchers, educators, and parents answer these questions. For example, it may help educators discover that their activities to support writing are shared by their colleagues across the nation. It can suggest approaches to help students become better writers, and it can provide a resource for parents seeking to support their children's success in writing.

While it is possible to study the relationship between students' writing performance and various home and school practices, it cannot be established that these practices cause a higher level of achievement in writing. The relationship that exists between writing achievement and another factor may, in fact, be caused by a complex interaction of numerous factors.

Students who participated in the NAEP 1998 Writing Assessment were asked how often they talked with their teachers about their writing while they were working on a writing assignment.

At all three grades, most students said that they spoke with their teachers about what they were writing while engaged in a writing activity. Those students who said that their teachers "always" or "sometimes" spoke with them about their writing did better than the students who said that their teachers "never" did so. Furthermore, at grades 8 and 12, students who said that their teachers "always" talked with them about their writing while they were working on it had higher scores than those who reported that their teachers "sometimes" did so.

Research on the writing process suggests that students who have the opportunity to think about what they want to say and how best to express it in writing are more engaged with the writing task and, therefore, are more likely to express their ideas clearly. Each student participating in the 1998 writing assessment was given a brochure that discussed how to plan for and revise writing. Students were also given space in their test booklets for planning their writing.

Forty-seven percent of 4th-graders, 66 percent of 8th-graders, and 67 percent of 12th-graders planned for their response to at least one of the two tasks in the test booklet. At all three grades, students who planned their responses to both tasks had higher average scores than those who did not plan for either task or who planned for only one task.

Young people who have a variety of reading materials in the home can learn to appreciate different kinds of reading experiences and writing styles. Furthermore, exposure to many different kinds of writing may support students' development as versatile writers. In the 1998 writing assessment, students were asked about the number and types of reading materials they had at home.

At all three grades, between 38 and 53 percent of students said they had "four" different kinds of reading materials (books, magazines, a newspaper, and an encyclopedia) at home. At all three grades, the students who said they had "four" kinds of reading materials at home had higher scores than those who said they had "three" or "two or fewer."

Students need opportunities to discuss their schoolwork with caring family members at home. Research has documented the higher achievement of children whose families take an active role in their learning. Recognizing this, education reforms such as those embodied in Goals 2000^* have sought to strengthen the relationship between parents and schools.

In the 1998 writing assessment, students were asked how often they discuss their studies with someone at home. At all three grades, most students said they discussed their studies with someone at home "at least once a week." These students had higher scores than those who said they discussed their studies at home less frequently.

While the average scale scores of students across the nation provide parents and educators with a broad view of how well American students are performing in writing, it is also informative to examine the writing performance of students in individual states. In 1998, in addition to the national assessment, NAEP examined the writing performance of representative samples of eighth-grade students in states and other jurisdictions that volunteered to participate in a state-level assessment.

Eighth-grade public school students in 35 states and 4 other jurisdictions participated in the NAEP state-level assessment. In 1998, the national average writing score for public school students was 148, and scores for students participating in the state-level assessment ranged from 124 to 165. Differences in writing performance among states and jurisdictions are most likely related to a combination of factors, including the effectiveness of an individual state's or jurisdiction's programs, economic constraints, and student demographic characteristics. Figure B shows whether each participating state and jurisdiction scored above the national average of 148, at or around the national average, or below the national average.

Figure B.-State writing scores of eighth-grade public school students relative to the national average: 1998

In 1998, across the participating states and other jurisdictions, between 47 and 66 percent of students were within the Basic level of performance, between 8 and 40 percent were within the Proficient level, and between 0 and 6 per-cent were within the Advanced level. Furthermore, across the participating states and other jurisdictions, between 61 and 91 percent of students were at or above the Basic level of performance, and between 9 and 44 percent were at or above the Proficient level.