DOCUMENT RESUME ED 398 145 SO 026 763 · 2014. 6. 30. · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 398 145 SO 026 763...

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 398 145 SO 026 763

AUTHOR Persky, Hilary R. And Others

TITLE NAEP 1994 Geography Report Card: Findings from theNational Assessment of Educational Progress.

INSTITUTION National Assessment of Educational Progress,Princeton, NJ.

SPONS AGENCY National Center for Education Statistics (ED),

Washington, DC.REPORT NO ISBN-0-16-048680-7; NCES-96-087PUB DATE May 96NOTE I32p.

AVAILABLE FROM U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent ofDocuments, Mail Stop: SSOP, Washington, DC20402-9328.

PUB TYPE Information Analyses (070) Statistical Data (110)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC06 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS *Academic Achievement; *Educational Assessment;

Elementary Secondary Education; *Geography; Grade 4;

Grade 8; Grade 12; Knowledge Level; *NationalSurveys; Program Evaluation; Student Evaluation;Tables (Data)

IDENTIFIERS *National Assessment of Educational Progress

ABSTRACTThis book reports on the 1994 National Assessment for

Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment in geography for grades 4, 8,and 12. Students performance is summarized on a scale ranging from 0

to 500 with the achievement levels of Basic, Proficient and Advanced

for each grade. Major findings for the nation include: (1) The

Proficient level was reached by 22 percent of fourth graders, 28percent of eighth graders, and 27 percent of twelfth graders; (2) At

each graue level, roughly 70 percent of students were at or above the

Basic level; (3) As students' geography scores increased, thecomplexity and sophistication of the geographic knowledge and skillsthey exhibited increased; and (4) Generally, students across grades

in the higher percentiles exhibited greater abilities to work with a

range of geographic tools, create maps based on tabular or narrative

data, grasp processes and relationships, bring outside knowledge to

bear on answering questions and analyze data. The book contains five

chapters. Chapter 1, "NAEP 1994 Assessment in Geography," presentsthe overview of the NAEP 1994 geography assessment, including its

content framework, design, and administration, along with samplequestions and student responses from the assessment. Chapter 2,"Geography Results For the Nation and Regions," provides overallaverage scale score results for the nation, regions, and subgroups of

students. Chapter 3, "Geography Achievement Levels," describes

student performance in terms of achievement levels. Chapter 4,

"Contexts in Which Students Learn Geography," describes contextualfactors related to students' geography achievement. Chapter 5, "What

Students Know and Can Do in Geography," describes the specificabilities that students demonstrated on the NAEP 1994 geographyassessment and reports student performance in different content areasof geography. Three appendices and extensive tables and figures

accompany the text. (EH)

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U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONoffice of Educational Research lino imprmemont

E UCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

This document has been reproduced ascarved from the person or organization

originating it

0 Minor changes have been made toImprove reproduction quality

Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position or policy.

THE NATION'S REPORT CARD, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), is the only nationally representative and continuingassessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Since 1969, assessments have been conducted periodically inreading, mathematics, science, writing, history/geography, and other fields. By making objective information on student performance available topolicymakers at the national, state, and local levels, NAEP is an integral part of our nation's evaluation of the condition and progress of education.Only information related to academic achievement is collected under this program. NAEP guarantees the privacy of individual students and theirfamilies.

NAEP is a congressionally mandated project of the National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. Department of Education. TheCommissioner of Education Statistics is responsible, by law, for carrying out the NAEP project through competitive awards to qualified organiza-tions. NAEP reports directly to the Commissioner, who is also responsible for providing continuing reviews, including validation studies andsolicitation of public comment, on NAEP's conduct and usefulness.

In 1988; Congress established the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) to formulate policy guidelines for NAEP. The Board isresponsible for selecting the subject areas to be assessed from among those included in the National Education Goals; for setting appropriate studentperformance levels; for developing assessment objectives and test specifications through a national consensus approach; for designing theassessment methodology; for developing guidelines for reporting and disseminating NAEP results; for developing standards and procedures forinterstate, regional, and national comparisons; for determining the appropriateness of test items and ensuring they are free from bias; and for takingactions to improve the form and use of the National Assessment.

Honorable William T. Randall, ChairCommissioner of EducationState of ColoradoDenver, Colorado

Mary R. BlantonAttorneySalisbury, North Carolina

Patsy CavazosPrincipalW.G. Love Accelerated Elementary SchoolHouston, Texas

Catherine A. DavidsonSecondary Education DirectorCentral Kitsap School DistrictSilverdale, Washington

Edward DonleyFormer ChairmanAir Products & Chemicals, Inc.Allentown, Pennsylvania

Honorable James EdgarGovernor of IllinoisSpringfield, Illinois

James E. EllingsonFourth-grade Classroom TeacherProbstfield Elementary SchoolMoorhead, Minnesota

Chester E. Finn, Jr.John M. Olin FellowHudson InstituteWashington, DC

Michael J. GuerraExecutive DirectorSecondary Schools DepartmentNational Catholic Educational AssociationWashington, DC

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Jan B. LovelessDistrict Communications SpecialistMidland Public SchoolsMidland, Michigan

Marilyn McConachleSchool Board MemberGlenbrook High SchoolsGlenview, Illinois

Jason MillmanProf. of Educational Research MethodologyCornell UniversityIthaca, New York

Honorable Richard P. MillsCommissioner of EducationState of New YorkAlbany, New York

William J. MoloneySuperintendent of SchoolsCalvert County Public SchoolsPrince Frederick, Maryland

Honorable Annette MorganMemberMissouri House of RepresentativesJefferson City, Missouri

Mark D. MusickPresidentSouthern Regional Education BoardAtlanta, Georgia

Mitsugi NakuhimaChairmanHawaii State Board of EducationHonolulu, Hawaii

Michael T. NettlesProfessor of Education & Public PolicyUniversity of MiciliganAnn Arbor, Michiganand DirectorFrederick D. Patterson Research InstituteUnited Negro College Fund

Honorable Roy RomerGovernor of ColoradoDenver, Colorado

Honorable Edgar D. RossJudgeTerritorial Court of the Virgin IslandsChristiansted, St. CroixU.S. Virgin Islands

Fannie L. SimmonsMathematics CoordinatorDistrict 5 of Lexington/Richland CountyBallentine, South Carolina

Adam UrbanskiPresidentRochester Teachers AssociationRochester, New York

Deborah VoltzAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Special EducationUniversity of LouisvilleLouisville, Kentucky

Marilyn A. Whirrylvelfth-grade English TeacherMira Costa High SchoolManhattan Beach, California

Dennie Palmer WolfSenior Research AssociateHarvard Graduate School of EducationCambridge, Massachusetts

Sharon P. Robinson (Ex-Officio)Assistant SecretaryOffice of Educational Research

and ImprovementU.S. Department of EducationWashington, DC

Roy TrubyExecutive Director, NAGBWashington, DC

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NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

-NT Irt,r4 ta Off)AA A_ 4."

o'nfvfe-1-, C nird

Findings from theNational Assessment ofEducational Progress

Hilary R. PerskyClyde M. Reese

Christine Y. O'SullivanStephen LazerJerry Moore

Shard Shakrani

May 1996

Office of Educational Research and ImprovementU.S. Department of Education

Prepared by Educational Testing Service under contractwith the National Center for Education Statistics

4

U.S. Department of EducationRichard W. RileySecretary

Office of Educational Research and ImprovementSharon P. RobinsonAssistant Secretary

National Center for Education StatisticsJeanne E. GriffithActing Commissioner

Education Assessment DivisionGary W. PhillipsAssociate Commissioner

May 1996

FOR MORE INFORMMON:

For ordering information on this report, write:

National Library of EducationOffice of Educational Research and ImprovementU.S. Department of Education555 New Jersey Avenue, NWWashington, D.C. 20208-5641

or call 1-800-424-1616 (in the Washington, DC, metropolitan areacall 202-219-1651).

. ae work upon which this publication is based was performed for theNational Center for Education Statistics, Office of Educational Researchand Improvement, by Educational Testing Service.

Educational Testing Service is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer.

Educational Th-sting Service, ETS, and the ETS logo are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service.

For sale by the US. Govanment Printing OfficeSuperintendent of Documents. Mail Svc: SSOP, Washington. DC 213402-9325

ISBN 0-16-045680-7

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_

Elu'r! 'TAT SUMMARY

CHAPTER 1. NAEP 1994 ASSESSMENT IN GEOGRAPHY

IntroductionGeography in American EducationOverview of the 1994 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

The NAEP 1994 Geography FrameworkGeography Content AreasGeography Cognitive AreasThe NAEP 1994 Geography Assessment InstrumentDescription of School and Student SamplesReporting NAEP Geography ResultsThe Geography ScaleGeography Achievement LevelsInterpreting NAEP ResultsSample Questions from the NAEP 1994 Geography Assessment

CHAPTER 2. GEOGRAPHY RESULTS FOR THE NATION AND REGIONS

IntroductionGeography Results for the NationGeography Results for Major Reporting Subgroups

RacelEthnicityGenderParents' Highest Level ofEducationThpe of LocationTitle I ParticipationThpe of School

An In-Depth Look at Selected Background CharacteristicsGender and RacelEthnicityGender and Parental Education7,e of School (Public andNonpublic) and ParentalEducation

RacelEthnicity and Parental EducationSummary

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c!IAPTER 3. GEOGRAPHY ACHIEVEMENT LEVELS7

- IntroductionGeography Achievement Levels for the Nation and RegionsGeography Achievement Levels for Major Reporting Subgroups

RacelEthnicityGenderParents' Highest Level of EducationThpe of LocationTitle I Participation71ffle of School

Summary

CHAPTER 4. CONTEXTS IN WHICH STUDENTS LEARN GEOGRAPHY

The Extent of Students' Social Studies and Geography InstructionSocial Studies and Geography Instruction at Grade 4Geography Course Taking at Grades 8 and 12Geography Course Taking Within Subgroups at Grades 8 and 12

Teacher Background and ExperienceThe Context for Learning Geography at Grades 4 and 8Instructional Materials and Practices

