Mapping State Proficiency Standards Onto the NAEP Scales: Variation and Change in State Standards for Reading and Mathematics, 2005-2009

This research and development report compares the standards that states use in reporting 4th- and 8th- grade reading and mathematics proficiency using NAEP as a common metric. The state standards used in reporting 2008-09 results were mapped onto the NAEP scales to compare the standards across the states and in relation to the NAEP achievement levels.

The mapping procedure offers an approximate way to assess the relative rigor of the states' adequate yearly progress (AYP) standards established under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001. Once mapped, the NAEP scale equivalent score representing the state's proficiency standards can be compared to indicate the relative rigor of those standards.

Use of the term rigor does not imply a judgment about state standards, but is descriptive of state-to-state variation in the location of the state standards on a common metric.

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