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5 Test Administration: Moving to a Local Model
Pages 45-56

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From page 45...
... This approach could produce substantial cost savings, though with potential concerns related to standardization, comparability, equal access, and increased burden for schools. In addition to reducing the costs of regular test administration, local administration could also be used to reduce NAEP's high costs for pilot testing (see Chapter 4)
From page 46...
... . In addition, roughly 23 percent of the $21.9 million average annual cost for pilot testing is supported by the sampling and data collection contract for administration of the pilot test, representing another $5.0 million in administration costs each year.4 VISION FOR A DEVICE-AGNOSTIC, CONTACTLESS NAEP The current administration model for NAEP, which uses professionally trained NAEP staff and contractors to administer the assessment, minimizes the participation burden for local schools and helps ensure quality, 2 NCES response to Q33: The sampling and data collection contract covers the following activities: "Selects samples; prepares sampling weights; administers assessments and collects data for pilot and field tests, operational assessments, and special studies; and ships completed assessment materials to the scoring sites.
From page 47...
... It also helped ensure that the assessment could be given in all schools, even those with limited bandwidth and technology resources. As school staff have recently assumed increasing responsibility for state-sponsored large-scale, high-stakes assessments, which are often administered online using local devices, the current NAEP test administration model seems increasingly outdated and unnecessary.
From page 48...
... In 2001, No Child Left Behind changed the situation, with the state NAEP becoming mandatory in reading and mathematics at grades 4 and 8. To avoid having NAEP participation become an unfunded mandate, program officials asked Congress to allocate funds to allow NAEP to expand the national administration model to all schools.
From page 49...
... . At this time, familiarity with the computer technology and its use in assessment continues to advance, particularly with the now-widespread use of computer-based administration for state assessments.
From page 50...
... These requirements would certainly include detailed specifications for laptop computers and tablets.11 Examples of minimum requirements might cover screen size and resolution, touch screen capabilities, mouse and track pad/ball capabilities, keyboard size and general layout (e.g., not allowing virtual keyboards or enhanced gaming keyboards) , memory and processing capabilities, acceptable operating system versions, internet browsers or cloud applications, and bandwidth.12 Furthermore, with a local model, school-based staff will need to provide technical assistance for hardware-related issues, with a school technology coordinator who can serve as the first level of technical support when issues arise during the testing period.
From page 51...
... The additional activities that school staff will need to carry out may also suggest a role for some stipend or other financial support for local administration of NAEP, particularly for schools that are not yet routinely administering their state assessments digitally. Such financial support would help avoid the impression that a shift to local administration is an exercise in cost-shifting from the NAEP program to local schools.
From page 52...
... Standardization in testing implies that as many of the important conditions of measurement are held constant as practicable. Those conditions are usually introduced as constraints that include administering a fixed-length test form comprised of the same or highly similar test items to all examinees using the same mode of delivery, as well as following a consistent set of item formats, time limits, and test administration instructions (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education, 2014)
From page 53...
... There will inevitability still be substantial variability across classes of equipment, operation systems, and network configurations that meet NAEP's minimum requirements for local test administration. This variability reflects both the practical reality of using local devices and the necessary customization to allow students to use devices that are familiar to them.
From page 54...
... The estimated development costs also support the cost of a bridge study in 2024 to look at the transition between NAEP-provided touch screen Surface Pros and NAEP-provided non–touch screen Chromebooks.15 Initially, NCES expected the new model to save $52 million from 2026 through 2030 for the mandated assessments in reading and mathematics in grades 4 and 8, though that projection has evolved as the development work continues.16 In the latest estimates, as this report was being prepared, NCES projects that the proportion of schools using local administration will grow from 40 percent in 2026 to 67 percent in 2028 and to 80 percent in 2030.17 This growth in the projected proportion of schools using local administration is accompanied by a reduction of per-school administration costs of roughly 20 percent in 2026, 32.5 percent in 2028, and 37.5 percent in 2030, in comparison with the current baseline.18 The NCES estimates were based on an initial sample of 15,500 schools for the mandated assessments, which would produce an administration cost of roughly $62 million in the baseline year of 2024.19 The reductions in administration costs would imply total reductions compared to the baseline starting with $12.4 million in 2026, and then $20.2 million in 2028, and $23.3 million in 2030. These projected savings total about $56 million from local administration.
From page 55...
... After schools gain experience with local administration, the panel expects substantially larger savings are possible than are suggested by current NCES estimates, especially when considering increased familiarity by 2030 with computers in general and computer assessment in particular across the entire education system. In addition, the panel expects that it would be reasonable to extend the local administration model to the full set of assessments, substantially reducing the average annual administration costs of $36 million and the average annual pilot administration costs of $5.0 million.
From page 56...
... NCES notes24 that the adaptations for assessment administration postCOVID-19 may suggest substantial increases in administration costs that are not yet understood. It is important to note that a widespread use of local administration is likely to reverse these extra cost increases, since special procedures for going into the schools will not be necessary if NAEP staff do not go into the schools.


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