The Use of Maps and Globes in Learning GeographyThe Use of Projects in Learning GeographyThe Use of Computers in Learning GeographyThe Use of Films, Videos, or Filmstrips in Learning GeographyThe Use of Homework in Learaing GeographyThe Use of Newspapers, Magazines, or Journals in Learning Geography

Students' Home SupportDiscussing Schoolwork at HomeLiteracy Materials in the HomeThlevision Viewing Habits

Student Interest in GeographySummary

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CI-IAPTER 5. WHAT STUDENTS KNOW AND CAN DO IN GEOGRAPHY

Overview of Students' Performance on the NAEP Geography Scale

Fourth-Grade ProfileEighth-Grade Profilenvelfth-Grade Profile

Profiles of Students' Geography Knowledge, Abilities, and Study HabitsAverage Performance by Content Areas

Performance on Geography Content Areas for the NationPerformance on Geography Content Areas by RegionPerformance on Geography Content Areas by RacelEthnicityPerformance on Geography Content Areas by GenderPerformance on Geography Content Areas by Parents' Highest Level of EducationPerformance on Geography Content Areas by Type of LocationPerformance on Geography Content Areas by Typeof School

Profiling Students' Performance on the Three Geography Content Areas

Summary

CONCLUSION

APPENDICES

A. Overview of Procedures Used in the NAEP 1994 Geography AssessmentB. Describing Students' Geography PerformanceC. Sample Questions from the NAEP 1994 Geography Assessment

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TABLES

. Table 1.1Distribution of Assessment Time Across Geography Content Areas

Table 1.2Distribution of Assessment Time Across Cognitive Areas

Table 2.1Average Geography




Table 2.5Average GeographyGrades 4, 8, and 12



Table 2.8

Scale Scores by Percentile, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Scale Scores, for the Nation and by Region, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Scale Scores by Race/Ethnicity, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Scale Scores by Gender, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Scale Scores by Parents' Highest Level of Education,

Scale Scores by lYpe of Location, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Scale Scores by Title I Participation, Grades 4, 8, and 12 ... . . .

Average Geography Scale Scores by 'IYpe of School, Grades 4, 8, and 12Table 2.9

Average Geography Scores of Male and Female Studentsby Race/Ethnicity, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 2.10Average Geography Scores of Male and Female Studentsin Relation to Parents' Highest Level of Education, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 2.11Average Geography Scores of Students Attending Public andNonpublic Schools in Relation to Parents' Highest Level of Education,Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 2.12 I 1

Average Geography Scores of White, Black, and Hispanic Studentsin Relation to Parents' Highest Level of Education, Grade 12

Table 3.1Geography Achievement Levels, for the Nation and by Region, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 3.2Geography Achievement Levels by Race/Ethnicity, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 3.3Geography Achievement Levels by Gender, Grades 4, 8, and 12

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Table 3.4Geography Achievement Levels by Parents' Highest Level of Education,

Grades 4, 8, and 12Table 3.5

Geography Achievement Levels by lYpe of Location, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 3.6Geography Achievement Levels by Title I Participation, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table -sGeography Achievement Levels by lYpe of School, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 4.1Students' Reports on Social Studies Course Taking, Grade 4

Table 4.2Teachers' Reports on Time Spent Per Week in Social Studies Class

on Geography Teaching, Grade 4Table 4.3

Students' Reports on Geography Course Taking, Grades 8 and 12

Table 4.4Students' Reports on Number of Semesters of History, Geography,

or Social Studies Taken, Grade 12Table 4.5

Students' Reports on Geography Course Taking for Selected Subgroups, Grade 8

Table 4.6,

Students' Reports on Geography Course Taking for Selected Subgroups, Grade 12 .4.

Table 4 7Teachers' Reports on Undergraduate Majors, Grades 4 and 8

.

Table 4.8Teachers' Reports on Graduate Majors, Grades 4 and 8

Table 4.9Teachers' Reports on Continuing Education, Grades 4 and 8

Table 4.10_ _

Teachers' Reports on Use of Maps and Globes, Grade 4

Table 4.11Students' Reports on Use of Maps and Globes, Grades 4 and 8

Table 4.12Teachers' Reports on Use of Geography Projects, Grade 4

Table 4.13Students' Reports on Doing Geography Projects, Grades 4 and 8

Table 4.14Students' Reports on Doing Geography Projects for StudentsCurrently Enrolled in a Geography Course, Grade 8

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Table 4.15Teachers' Reports on Use of Computers, Grade 4

; Table 4.16Students' Reports on Use of Computers for Geography, Grades 4 and 8

Table 4.17Teachers' Reports on the Use of Films, Videos, or Filmstrips, Grade 4

Table 4.18Students' Reports on the Use of Films, Videos, or Filmstrips, Grades 4 and 8

Table 4.19Students' Reports on Time Spent on Homework Each Day, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 4.20-Students' Reports on Time Spent on Geography Homework Each Week, Grade 8

Table 4.21Students' Reports on Reading Newspapers, Magazines or JournalsRelated to Geography, Grades 4 and 8

Table 4.22Students' Reports on the Frequency with Which they Discuss Their Studiesat Home, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 4.23Students' Reports on the Number of Different '1)7pes of Literacy Materialsin their Home, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 4.24Students' Reports on the Amount of Time Spent Watching TelevisionEach Day, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 4.25Students' Reports on How Much They Like Studying Geography,Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 5.1,

Average Scale Scores at Various Pcrcentiles by Geography Content Areas,Grades 4, 8, and 12

. s )

Table 5.2Average Scale Scores in Geography Content Areas by Region, Grades 4, 8, and 12 ..

Table 5.3Average Scale Scores in Geography Content Areas by Race/Ethnicity,Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 5.4Average Scale Scores in Geography Content Areas by Gender, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 5.5Average Scale Scores in Geography Content Areas by Parents' Highest Levelof Education, Grades 4, 8, and 12

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Table 5.6Average Scale Scores in Geography ContentAreas by Type of Location,

Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table 5.7Average Scale Scores in Geography ContentAreas by Type of School,

Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table A.1Target and Actual Distribution of Assessment Timeby Grade and Content Area, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table A.2Unweighted and Weighted Sample Sizes by Grade and RegionPublic and Nonpublic Schools, Grades 4, 8, and 12

Table A.3Percentage of Students Who Reported Not KnowingTheir Parents' Highest Level of Education, by Race/Ethnicity,Grades 4, 8, and 12 1994 Geography Assessment

Table A.4Correlations Between Students' and Parents' Reports ofParents' Highest Level of Education, by Race/Ethnicity, Grades 8 and 12

84.:

Table B.1Respomes of Students Near Selected Percentile Points toGeneral Study Habit Questions, Grade 4

Table B.2Responses of Students Near Selected Percentile Points toGeneral Study Habit Questions, Grade 8

Table B.3-;

Responses of Students Near Selected Percentile Points to ft,'General Study Habit Questions, Grade 12

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FIGURES

Figure 1.1NAEP 1994 Geography Assessment Framework Elements

Figure 1.2Policy Definitions of NAEP Achievement Levels

Figure 1.3NAEP 1994 Geography Sample Questions

Figure 2.1Average NAEP Geography Scale Scores by Grade and by Region

Figure 3.1Geography Achievement Levels

Figure 5.1Profiles of Lower, Middle, and Higher Performing Fourth Graders:Geography Knowledge, Abilities, and Study Habits

Figure 5.2Profiles of Lower, Middle, and Higher Performing Eighth Graders:Geography Knowledge, Abilities, and Study Habits

Figure 5.3.Profiles of Lower, Middle, and Higher Performing We lfth Graders:Geography Knowledge, Abilities, and Study Habits

Figure 5.4Map of Selected Items on the Geography Content Area Subscales for Grade 4



Figure A.1NAEP 1994 Geography Assessment Framework Elements

Figure A.2States Included in the Four Regions

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EXECUTIVE' UMMARY

If policymakers, educators, and concerned citizens areto reform and improve the United States educationalsystem, they need valid and reliable information on thestrengths and weaknesses of American students and onthe instructional factors that are related to differinglevels of performance. For more than 25 years, theNational Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

has provided such information. NAEP assessments haveprobed students' abilities in a variety of subject areas,reporting both on what students know and can do and

on the relationships between instructional, institutional,and background variables and differing levels of educa-tional achievement. As the nation's foremost ongoingeducation survey, the national assessment data tracktrends in student performance and allow concernedreaders to evaluate whether America's students have theskills and knowledge necessary to participate in today'seconomic and political worlds.

In 1994 NAEP conducted national assessments inreading, geography, and United States history at grades4, 8, and 12. The geography results included in thisReport Card describe students' achievement at eachgrade and within subgroups of the general population.In addition, the report discusses the relationships amongstudent performance and instructional and home bick-ground variables. 'Men tógether, this information Will

give educators a context for evaluating the geographyachievement of students and data that may be used toguide reform efforts.,

Student performance on ihe NAEP 1994 geOgiiihyassessment is summarized on the NAEP geography scale,which ranges from 0 to 500. The geography scale alio* forthe discussion of what students know and can do in lirmsof the geography content covered by the assessment. Inaddition, results are reported according to geographyachievement levels adopted by the National AssessmentGoverning Board. For each grade, three achievementlevels were set Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. These

are based on judgments, made by broadly representativepanels, about what students should know and should be

able to do in geography.The Proficient achievement level represents solid

academic performance that demonstrates competency'over challenging subject matter for each grade assessed.The Basic achievement level denotes partial mastery ofprerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamentalfor proficient work. The Advanced achievement level

signifies superior performance.

To maximize usefulness to policymakers, educators,parents, and other interested parties, the NAEP resultsare presented both as average scores on the NAEPgeography scale, and in terms of the percentage ofstudents attaining NAEP geography achievement levels.

Thus, NAEP results not only provide information aboutwhat students know and can do, but also indicatewhether their achievement meets expectations of whatstudents should know and should be able to do. Further-more, the descriptions of skills and abilities expected ofstudents at each achievement level help make thereporting of assessment results more meaningful.

Major Findings for the Nation

10. The Proficient achievement level was reached by

22 percent of fourth graders, 28 percent of eighthgraders, and 27 percent of twelfth graders.

At each grade, roughly 70 percent of students wereat or above the Basic level.

