Jung-mi Ha

The Use of Naep: Perceptions and Use by State Education Staff Jung-mi Ha

The state assessment component of NAEP fulfills aunique role in the U. S. educational system wherethere is a long tradition of local control overschools. NAEP data could be used meaningfully toinform educational decisions in many levels. Unfortunately, it has been widely perceived that NAEPdata are under utilized, and there has been littleempirical research on actual uses of NAEP. This bookis based on a case study investigating how stateeducation personnel perceive the usefulness of NAEPand how NAEP data are actually used in a statecontext. Data were collected through interviews, documents, and analysis of relevant websites. Thisstudy found that in relation to NAEP?s potentialutility, the use of NAEP at the state level islimited. However, this study suggests that more NAEPdata are currently used in a state than before andthat the increased use has been certainly affected byNCLB. The findings of this study are expected toprovide some insight into how to narrow the gapbetween potential and actual uses of NAEP and areparticularly useful to curriculum specialists, assessment specialists, and policy makers at thelocal, state, and federal levels.