National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) - Assignment Example

Assessment tools are methods or facilities that enable a teacher or instructor to gather information about the general learning in the class room. The ability to choose an appropriate assessment tool depends on the objectives of the instructors and whether they are long tlong-termerm or short-term. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is one such tool that has been used for decades to assess students. Since it was initiated, the National Assessment Progress has monitored the national educational process by conducting periodic assessments in various subjects. The NAEP has ensured a variety of adjustments in schools since its inception. To increase its scope of application, Congress has ensured that NAEP gains popularity by providing facilities required in ensuring that it is fully operational.

The National Assessment tool is the preferred tool because of its universality since it can be used to compare methods of teaching alongside comparing performance in almost all parts of the world. NAEP as an assessment tool works under the principle of random selection. When it is used, students from various schools are randomly selected within each state to be part of the assessment. The assessments are often conducted in areas such as reading, science, arts, and other disciplines in the United States since it is the region that uses the method mostly. NAEP has been widely used in the United States by the Education Department since 1969 (Jay 177).

The major purpose of the assessment is to enable education policymakers, parents, and the media to analyze students’ progress in various subjects so that deductions can be made to improve the education system or general classroom performance. During the assessment, not all the students are engaged in the process. Only selected students are chosen for participation to act as samples. The sample of students is picked from all public schools in the US and nonpublic schools because the major aim is to enable all students to demonstrate in-depth knowledge and skills learned by performing numerous scale scores.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress is probably one of the best assessment tools in the world. It reports data results for the entire country hence enabling the government to compare results for the states against the results of the entire country. The trend of the results which is used nationally to compare academic progress of students between the ages 9 to about 17 is often reported at the state level rather than at the school or individual level in order to avoid a situation where schools are competing for grades.

One advantage of using this method as an assessment tool is that biases are reduced because of the fact that random selection is used in the assessment. The random selection ensures that no state school whether public or non public gain more advantage over the other. The results are not printed for the schools or individuals. This makes the assessment tool the best method and tool in conducting assessment since it avoids biases and eliminates rivalry due to the fact that there is no competition involved (Ryan &Shepard 227).

During the process of conducting the assessment, it is not just based on short and prolonged responses; rather, other methods used also include multi-choice and oral method applications. The results of the assessment tool are compiled by the Education Department in states in the entire nation to compare the results of the students in both public and private schools. Such results are compiled using tables or scalable vector graphics stored as slides in soft copy or printed in hard copy. Other than trying to compare results for each school within one academic year, it can be used to compare changes in the performance of students from one year to the other. The results can be shown or reported using maps. After the release of the results, they can as well be used when doing analytical procedures that will help in improving the general performance of students in schools. They can be used by stakeholders in determining the future of education plans in schools.

This method and tool of assessment can be improved by ensuring that the study is conducted using computer technology, unlike traditional paper and pencil. The technological application is important since it improves the accuracy of the process. The computer technology used also helps in ensuring that subjects like sciences and mathematics are assessed accurately using modes that cannot be otherwise used by other modes of assessment (Hua 94).

With the advancement of time, there is also a need for an unwavering assessment schedule that encourages all schools to participate in the exercise. This will ensure the maximization of the use of NAEP as a tool in conducting assessments so that reforms can be made in improving the education system. However, the system should be supple, consistent, and convenient, and that is commensurate with the load which states face.

By trying to evaluate the effectiveness of NAEP as an assessment tool, I can deduce that its effectiveness when used on a large scale is questionable. While it is worth noting that the application of NAEP has progressively mounted due to the positive results obtained, the explicit applications of the assessment tool have more than often not kept pace. Cautious descriptions of projected interpretations and applications of NAEP also raise eyebrows on the fairness and equity of the assessment tool because it is bound to give inaccurate data when factors such as ethnicity, demographic distribution, and regional locations are anything to go by.