0° As students' geography scores increased, thecomplexity and sophistication of the geographicknowledge and skills they exhibited increased.For example;

At grade 4, 79 percent of students could identifythe water cycle from an illustration; 70 percentcould draw a generally accurate map of an islandfrom i written description; 59 perienf could use amap to explain the concentration of highways inthe eastern United States; and 13 percent could-describe two important effects ofan oil spill inthe ocean.

At grade 8, 90 percent of students knew where tolocate information in an atlas; 70 percent couldunderstand why immigrants congregate in NewYork City; 48 percent could identify latitude on apolar map projection; and 36 percent could identifyand explain two reasons why a particular routefor a railroad would prove cheaper to constructthan an alternate route.

At grade 12, 91 percent of students could use amap to identify an area of earthquake activity;66 percent could construct a precipitation piechart from tabled data; 55 percent could give atleast two geographically accurate reasons that ashopping center should be placed at a givenlocation; and 10 percent could identify Canada asthe United States' largest trading partner.

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Generally, students across grades in the higherpercentiles exhibited greater abilities to work with

:a range of geographic tools, create maps based ontabular or narrative data, grasp processes andrelationships, bring outside knowledge to bear onanswering questions, and analyze data.

ci

Major Findings for Student Subgroups

> As in other NAEP assessments, statistically significantdifferences existed in the performance of majorsubgroups of the population. For example, at allthree grades, White and Asian students had higherscores than did their Black and Hispanic counter-parts. In addition, at all grades, Hispanic students hadhigher average scale scores than did Black students.

Consistent with findings in other assessments, therewas a strong relationship between differing levels ofparental education'and performance in geography.As a general rule, the more education students'parents had received, the better they performed onthe assessment.

On the overall geography scale, male studentsperformed better than female students at all threegrades. However, gender differences were not consis-tent across content areas within geography. Forexample, at grade 4 males outperformed females ontasks assessing the content area "Space and Place,"while there were no significant performance differ-ences in the two other content areas.

0. At all three grades, students attending nonpublic_ schools performed at a higher level than did those

attending public schools.

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Contextual Factors Related toGeography Performance

A diverse range of home and school factors are related tothe ways and extent to which students learn geography.Students who participated in the NAEP assessment wereasked to complete questionnaires about home andschool experiences related to geography learning. Also,teachers and school administrators completed question-naires about their students' instructional experiences.The results of these surveys help place the assessmentscores into context, and allow policymakers to determinewhich variables are positively and negatively related togeography achievement.

Os Over 40 percent of the students at grades 4 and 8,and 25 percent of the students at grade 12 reportedwatching four or more hours of television each day.In most cases, the more television students rvrtedwatching, the worse they performed on the geog-raphy assessment.

Fifty-six percent of fourth graders, 39 percent ofeighth graders, and 31 percent of twelfth gradersreported discussing their studies at home daily. Bycontrast, 17, 21, and 24 percent of students atgrades 4, 8, and 12, respectively, reported never orhardly ever discussing their studies at home. Stu-dents who reported not discussing their ittidies athome performed at a lower level than did studentswho discussed their studies on a regular.basis.

O Geography instruction is limited for grade 4 students.More than 60 percent of students had.teachers whoreported spending less than 45 minut,e;s4rier,Week on

geography instruction. Most eighth-gradeitudents-reported having taken at least one geography class

. .since the sixth grade. ,

Sventy-six percent of fourth graders, 19 percent ofeighth graders, and 14 percent of twelfth gradersindicated that geography was their favorite subject.At all grades, students who indicated that geographywas their favorite subject performed at *higher levelthan did those who indicated that they liked othersubjects better.

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About This ReportAs the nation's Report Card in geography, thisdOcument provides a broad examination of students'learning. In addition, specific aspects of students'performance and their experiences at home and schoolare reviewed in some depth. As such, this reportprovides a portrait of what students know and can do ingeography, as well as the contexts in which they havedeveloped their geographic knowledge and skills.

A limited assessment of the geography achievementof high school seniors was conducted by NAEP inconjunction with the National Geographic Society in1988. However, the content framework that underliesthe NAEP 1994 geography assessment is markedlydifferent from the framework used for the 1984assessment. Therefore, information cannot be reportedon trends in high school seniors' geography achievementbetween 1988 and 1994.

Chapter 1 presents the overview of the NAEP 1994geography assessment its content framework, design,and administration. Also included in Chapter 1 aresample questions and student responses from theassessment. Chapter 2 provides overall average scalescore results for the nation, regions, and subgroups ofstudents. Chapter 3 describes student performance interms of achievement levels. Chapter 4 describescontextual factors related to students' geographyachievement. Chapter 5 describes the specific abilitiesthat students demonstrated on the NAEP 1994geography assessment and reports student performancein different content areas of geography.

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NAEP 1994 Assessmentin Geography"The social progress, order, security, and peace of eachcountry are necessarily connected with the socialprogress, order, security, and peace of all other cvuntries."

Pope John MI!

ITC:I:Auction

Governments, economies, and ecosystems do not existin isolation. People and regions are connected by tradeagreements, global markets, communications networks,political alliances, and international organizations.Increasingly, nations are sharing concerns about theglobal environment. United States foreign and economicpolicies must account for events across the globe:Competition for jobs in Peoria is as likely to come fromKuala Lumpur as from Fresno. Events from around theworld, such as the unification of Germany, affect us inprofound ways. If our children are to be productive andresponsible citizens of both the United States and theglobal community, they must know and understand theconnections among the world's regions and peoples andthe circumstances that lead these connections to evolveand change. In other words, they must have a workingknowledge of the subject of geography.

p 4.,

Geography in American EducationIn spite of the importance of geographic skills andcompetencies, geography has occupied an inconsistentplace in the American classroom. In the nineteenthcentury, geography was viewed as a core element of theschool curriculum. However, with the growth of thefield of social studies since the second decade of thetwentieth century, geography began to be squeezed outof the curriculum. In addition, pressure on schools toinclude a range of different subjects in their instructionalprograms has further reduced the time allocated togeography.'

Attitudes toward the place of geography in theschool curriculum began to undergo a substantialchange in the 1980s. Concerned about levels ofgeographic literacy in our nation's schools, the National

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Council for Geographic Education and the AmericanAssociation of Geographers created a joint committee toreestablish geography in the school curriculum. Theirreport, Guidelines for Geographic Education: Elementaryand Secondary Schools (1984), provided educators withfive themes central to the teaching and learning ofgeography.' This document was disseminated broadly toteachers and geography educators.

Also in the mid-1980s, the National GeographicSociety, through commentaries in the NationalGeographic magazine, began calling for substantialchanges in American attitudes toward geography andthe United States educational system.' In addition, theNational Geographic Society and the National Center forEducation Statistics (NCES) commissioned a NAEPgeography assessment of high school seniors in 1988.4The information provided by this assessment, along w,thdata from a 1988 Gallup survey of geographic literacy,suggested the need for significant reform of geographiceducation in the United States. Both surveys indicatedthat student knowledge and skills were far short of whatwas needed for responsible and productive citizenship.5

When President Bush convened the nation's governorsat the education summit in 1989, the value of geographyand the need for better geography educafiOn wale furtheremphasized when geography was eStablished as one offive core subjects in the nation's schools. SubsequentlyNAEP was authorized to conduct a comprehensiveassessment of geography in 1994 at grades 4, 8, and 12.

Overview of the 1994 NationalAssessment of Educational Progress

, ,

A project of the NCES, NAEP collects valuableinformation about what students know and can do indifferent curricular areas. Since being initiated byCongress in 1969, NAEP has carried out its federallysupported mandate as the only ongoing nationalassessment of student achievement Both public andnonpublic school students in grades 4, 8, and 12 areregularly sampled and assessed in reading, history,geography, mathematics, science, writing, and othersubjects. The assessments are based on contentframeworks developed through a national consensusprocess involving teachers, curriculum experts, parents,and members of the general public. The frameworksattempt to maintain a balance between currentinstructional efforts, curriculum reform, researchresults, and desirable levels of achievement

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The NAEP 1994 geography assessment was admin-istered to national samples of fourth-, eighth-, andtwelfth-grade students attending public and nonpublicschools. In all, approximately 19,000 students wereassessed. Students' geography performance is describedon a scale ranging from 0 to 500 and in relation to threelevels of achievement: Basic, Proficient, and Advanced.The assessment results are reported for national popula-tions and for specific subgroups.

The NAEP 1994 GeographyFramework

The structure and content of the assessment weredetermined by the Geography Framework for the 1994National Assessment of Educational Progress.6 Althoughgeography had been assessed at the grade 12 level in1988, the 1994 framework offered a new description ofthe content of the discipline and mandated a new formatfor the assessment. This forward-looking framework wasdeveloped under the auspices of the National AssessmentGoverning Board (NAGB) through a consensus processmanaged by the Council of Chief State School Officers.The consensus process involved more than 50 educa-

.

Rgws 1.1 NAEP 1994 Geography Assessment Framework Elements

, -CognitiveDimension SP=

aid Place

i'i..Where is the world's largestA.'fropical rain forest?

Understandbg Why are tropical rain forestslocated near the equator?

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,Support the conclusion thattropical rain forestspromote wide speciesvariation.

t 4

tors, policymakers, professional geographers, represen-tatives of the business community, assessment experts,and curriculum specialists. In addition, several hundredother experts and interested members of the publiccontributed to the development process, either byparticipating in hearings or by reviewing drafts ofdocuments.

The NAEP 1994 geography framework is organized,along two dimensions, a content dimension and acognitivo. dimension. The three content areas of theframework Space and Place, Environment andSociety, and Spatial Dynamics and Connectionsserved to clarify specifics of subject matter that weremeasured in the 1994 geography assessment.

The cognitive dimension of the framework specifiedareas of thinking expected of students as they embracespecific geography content. These cognitive areas weredefined as Knowing, Understanding, and Applying.

As Figure 1.1 illustrates, the content and cognitivedimensions of the framework form a matrix: Theassessment addresses each cognitive process in eachcontent area. The content and cognitive areas of thegeography framework are described in greater detail inthe following sections.

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Geography Content AreasT5ree geography content areas form the core organizing

structure of the framework. The content areas wereintended to ensure that all branches of geographic study

were covered and that emphases on various areas werebalanced. The content areas are also used tO define

subscales for reporting. The content areas, as described

in the assessment framework, are summarized below.'

