How are NAEP results used?
Stakeholders and policy makers at the national, state, district, and school levels can use NAEP data to compare state-to-state, state-to-nation, and regional results. Reports for the most recent assessments are available on the ODE/NAEP website at http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=40. For example, the results from the NAEP 2002 writing report at http://www.ode.state.or.us/initiatives/naep/compiledReportWr2002.pdf indicated that our 4th graders were performing below the national average in writing. When we looked at possible relationships in the data, we realized that the Oregon writing assessment doesn’t require timed responses from our students. NAEP’s writing assessment is timed. Timed writing, when practiced along with other types of writing, helps students become better writers, but the benefits extend far beyond learning to write. They learn to master important thinking and organizational skills. It also helps them prepare for the workplace where many jobs require “writin
