The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences selects schools at random to participate in the following tests below to gather student performance data for national and international comparisons. School districts are required to take the National and International assessments, however they are voluntary at the student level. Schools are randomly selected by the state, and a sample of students, are tested at the school site by the various testing agency staff.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a measure of student achievement that allows you to compare the performance of students in the State with that of students across the nation or in other states. The NAEP tests students in grades four, eight, and twelve in subjects such as reading, writing, math, and science.Paper-and-pencil assessments are conducted periodically in mathematics, reading, science, writing, the arts, civics, economics, geography, U.S. history, and in Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL). Beginning in 2017, NAEP will begin administering technology-based assessments (TBA) for mathematics, reading, and writing, with additional subjects added in 2018 and 2019.
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) will provide internationally comparative data about how well children read after four years of primary schooling. Like the previous PIRLS cycles (conducted in 2001, 2006, and 2011), the study will also collect extensive information about home supports for literacy, curriculum and curriculum implementation, instructional practices, and school resources in each participating country.
ePIRLS 2016
As a new extension to PIRLS in 2016, ePIRLS is an innovative assessment of online reading, making it possible for countries to assess how successful they are in preparing fourth grade students to read, comprehend, and interpret online information. ePIRLS uses an engaging, simulated internet environment with authentic school-like assignments about science and social studies topics to measure achievement in reading for informational purposes.
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Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).Conducted every four years since 1995, TIMSS has been a valuable vehicle for studying international trends in mathematics and science achievement at the fourth and eighth grades.TIMSS will report overall achievement as well as results according to four international benchmarks (advanced, high, medium, and low), by major content domains (e.g., number, algebra, and geometry in mathematics, and earth science, biology, and chemistry in science), and by cognitive domains (knowing, applying, and reasoning). Like the previous TIMSS assessments (conducted in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011), the study will collect detailed information about curriculum and curriculum implementation, instructional practices, and school resources.
The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students' reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years. First conducted in 2000, the major domain of study rotates between mathematics, science, and reading in each cycle. PISA also includes measures of general or cross-curricular competencies, such as collaborative problem solving. By design, PISA emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of compulsory schooling. PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries, and is conducted in the United States by NCES. The next assessment is in 2015.