1. Space and Place: Knowledge of geography as itrelates to particular places on Earth, to spatialpatterns on Earth's surface,and to physical andhuman processes that shape suchspatial patterns.The study of space and place is basic to geography.

Space is the basic resource and organizing element forthe discipline. Patterns that are illustrated on mapsreflect both natural features and human activities. This

content area requires students to distinguish betweenand understand the spatial distribution of physical and

human characteristics. To accomplish this, they mustlocate significant features and places on Earth, recognizeexisting patterns in the distribution of features andplaces, and comprehend the reasons for the developmentand existence of these patterns.

2. Environment and Society: Knowledge of geography

as it relates to the interactions between environmentand society.Geography is an integrative discipline that focuses on

the interrelationships between the physical environmentand society. Human adaptation to and modification ofthe environment have been of continual and increasingimportance to economies and polities. Understanding

the nature, scale, and ramifications of such environ-mental transformations is fundamental in geography-education, and is the core of this content area.

' Students mist be awarelhat every environmentalissue lends itself to many interpretations, depending onpeople's perspectives. Students must consider suchmultiple perspectives as they evaluate decisions about

issues such as land use and resource development,because the results of such decisions often have compli-

cated and unpredictable consequences. Making wise

decisions concerning the costs and benefits of suchenvironmental modification is an expressed goal of

geography education.

Finally, students must understand the causes and

effects of natural hazards and disasters on the livabilityof certain areas and that the phrase "a safe place to live"

is subject to personal interpretation.

3. Spatial Dynamics and Conneclions: Knowledge ofgeography as it relates to spatialconnectionsamong people, places, and regions.This content area requires students to demonstrate

comprehension of cultural, economic, and politicalregions and the connections among them, and explorescritical problems in human interaction. Students mustunderstand how peoples and places are alike and how

they differ. They must demonstrate that a comprehen-sive understanding of these similarities and differencescan contribute to our performance as citizens on both a

personal and broad international scale.

Students should know that people of every nation

are increasingly connected to and dependent upon otherpeoples and places of the world for both human andnatural resources. In this content area, students mustdemonstrate the knowledge that the world's resources

are unevenly distributed, and an understanding ofhow this contributes to the movements of people,

patterns of trade, and patterns of conflict. Students alsoshould understand the increasing significance of humaninterdependence as various populations are searchingfor clearer identities and independence.

Table 1.1 shows the percentages of assessment timeto be devoted to each content area, as specified in the

framework.

TABLE' IA' Time AmosDistribetion of Assessment

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Geography Cognitive Areas

The7NAEP geography framework also outlines threecognitive areas to be assessed: Knowing, Understanding,and Applying. These are described below.'

1. Knowing What is it? Where is it?In this area, students are assessed on their ability

to perform two related functions concerning information:(I) an observation function and (2) a recall function.In general, tasks in this cognitive area are meant tomeasure students' ability to observe different elementsof the landscape and to answer questions by recalling,for example, the name of a place or a resourceindigenous to a particular country or by findinginformation about trading patterns among severalcountries.

2. Understanding Why is it there? How did it getthere? What is its significance?In this area, students are asked to attribute meaning

to what has been observed and to explain events. Explain-ing events and placing them in context requiresstudents to demonstrate the ability to comprehend, tosee connections among diverse bits of geographicinformation, and to use that information to explainexisting patterns and processes on Earth.

3. Applying How can knowledge andunderstandingbe used to solve geographic problems?In this area,-stUdents were involved in a range of

higher order thinking skills. Students are asked toclassify, hypothesize, use inductive andfieductivereasoning, and form problem-solving models. This areaof thinking calls or.k students to.use many tools and skillsof geography as they attempt to develop a comprehen-sive understanding of a problem en route to proposingviable solutions. .

The cognitive areas are not used as ieportingsubscales, but rather were used in the assessmentconstruction process to ensure appropriate coverage.Table 1.2 shows the percentages of the assessment timeto be devoted to each cognitive level, as specified in theframework.

M1.1177Distritetion of Assessment lime

Across Cognitive Areas

Grade bowing WI Kande,

4 45% 30% 25%

1 40% 30% XI%

12 ,3% 30% 40%

The NAEP 1994 GeographyAssessment InstrumentGuided by the NAEP 1994 geography framework, testdevelopment staff at Educational Testing Service workedto craft an assessment that measured the range andbreadth of skills central to geography. As a nationalassessment, it was imperative that the NAEP 1994geography assessment reflect the scope of perspectivesand opinions among educators about geography contentand how it should be assessed. Therefore, the assessmentdevelopment process encompassed an extensive series ofreviews conducted by content and measurement experts,teachers, and researchers. All components of theassessment were evaluated for curricular relevance,developmental appropriateness, and adherence to theframework and test specifications.

The resulting assessment had many innovative andinteresting features, each designed to allow for accuratemeasurement of the domain. Some of the most notableof these features are described below.

to. As called for in the framework, over half of studentassessment time was devoted to constructed-response questions. Some of these questionsrequired short responses (one or two sentences),while many required more extended answers (aparagraph or more). ,t

s ,, .

The assessment used a wide ran. ge of stiMulusmaterials designed to assess spatial and interpretiVe

. skills intrinsic to geography and to engage studentsas actively as possible in the assessment Stimuli '

included maps, charts, cartoons, tables,text, =$,

historical documents, and photographs..

OP. One section of the assessment at each grade wasdesigned to assess students' ability to work withatlases.

4

000 Constructed-response questions were not limited tothose that required students to produce writtenresponsei. At each grade, a certain number ofquestions asked students to create their own-maps,charts, or other data displays.

In addition to portions of the assessment that werestructured as broad surveys of knowledge and skills,certain sections were designed to allow students towork in-depth on a particular topical area.

II 20

:T .

In addition to multiple-choice questions, theassessment included both short and extendedco:nstructed-response questions. The percentage ofresponse time devoted to answering constructed-response questions was approximately 60 percent ateach grade. Each constructed-response question wasscored according to a scoring guide, or rubric, that gavecredit for partially correct answers. The exercises calledfor a range of responses. Short constructed-responsequestions called for a word, a phrase, or a sentence ortwo to demonstrate understanding of specific material.Extended constructed-response questions called formore developed argument, gathering of evidence, orinterpretation of data. Short constructed-responsequestions were scored according to three-part scoringguides, in which a score of 3 represented an appropriateanswer, a score of 2 a partially correct answer,and ascore of 1 an inappropriate answer. Extendedconstructed-response questions were scored accordingto four-part scoring guides, in which a 4 was assigned tocomplete responses, a 3 to responses that responded toessential components of the task, a 2 to partially correctresponses, and a I to inappropriate answers. Many of theconstructed-response questions were scaffolded; that is,students were asked to respond first to one portion of thequestion and then to another. In a few cases, studentswere asked to do other tasks, such as drawing a map.

A national field test of assessment exercises wasconducted prior to use in the assessment to ensure theirappropriateness for assessing geography knowledge.Statistical analyses and qUalitative reviews wereconducted in selecting materials from the field test to beincluded in the assessment. The NAEP 1994 geographyassessment that emerged from this broad consensus anddevelopment effort *relented a new generation of''

large-scale geography assessments.

. Across the three grades assessed fourth, eighth,and twelfth a total of 228 multiple-choice, 80 shortconstructed-response, and 30 extended constructed-response questions comprised the NAEP1994 geographyassessment. For efficiency, some questions wereadministered at two grade levels. The assessment designis discussed in more detail in Appendix A and in theNAEP 1994 kchnical Report.

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Description of School and StudentSamplesAs with all NAEP assessments, the schools and studentsparticipating in the 1994 geography assessment wereselected through scientifically designed, stratifiedrandom sampling procedures. Approximately 19,000students in 1,500 public and nonpublic schools acrossthe country participated in the geography assessment.

The results presented in this report are based onrepresentative samples of students at each of the threegrades. Each selected school that participated in theassessment, and each student assessed, represented aportion of the population of interest. As a result, thefindings provided in this report pertained to all fourth,eighth, and twelfth graders in the nation. (For a moredetailed description of the sample and the samplingprocedures, see Appendix A.)

Reporting NAEP Geography Results

The NAEP 1994 geography assessment provides a wealthof information on the geography abilities of the nation'sfourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade students. Tomaximize usefulness to policymakers, educators,parents, and other interested parties, the NAEP resultsare presented both as average scores on the NAEPgeography scale, ind in terms of the pekentage ofstudents attaining NAEP geography achieveinent levels.Thus, NAEP results not only provide infoimition abotitwhat students know and can do, but also indicatewhether their achievement meets'elqiiitaithis Of -'what students should know and should be able to do.Furthermore, the descriptions of skilliina abilitieseirpected of students at each achievement levelhelp make the reporting of assessment resultsmore meaningful.

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C

The Geography Scale

Student responses to the NAEP 1994 geography assess-merit were analyzed to determine the percentage ofstudents responding correctly to each multiple-choicequestion and the percentages of students responding ineach of the score categories for constructed-responsequestions. Item response theory (IRT) methods wereused to produce within-grade scales that summarizeresults for each of the three geography content areasdescribed earlier. Each subscale for grade 4 was linkedto the corresponding subscale for grade 8. Likewise,each subscale for grade 12 was linked to the correspond-ing subscale for grade 8. Then, each linked subscale wasmapped onto a scale with a range of 0 to 500. Theseseparate subscales were then weighted by the percent-ages shown in Table 1.1 to produce a composite NAEPgeography scale. Chapters 2, 4, and 5 present resultsbased on the geography scale. (The scales for each of theNAEP subjects assessed in 1994 reading, U.S. history,and geography were developed independently.Therefore, results should not be compared across sub-jects. Details of the scaling procedures are presented in theNAEP 1994 Technical Report.)

Geography Achievement Levels

The 1994 assessment results are also reported using thegeography achievement levels as authorized by theNAEP legiSlation and adopted by the NAGE. Theachievement levels are based on collective judgmentsgathered about what students should know and shouldbe able to do relative to the body of content reflected inthe NAEP assessment framework. Three achievementlevels were defined for each grade level assessed: Basic,Proficient, and Advanced.' The levels were defined by abroadly representative panel of teachers, educationspeCialists, and members of the general public.

For reporting purposes, the achievement levels foreach grade are placed on the NAEP geography scaledefining in four ranges Basic, Proficient, Advanced,and the region below Basic. Figure 1.2 presents thepolicy definitions of the three achievement levels.Chapter 3 contains specific descriptions for the geogra-phy achievement.

It should be noted that the setting of achievementlevels on the national assessment is relatively new andin transition. Some evaluations have concluded that thepercentage of students at certain levels may beunderestimated. On the other hand, critiques of thoseevaluations have found that such conclusions are notsupported by the weight of the empirical evidence.'

Flpre 1.2 Policy Dofidiims of NAEP Addy/mod Lovas

Basic This level denotes partial mastery ofprerequisite knowledge and sIdlls that arefundamental for proficient work at eachgrade.

Proficient This level represents solid academic perfor-mance for each grade assessed. Studentsreaching this level have demonstratedcompetency over challenging subject matter,including subject-matter knowledge,application of such knowledge to real-worldsituations, and analytical skills appropriateto the subject matter.

Advanced This level signifies superior performance.

The student achievement levels in this report havebeen developed carefully and responsibly, and have beensubject to refinements and revisions in procedures asnew technologies have become available. Upon review ofthe available information, the Commissioner of NCEShas judged that the achievement levels are hi adevelopmental status. However, the commissioner andthe NAGB also believe that the achievement levels areuseful and valuable in reporting on the educationalachievement of students in the United Statei. Resultsreported in terms of the geography achierment levelsare presented in Chapter 3 of this report. :

- .Interpreting NAEP Results,The average geography scale scores and the percentagespresented in this report are estimates be0440.heYare baied on Samples rather than on the entirepopUlation(s). As such, the results are SUbject tO ameasure of uncertainty, reflected in the Standard errorsof the estimates. These standard errors are preiented Inparentheses along with the estimated average scalescores or percentages in tables throughout this report.

The significant differences discussed in thefollowing chapters take into account the standard errorsassociated with the estimates. The comparisOni arebased on statistical tests that consider both themagnitude of the differences between the average scalescores or percentages and the standard errors of thosestatistics. Throughout this report, differences aredefined as significant when they are significant from astatistical perspective. This means that observeddifferences are unlikely to be due to chance factorsassociated with sampling variability. All differencesreported are significant at the .05 level with appropriate

mi 22

adjustments for multiple comparisons. The term"significant," therefore, is not necessarily intended toiipply judgment about the absolute magnitude oreducational relevance of the differences. The term isintended to identify statistically dependable populationdifferences as an aid in focusing subsequent dialogueamong policymakers, educators, and the public.

The use of a common, cross-grade metric for thethree geography subscales and the composite geographyscale was primarily for ease of reporting. However, themethodology used to produce the () to 500 scales used toreport fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade results(described in Appendix A) may not allow meaningfulcomparisons across grades. Similarly, scale scoredifferences (e.g., between subscale or composite scaleaverages for males an.; females) should probably not becompared across grade. The reader is best served byfocusing on within-grade group comparisons andinferences.

Cautions in Interpretations. The reader is cautionedagainst using the NAEP results reported herein to makesimple or casual inferences related to subgroupmembership or the effectiveness of public and nonpublicschools. For example, performance differences observedamong racial/ethnic subgroups are almost certainlyassociated with a broad range of socioeconomic andeducational factors not discussed in this report andpossibly not addressed by the NAEP assessment program.Similarly, differences between public and nonpublicschools may be better understood after accounting forfactors such as composition of th student body,parents' highest level of education, and parentalinterest.

-Sample Questions from the'MEP 1994 Geography AssessmentAs discussed earlier, the NAEP 1994 geographyassessment is a rich collection of exercises developed tosurvey the geographic knowledge and skills of studentsin grades 4, 8, and 12. Each student received a mixtureof multiple-choice and constructed-response questions.

Figure 1.3 presents samples of assessment exercises.(Additional example questions are shown in AppendixC.) The tables accompanying the exercises present two_types of percentages: (1) the overall percentage ofstudents within a grade who answered the questioncorrectly and (2) the percentages of students withineach of the achievement level intervals Basic,Proficient, and Advanced as well as the percentage of

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students below Basic who answered the questionssuccessfully. (A fuller description of the achievementlevels can be found in Chapter 3. At grades 4 and 12,the percentages for students at the Advanced level arenot presented for these questions because of smallsample sizes.)

The first exercise presented in Figure 1.3 is a shortconstructed-response question administered at grade 4that asks students to list an advantage and disadvantageof a particular method of waste disposal. A sampleresponse for a student who received a score of"Complete" (defined as a score of 3 on a three-partscoring rubric) on this question is also provided. Thetable shows that few fourth graders (11 percent)provided answers that received a score of "Complete."Less than 1 percent of those students below Basic andonly 8 percent of those who scored within the Basicachievement level interval provided answers rated as"Complete." Almost one-quarter (28 percent) of fourthgraders who scored within the Proficient achievementlevel interval provided answers rated as "Complete."

The second exercise presented in Figure 1.3 is amultiple-choice question administered at grade 8. Thetable shows that about one-fifth (21 percent) of alleighth graders answered this question correctly.Seventeen percent of eighth graders who scored belowthe Basic achievement level answered the questioncorrectly, compared to 19 percent for students whoscored within the Basic level. One-quarter of studentswho scored within the Proficient achievement levelinterval and nearly half (47 percent) of students whoscored within the Advanced level answered the questioncorrectly.

The third exercise shown in Figure 1.3 is anextended constructed-response question administered at

. grade 12. The questions ask students to select a site for aproposed shopping center and to support their selectionwith available information. (Neither site alternative was"correct"; student responses were scored based on thestudents' ability to support their selection.) Sampleresponses for students who received scores of"Essential" and "Complete" (scores of 4 or 3 on a four-part scoring guide) are provided. For this extendedconstructed-response question, over half (55 percent) ofall twelfth graders provided answers rated "Essential" orbetter. For those twelfth graders who scored below theBasic achievement level, 27 percent provided a: \ Aversrated "Essential" or better, compared with 57 percmt ofstudents within the Basic level. Almost three-quarters(76 percent) of twelfth graders who scored within theProficient achievement level interval provided answersrated "Essential" or better.

23

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Firs 1.3 NAEP 1994 Geography Sample amnion

; Example of a Grade 4 Short Constructed-Response Question

WAYS TO GET RID OF WASTE

Dumping far out in the ocean

Burning

Recycling

Burying in landfills

From the list above, select one method of getting rid of waste and identify oneadvantage and one disadvantage of this method.

Method of waste disposal:

Advantage:

Disadvantage:

Geography Content Area: Environment and Society

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Rpre 1.3 NAP 1994 Geography Sample Osestleas (coetiawd)

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Sample Response (Score of 3)

WAYS TO GET RID OF WASTE

Dumping far out in the oceanBurningRecyclingBurying in landfills

From the list above, select one method of getting rid of waste andidentify one advantage and one disadvantage of this method.

Method of waste disposal-

Advantage: Fav -1)14121 Led CrV{4./ CLIJ aVit,

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A Complete response (score of 3) accurately describes an advantage and disadvantage of onemethod of waste disposal. Explanations should be both specific to that method and geographically

logical.

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Figure 1.3 MEP 1994 Googropily Sample °Nation (tostkood)

Example of a Grade 8 Multiple-Choice Question (> indicates correct answer)

In the United States, most of the fertile soils of the Midwest were derived from

A glaciersB volcanic activity

C decaying organic matter

D eroded sandstone


Grade 8

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25 (3.3) 47 (11.2)

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Figure 1.3 NAP 1994 Geography Sample Onetime (coatintal)

Example of a Grade 12 Extended Constructed-Response Question

MADDIEVILLE

Maddieville is building a new shopping center. There is a disagreement in thecity council over whether to build the shopping center at site A or at site B on

the map.. '

As a resident of the city who would like to shop at the new shopping center,write a letter to the mayor in support of either site A or site B. Give threereasons why the site you support is better than the other site.

'Geography Content Area: Spatial Dynamics and Connections

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rigor. 1.3 RAEP 1994 Geography Sample Ovation (coatiseed)


Maddieville is building a new shopping center. There is a disagreement in thecity council over whether to build the shopping center at site A or at site B onthe map.


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Figure 1.3 NAEP 1994 Geography Sample Gentian (eatimed)


Maddieville is building a new shopping center. There is a disagreement in thecity council over whether to build the shopping center at site A or at site B onthe map.


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A Complete response (score of 4) chooses a site and gives three reasons for the choice.

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Endnotes

1. :Salter, C.L., Missing the Magic .parpet: The RealSignificance of Geographic Ignorance. EducationalTesting Service, 1990, Princeton, NJ. pp 10-11.

2. Guidelines for Geographic Education: Elementaryand Secondary Schools. Washington, DC:Association of American Geographers and theNational Council for Geographic Education, 1984.

3. Salter, C.L., Missing the Magic Carpet: The RealSignificance of Geographic Ignorance. EducationalTesting Service. 1990, Princeton, NJ. p 5.

4. Allen, R., Bettis, N., Kurfman, D., MacDonald, W.,LV.S., SE Salter, C. (1990), The Geography

Learning of High-School Seniors. NationalAssessment of Educational Progress, EducationalTesting Service, Princeton, NJ.

5. The NAEP survey found that, "Most students did notdemonstrate an understanding of the basic conceptsof physical and cultural geography, and many didnot correctly identify the locations.of majorcountries, cities, and landmarks." Allen et al. TheGeography Learning of High-School Seniors.National Assessment of Educational Progress,Educational Testing Service, 1990, Princeton, NJ.

6. Geography Framework for the 1994 NationalAssessment of Educational Progress. Washington,DC: National Assessment Governing Board, 1994.

7. The content and cognitive area descriptions aretaken from the Geography Framework for the 1994National Asse.ssment of Educational Progress.Washington, DC: National Assessment GoverningBoard, 1994.

8. Education Achievement Standards, NAGB's ApproachYields Misleading Interpretations. U.S. GeneralAccounting Office Report to CongressionalRequestors. GAO/PEMD-93-12 EducationalAchievement Standards. Washington, DC: GPO,June 1993.

Setting Achievement Levels for the Nation.The Second Report of the National Academy ofEducation Panel on the Evaluation of the NAEPThal State Assessment, 1992 'Mal State Assessment.Stanford, Ck National Academy of Education, 1993.

9. Cizek, G., Reactions to National Academy ofEducation Report. Washington, DC: NationalAssessment Governing Board, 1993.

American College Testing, Technical Report onSetting Achievement Levels on the 1992 NationalAssessment of Educational Progress inMathematics, Reading, and Writing. Washington,DC: National Assessment Governing Board, 1993.

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A..

Geography Results for theNatiem and Regions

IntroductionThis chapter presents the overall NAEP geographyscale scores of students in grades 4, 8, and 12.Findings are presented for the nation, regions of thecountry, and selected subgroups of students. Studentperformance is reported on the NAEP geography scale,w hich ranges from 0 to 500. (For a visual representationof student performance on each of the geographycontent subscales - also ranging from 0 to 500 -see Chapter 5.)

The results provided in this chapter addressstatistically significant differences that were foundbetween reporting subgroups. In other cases, scoreestimates for various subgroups may appear to differ,but these differences are not statistically significant.(Significant differences are those that are unlikely tobe due to sampling variability or chance.) All significantdifferences among reported subgroups are indicated toprovide a comprehensive and balanced discussion of theresults. However, when reading this report, statistical

significance should not necessarily be equated witheducational or instructional significance.

In addition, the NAEP 1994 geography assessmentdata are explored in more depth by examining theinteractions among several major reporting variables.Average geography scale scores are examined forsubgroups of students within various demographicpopulations. By doing so, it is possible to determinewhether general patterns of geography performance forcertain groups of students are related to additionalbackground characteristics.

Geography Results for the Nationbble 2.1 presents the average geography scale scores forfourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade students across thenation attending both public and nonpublic schools.

00. At grade 4, the average geography scale score was206. The bottom 10 percent of the population scoredat or below 146 and the top 10 percent scored at orabove 257.

At grade 8, the average score was 260. The bottom10 percent of the population scored at or below 213and the top 10 percent of the population scored at orabove 302.

0. At grade 12, the average geography scale score was285. The bottom 10 percent of the population scoredat or below 244 and the top 10 percent scored at orabove 321.

'TABLE'7.1z''Average Geograpky Scale Scores by Percestile

Grades 4, 8, Gad 12

E, ' ar. -; NE won

Grade Level;Avenge

Scth San hear&2.5th

Nast&SOth

Perantik75th

Pane&90th

Pernell

One 4 206 (1.2) 146 (1.9) 179 (1.4) 211 (1.3) 237 (1.2) 257 (1.8)

Ono 8 240 (0.7) 213 (1.3) 23/ (0.9) 263 (1.0) 285 (0.9) isz(1.6)

Grad. 12 285 (0.7) 244 (0.9) 20 (0.9) 287 (0.8) )36 (0.9) 321 (0.9)

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31

,

g'1311 Average Geography Stale Scores,for the Nation and by Region

7- Grades 4, 8, and 12

'ow

PonsehgesI Stassts

AvengeSail Son

Grad. 4

Natio. 100 206 (1.2)

Region

Northeast 22 (0.8) 203 (2.7)Southeast 23 (1.0) 200 (23)Central 25 (0.8) 215 (3.2)West 30 (0.7) 205 (1.7)

Grad. 8

Nation 100 260 (0.7)

Regime

Northeast 20 (0.8) 266 (1.9)Southeast 25 (1.0) 252 (1.6)Central 24 (0.6) 268 (1.6)West 31 (0.7) 255 (1.8)

Grade 12

NOW 100 235 (0J)Regioa

Northeast 21 (0.5) 284 (1.6)Southeast M (0.8) 278 (1.1)Central 28 (03) 289 (1.8)West 29 (0.7) 286 (1.9)

lamas beam the pun soy M per* sqhind by ons leen es WNW is WAILSt sesied smith 'Weds, swoop ad swop soh we spew is *Mk& II as issii Mil 9S-piced add** in no maim ofMink as wise he nevi* midis Itvial pin or wham ended saes Odessa.* in the sespiL

hemange el soden Is the siren my wind 114 dw week.SOURCE Weld Cos in Waft SOnskt, Med Asupassi el Eficminal Props COAR),19t4fog* OSUMI/AL

Table 2.2 and Figure 2.1 present results for thenation as well as the four regions of the country:Northeast, Southeast, Central, and West. (Thecomposition of the regions is described in Appendix A.)At grade 4, students in the Central region outperformedthose in the other three regions. At grade 8, thestudents in the Northeast and Central regions had higheraverage scores than their counterparts in the Southeastand West. Among grade 12 students, those in theSoutheast had lower average scores than did those ineach of the other regions.

Geography Results for MajorReporting Subgroups'Mies 2.3 through 2.8 present the average geographyscale score estimates for major subgroups of the fourth-,eighth-, and twelfth-grade student populations.

Cautions in Interpretation. In interpreting the resultspresented in this section, the reader is cautioned againstmaking simple or causal inferences related to subgroupmembership or effectiveness of Title I programs orpublic and nonpublic schools. Performance differencesamong groups of students may result from differencesin socioeconomic status and home background variables.For example, differences observed among racial/ethnicsubgroups can almost certainly be associated with abroad range of socioeconomic and educational factors.

Rpm 2.1 Avenge NAEP Geography Scale Scores by Grade aid by NM

;

% I

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics, National Aueumant of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Geography Assessment.

3 2

Similarly, differences between public and nonpublicschools may be better understood if differences incdmposition of the student body, parents' highest levelofeducation, and parental involvement in education areconsidered.

Race/Ethnicity. As part of the background questionnairethat was administered in conjunction with the NAEP1994 geography assessment, students were asked toidentify themselves as belonging to one of six mutuallyexclusive categories: White, Black, Hispanic, Asian,Pacific Islander, and American Indian (including AlaskanNatives). Table 2.3 presents the average scale scores forracial/ethnic subgroups. The geography assessment,like other NAEP surveys, revealed substantial variation

.. Average Geograpfihy Scale Scores

by RacethnkityGrades 4, 8, and 12

e.ma

me=2e..!----.

Nam"a Saila:

AmorSok San

Grade 4

WWI 100 206 (1.2)

Race/EtlisidtyMita 69 (0.2) 218 (1.5)

Ilak 15 (0.1) 168 (2.5)

%pa* 12 (0.2) 183 (23)

Asian 2 (0.2) 218 (5.0)

Podfic Islander 1 (0.1) 205 (5.3)

knokan Indian 1 (0.2) 193 (3.6)

Grade 8

*doe IX 210 (OJ)

Rece/EthaidtyWI& 69 (0.2) 270 (0.8)

Black 15 (0.1) 229 (1.7)

Hispanic 11 (0.1) 239 (1.9)

Asian 2 (0.1) 271 (2.7)

foci& Wander 1 (0.4) I 252 (8.5) I

Maim Indian 2 (0.4) I 248 (3.4) I

NON 100 215 (0J)

Itims/EtImicityOita 74 (0.3) 291 (0.8)

Black 12 (0.4) 251(1.4)

Ilispank 8 (0.2) 268 (1.5)

Asian 3 (0.2) 217 (3.2)

Foci& Islander 1 (0.3) I 32 (3.1) IAmid* Indian ., 1 (0.2) I

M u m s W m . ' h i imp a r s ie W W I I aphimi ly gist Won est imi44 it *fool&

The Amid min sf 4. wll pstallopt imi imp soh mums Is wok& k cm isnil lilt 951srasi aft* thi, hush maim of Mr*** 4N kg *meth isprols110

Olin plot w Ins km vialisi am gibe dm* he in sosis.Potapigss II *hob il is skimp strownsial 103 en to mai ek la fa ow el the ists/*My vide*, Wan mot *hob modal isuoloss a 'aise'I Wirt Ai alloteri corapailui Melia. ilk

miadWilk The min al is

war* doisoe elle Iviiik of ik iliadna iSftemple Id Uhl

Sal* ita *Admit is pen* s Ails aft*(is. *oil A).MUM kW Cm* hi limbo SWIG, bassi Dawamol o( Eiallosi ?reps (KAEP), 1914imppIrt Aossmunt.

in performance among the different racial/ethnicsubgroups. At all three grades, the average scores ofWhite and Asian students were significantly higher thanthose of Black and Hispanic students. In addition, at allthree grades, the average scores of Hispanic studentswere higher than those of Black students.

At grade 4, White and Asian students alsooutperformed American Indian students. AmericanIndian students exhibited a higher average score thinBlack students. Finally, at grade 4, Pacific Islanderstudents scored higher, on average, than did Black andHispanic students.

At grades 8 and 12, the samples do not permitaccurate determination of the standard errors associatedwith the average scale scores Of Pacific Islander andAmerican Indian students. For this reason, differencesbetween these and other population subgroups are noidiscussed.

Gender. Table 2.4 presents the average geography scoresfor male and female students in grades 4, 8, and 12. Atall three grades, male students had significantly higheraverage scale scores than did female students. Specifically,the average score for male students was five pointshigher than female students at grade 4, four pointshigher at grade 8, and seven points higher at grade 12.

TABLE 2:4 Average Giograph Soli Scoori

..Grades 4, 8, and 12 ::'':). 15.0,_.--

p..el %doh

...-......

Sale San

Gad* 4 .

_Madan

Malimas

100

....----..4-14..L.,........

51 (1.0) '. *, 49 (1.0)

:._

..,'',`".5201 (1.4)t' '`:;., 70.3 ilA

eta* 8.

WksGook

BahFora*

100

51 (0.7)49 (0.7)

'''. ''' .210 (0.7)

! . 262 (0.9)

:PI (0.1)

Gni* 12MIRGolder

Male

hook

100

SO (1.0)

50 (1.0)

'285 (0.7)

--: +111 (0.9)

Offing= Winos IN pop my Is Fri* otphimed by Ay kW id ill'ojed a Ills ft*.

:Ss 'weird am el iks ailloswd mallow 'Ai wow de mu aim Is passiaa. II cm InNW 0105-ported Moldy the, kr oak maim of Wm% tho rim fit ils Ash impalaWas phis sr Pim tos Milard wigs i he OWN fst is mph.

SOME Naked CowinWaft %OW% kW Anima of Eii;eilumi herso; INAM, 1%1

Castryky gromust.

BEST COPY 'AVAIIABLE33

;

Parents' Highest Level of Education. Students wereasked to report on the education level of their parents orguardians: did not finish high school, graduatedfrofn high school, has some education after highschool, or graduated from college. (Those who didnot have this information chose the response option"I don't know.") The level of parents' educationdiscussed in this section is the highest level reportedby students for either parent.

Before reviewing the findings for parentaleducation, it should be noted that approximately one inthree fourth graders and one in ten eighth gradersreported not knowing the highest level of educationattained by either of their parents. Furthermore,research has questioned the accuracy of studentreported data among similar groups of students.'

These caveats notwithstanding, the NAEP geographyresults indicate a strong positive relationship betweenparental education and student achievement. The results

TABLE 2.5 Average GeereaPk' Susie SCoresst Level of Education

4, 8, and 12 so,i: -,_,_...-

by Parents' NigGrades

Porantogoof %dews

AmmoSalt SCUM

Gine 4Natio 100 206 (1.2)

Perms' Eiwatioa LoyalGahm") College . .. 42 (1.0) 216 (1.6)Soros Education Aftw High Simi 7 (0.4) 216 (2.5)Graduated (*School 12 (0.6) 197 (2.5)Dii Not Fla High School 4 (0.4) 186 (3.7)1 Don't.Know 34 (0.9) 197 (1.4)

Gni. 8Nadu 100 260 (03)Parents' Liman Lad_ Gcodunted CrIlop 42 (1.2) 272 (1.0)

Sane Blucoaan Aftor High Waal 19 (0.7) 285 (1.0)t Graduated High School 22 (0.9) 250 (1.2)

Did Not Iinish ilkit &fool 7 (0.3) 238 (1.7)!Don't Know 10 (0.5) 234 (13)

Code 12Notion 100 285 (0.7)

Poreats' U.C11611 LevelGrodotod Color 44 (1.2) 214 (0.9)Soo !among' NW Nigh School 25 (0.7) 216 (LO)Graduated High School 22 (0.8) 274 (1.1)Dkl Not finish High Wool 7 (0.4) 263 (1.2)I Don't Know 3 (0.2) 257 (2.8)

Dames bows dm pow wey is psi* aphYwd ly eau tows ow Wooded la OW wile.

los drisrd won of Ott oslintod pottodops io It beold Inn" so& Korn spoor porvihook. coo

of lona, do who he foo willis Nokia islog with 95-portwO coitlioly 6*, foe nth wallaOhio plus or an too *Wad omes of is osImis ho lie soplo.

Ponsolops of *Ado lo to ger* low ool MI 103 in to Tooliiol.

SOURCE Wool (My fit &aft Stokild, NOW Mossomot of faxolfol Morns IMAD),1114Goy* lawatrai.

(summarized in Table 2.5) show that, as a gerieral rule,groups of students reporting given levels of parentaleducation had higher average scores than all groupsreporting lower levels of education. The only exceptionto this pattern occurred at grade 4. There was nosignificant difference in performance between fourthgraders who reported that a parent had completedcollege and those who reported that a parent hadcompleted some education after high school.

Type of Location. Each participating school in theNAEP 1994 geography assessment was classifiedaccording to its geographic location. The three types oflocation central city, urban fringe/large town, andrural/small town - are based on U.S. Bureau of theCensus definitions of standard metropolitan statisticalareas, population size, and density. These categoriesindicate the geographic location of the students' schooland are not intended to indicate or imply social oreconomic meanings for these location types. (The typeof location classifications are described in Appendix A.)Table 2.6 presents results for students attending schoolsin each type of location.

tail 21 Average Geografhy ScailenScores

4, 8, an°tod 12

OMB

toolIy0rPorammioof Stokes

AvowSolo Scots

Grade 4

WiseType of Location

Wad Gly

itwilati/Strarg. batTown

100

35 (2.1)43 (2.4)V (2.2)

206 (1.2)

196 (2.2)213 (1.9)207 (2.4)

Corsio a

Nation

Typo of ImamControl City

Ultirvuto/Lorgo TovntTown

100

36 (2.4)31 (2.9)26 (1.9)

260 (0.7)

255 (1.6)

264 (1.3)261 (1.9)

Gni, 12NamTypo of Wadies

Goad City

Ultollrar". banbon

100

31 (2.3)42 (2.8)26 (1.9)

215 (03)

. 212 (1.4)288 (1A)212 (1.1)

tifiersoosi Wow fho le oliololood ky oisr lofts ad iododool to No Wok

ad elms Koh oestos wow io paroles*. II am isof Immo, in who for is *is polio itImo ao mpls .

isio1103 ios to nook.

kiwi Amami of blotokool Pm* (lIMP), I114

row rim pail,The *shod orroos of tito ostfoodsd poocoolops

NO vilitISsmset nes* hi, for es& p000ldisoAlio pin or Woos too gird won of iiosiosto

tottsoloon of 'Woos 1 Woe *mops soy oof

SONCE Ildiuml Quiff foo Womb" WAWAinpooilyksomod.

101 3 4

- . E., t;

The relationship between this variable andperformance differs somewhat across the three grades.At grades 4 and 8, students attending schools in centralcity locations had significantly lower average scoresthan did students in other types of locations. At grade12, students attending schools in urban fringe/largetown locations performed at a significantly higher levelthan those attending schools in other locations.

Title I Participation. Staff members at each school thattook part in the NAEP 1994 geography assessment wereasked to identify which of the students participated in Title Iprograms or received services funded by Title I grants.'The Title I legislation provides funds to state and localeducational agencies to support mathematics andreading programs and initiatives aimed at assistingdisadvantaged students (those who are failing or are atrisk of failing) in low-income communities.

Table 2.7 presents the results for students whoreceived Title I services and for those who did not. Asstated earlier, differences in performance between theserecipients and nonrecipients should not be viewed as anevaluation of Title I programs. '1%,?pically, Title I servicesare intended for students who score poorly onassessments.

. ,

TABLE 2:7 Average Geography Scale Scores

I Participation4, 8, and 12

WO

tamby TitleGrades

Percortogeof Stidssts

kernsSoh SON

Grade 4

WON.

100 206 (1.2)

Ws 1 ParticipationYes 13 (1.3) 162 (2.8)

No 87 (1.3) 212 0.4)

Gra r 8. .

Natio. 100 260 (03)

Ude 1 Participation

Yes 7 (1.0) 230 (3.0)

No 93 (1.0) 262 (0.8)

Grad. 12

Nation 100 285 (0.7)

Tide 1 Parthipation

Yes 2 (0.5)1 251 (2.1)1

No 98 (0.5) 285 (0.7)

maws.bokuch Foamy k No* Whamd by ether Win MI WNW I NS tile.

The Weedird ems el the wilewisd pawls's; spew le F1 beel amp sale was perwellssIs. weel Meet the volw fee Ow whole maw. Issekl widi 15-paser coati Om, fw sod pspefille

. Wile ph w mews to Oesierd anws el% %Ow* la Ihe swlek.

I Menet siOuselies my cotaperbows lersieWohis AWOL The owe el Ow den feeso* ael els/sawsos imenuissa61.1 Om mislay silk wkes.

SOME WWI Wee ise Weals Weiss, MINI kowaset el Eiwwiemel Preps (OW), 1194kewsky klesseeet.

' Aiii.aMMAAWaimicar

The percentage of students receiving Title I serviceswas larger at grade 4 (13 percent) than at grade 8(7 percent). At grades 4 and 8, the average geography scorefor recipients of Title I programs was significantly lowerthan the average score for nonrecipients. (Diffgencesfor twelfth graders are not discussed here because thenature of the grade 12 sample does not allow foraccurate estimation of the variability of the percentageand average scale score for Title I recipients.)

lime of School. The national assessment collects dataon students attending both public and nonpublicschools. Nonpublic schools include Catholic, otherreligious, and private institutions. As shown in Table2.8, students in nonpublic schools outperformedstudents in public schools at all three grades.

As noted in Chapter 1, the reader is cautionedagainst using these results to make simplistic inferencesabout the relative effectiveness of public and nonpublicschools. Average performance differences between thetwo types of schools may, in part, be related to socioeco-

TABLE 2.8 Average Geography Scale Scores

of School4, 8, and 12

CMS

INCby Type

Grades iNsYSL-

NUNdOISel Stoked:

&IMOSale Scen

Grade 4

Natio 100 206 (1.2)

Type of SaaelPub& Schools 90 (0.8) 204 (1.4)

Nova& Schools 10 (0.8) 7/1 (2.2)

Cathok Schools 6 (0.7) 222 (2.6)

NW Ncepubta Schools_

4 (0.5) ' 220 (3.8)

Grade 8 ,,NAN 100 260 (OA . 'Tips 0 School

Mk Schools 90 (0.8) --. 2SI (0.8)

Novara Schools 10 (0.8) 276 (1.3)

Ghia Sthcals 6 (0.6) ., 276 (1.6)

Other Nonpublic Schools 4 (0.6) 276 (2.6)

Grab 12Natio 100 215 (0.7)

Type of &MelMtn Schools 89 (1.0) 283 (0.8)

Neapubic Schools 11 (1.0) 414 (1.6)

Who& Schools 6 (0.9) 291 (3.0)

Other Nonpublic Schools 4 (0.6) 248 (2.0)

Demos Memo Owl peeps my be wildly exeleieW by Ass Wets *laded le Ns Mk

lis *wird ems el On WNW wwwwws ea imp sailors eppew le porweleick we Inaid IA niercese coley Ows, Ise eselo miss. el lowest, Ow wholes the sliele pewillse kvein plus es win hi Amid wren of Ihe *whoa fw Ow meek

teeseewps hr W kw type MI Ow le*Awes Ike el wersek wink ney isi poessweips sweephlie

wheels wly is is roma%

WILE *Wad Wow fee awoke Siwisia, Oiled keeswewe of fiwellwei Niro (110, 1094Sew* issanwet.

35 TiEST COPY AVAIIABLE

nomic and sociological factors, such as levels of parentalinvolvement in their child's education. To get a clearerpicture of the differences between public and nonpublicschbols, more in-depth analyses must be undertaken.

An In-Depth Look at SelectedBackground CharacteristicsOne way to take a closer look at the performance ofstudents within selected demographic populations is to seeif the magnitude of the differences among groups ofstudents varies when other background characteristicsare taken into account. This section presents NAEPgeography results for subgroups of students withinvarious demographic populations. Three specificbackground characteristics are explored with theseanalyses: gender, race/ethnicity, and parents' highestlevel of education. In addition, type of school (publicand nonpublic) results conditioned on parents'education are examined.

T. ofd_ATCDS.C.f.adalligtilMSAVAEMMel

Many factors can influence differences amongsubgroups. While looking at some of the NAEP variablesconcurrently yields interesting results, these results canbe due to a variety of circumstances that cannot becontrolled for in a large-scale assessment such as NAEP.

Gender and RacelEthnicity. The first two studentcharacteristics examined are gender and race/ethnicity.As mentioned earlier, at all three grades, male studentsoutperformed female students, and White studentsdisplayed higher average scores than Black or Hispanicstudents. (Asian, Pacific Islander, and American Indianstudents are not included in this section because, forthe purposes of this analysis, their sample sizes areinsufficient.) One question that might be asked iswhether or not this pattern in male and female students'scores holds regardless of race/ethnicity. Furthermore,was the difference in performance between male andfemale students larger in some racial/ethnic subgroupsthan in others?

Z.M Average Geography Scores of Male aad Female Studentsby Race/Ethnicity

Grades 4, 8, earl 12

THE mowsMONT

CM-

Medi

Grade 4 - . . .

Mak: ,.,

.'...(A' 201 (1 4) 222 um 166 (3.0) 184 (33)Female

. 'ill; (1.4) 214 (11) 169 (2.9) 113 (2.5)

Ala - hank - 5 (24 A (2.5) -4 (4.2) 1 (4.3)

Grad. 8. ,

_ Alok

t Fern&

262 (0.9) .t

P..(0.8)

272 (13)

268 (0.8)

232 (2.1)

221 (1.8)

229 (2.1)

139 (2A)

Illak - hate a 4e.: (1- 4 (1.4) 4 (2.7) "' 11 (3.3)

Gnat 12 ;. ,

Male 2U (0.8) 294 (0.9) 263 (1.8) 271 (2.1)

Female . , 211 (0.9) 288 (LO) 54 (1.1) 264 (1.9)

Mak - Faith it 7 (1.2) ° A(1.3) 9 (2.4) f (2111

DIfforsoces Intim Ow pup owy is psi* oxplolosd by 'Ow Won lost kodviod is ololo ilk

lis guard Woo II II es is oil vilt15-portsot unity fist, for nth popoisibo of Mend, oho oohs for do site pooliodon k *le** vim to *Mord wren oliowows of sollsiod ado stmos spur proodoniosslisolo for oloo somok

Olfiyous ow colcohla At Is raleill,

Wit,* oillw on mod lipikut Aflame, or o *AIM ifforows Whom ma sod honk sholools by tocloi/offs* soirolops.

SOUICE Wood Coot for Wain Soibile, Wised Ammoi of flaked looposo ISAft),1914 Wye* Mama.

3620

Table 2.9 presents results of analyses carried out toanswer these questions. Average scores of male andfanale students and the differences between theseaverages are presented separately for three racial/ethnicsubgroups. Overall, male students outperformed femalestudents across all three grades. However, when theracial/ethnic subgroups are examined, the differencesfor White students at grades 4 and 8, and all three racial/ethnic groups at grade 12 were significant.

A comparison of the magnitude of the average scoredifferences between male and female students yieldedno evidence that these differences varied significantlyacross racial/ethnic groups of students.

Gender end Parental Education. Table 2.10 presents ananalysis of gender differences in geography performancerelating to parents' highest level of education. Averagescores of male and female students and the differences

A44.13:,..)1:61-..3LIZ:3141.1gi.iiroximonsusouesllfra.:,Acsicamozaisa44-04....imarsamear.r.

between these averages are presented separately for thedifferent levels of parental education reported bystudents. One question that can be answered with thesedata is whether or not differences in average geographyscores between male and female students were evidentfor students at all levels of parental education.Furthermore, were gender differences larger at someparental education levels than at others?

Consistent with the overall gender results, averagescale scores at grade 12 were higher for males than forfemales across all levels of parental education. Also, atgrade 4 for students reporting that at least one parentgraduated college, males outperformed females.

Again, a comparison of the magnitude of the averagescore differences between mile and female studentsyielded no evidence that these differences varied signifi-cantly across parental education levels.

1ABLE:230 Average Geography Scores of Male and Female Stedests

in Ratios to Pored? Highest Level of EdecitioaGrades 4, 8, acid 12

NE wowsREMIT

cmaM

toes Gm Cesidol Soo fdyailioNO Wiwi II# Sad MK iish SOW

Geode 4

Mois ._ 204 (1.4) 117 (5.2) 196 (3.1) 217 (3.5) 219 (2.1)

Fmk 203 (1.4) 115 (5.0) 199 (3.9) 215 (3.4) 212 (1.1)

Mek - knit w 5 (2.0) 2 (1.2) -2 (5.0) 2 (4.8) 112.71

Gavle 8 ,

..

Mali . i 262 (0.9) 241 (3.0) 251 (1.6) 267 (1.6) 273 (1.4)

Fads ZS (0.1) n (2.0) 249 (1.11) 263 (1.6) 271 (1.1)

Mek - hook w 4 um 4 (3.6) 2 (2.3) 4 (2.2) 2 (12)..__

'

Ma , 1 . (0.1) ; ' 270 (2.1) VI (1.4) 290 (1.4) 297 (1.1)

Female 211 (0.9) 257 (2.1) 270 (1.2) 213 (1.1) 211 (1.0)

Alsk - Fault w 7 (1..V 13 (3.0) 7 (1J) 7 (1.9) 6 (1.5)

Norms Woman pup my Is Willy agiaimd by sdur fumy al Woad lit iii bilk.

Tie Award sews *1 is WNW wit serouppsyr 12 prombesk. It cm be Ili Igli 951stwitatWsiy ist for sydrpordsise i Wow, is NW !sr is vinis mambo kviiii pia w aim timiiricri win of *0

sin* in lie mph.DIffersmas my akeigul prise ft romans.

., .

Wkoss AN ey mid ipilcol illsreme, or s ipactvo Memo Iona NM Weikel* by Weld Ass.old Imo'(PAM, 14 Wray Asment.SOME WWI bar for Maim Sildb, kW PINOMIll sl iiialkil Mins

37BEST COPY AVAIIABLE

1

3.-" r

7kpe of School (Public and Nonpublic) and ParentalEducation. As reported earlier in this chapter, at allgratles students attending nonpublic schools had signifi-caraly higher average scores than those attending publicschools. Was this difference in geography performancebetween nonpublic and public schools evident at all levelsof parental education? Furthermore, was the differencein performance larger for some levels of parentaleducation than for others?

Table 2.11 presents results of analyses carried out toaddress these questions. One striking result presented inTable 2.11 is that the sample sizes for students attendingnonpublic schools whose parents did not graduate highschool were too small to estimate an average score.TherefOre, discussions of public/nonpublic differences atthis level of parental education are not possible. As withthe overall results, students attending nonpublic schoolsin each grade had higher average scores than theirpublic school counterparts across all levels of parentaleducation. All of these differences were significant, withthe exception of twelfth graders who reported that atleast one parent had some education after high school.

f':') oilitilekSWA*, at

(Again, the reader is cautioned against drawing causalinferences from these results.)

A comparison of th E. magnitude of the averagescore differences between nonpublic and public schoolstudents yielded little or no evidence that thesedifferences varied significantly across levels ofparental education.

Race/Ethnicity and Parental Education. Racial/ethnicdifferences in twelfth-grade average geography scoresare presented in relation to parental education levels inTable 2.12. The average scores of White, Black, andHispanic students and the differences between thosescores are presented separately for the different levels ofparents' education reported by students. One questionthat can be answered witlithese data is whether or notthe differences in average geography scores among .

White, Black, and Hispanic students were evident forstudents at all levels of parental education. In addition,were the performance differences between racial/ethnicgroups larger at some parental education levels than atothers?

Average Geography Safes of Steams Attending Public and Nonpublic Schoolsin Relation to Parents' Highest Level of Education

Grades 4, 8, and 12

Tit IfflONS

aupgMelUnead.............*

Las 161. Crodootod Sew Edemas.HO SdEd After HO Schosi ME 111# SEW ..

Pubk , 204 (1.4) 185 (31) 196 (2.7) 215 (2.8) ,. 214 (1.8)konpubk 221 (2.2) 215 (4.3) 226 (3.6) 228 (2.6)

Pia - Nommilic a Ii7 (2.6) .-.18 (5.1) -11 (4.6) , 713 (3.2)

-Grad* 8.

, Pik 258 (0.8) 237 (1.1) 249 (1.3) 264 (11) 221 (1J)llonpkik 1 ' 276 (13) 264 (2.9) 276 (13) 211 (1.5)

Pubik - Novel& = -18 (1.6) ow -15 (3.2) -12 (2.0) -10 (1.9) "

Grath 12

Public 283 (0.8) 262 (1.2) 273 (1.2) 286 (1.1) .. -:...,,, '293 (1.0)

Konpubk 294 (1.6) 210 (2.8) 289 (2.2) ' X1 (1.3)

Mk - Napoli& = -11 (1.8) - -7 (3.1) -4 (2.4) 1 (1.6)

Dthrscas Wass Es pops Roy M pa* whined by Am hEss so EWE I Ilds IslE.

II* sioldsd Ems of Wm edissisi goinans sow is psnotlassis. N am Is mid vish 15-Nrcsot cosissy IA for El posh*. of toiwoolos vsiss fw*a whsis popolsEs Is Edit plvs KEE* too indord wen of *ast we **so*.Dillsrsons Ers colcvlstsi Oct *moil.

Woos Eby so Ewa *Am iffsnots, sr o ripilkom Awe bows *Ism took so* ad mops* soissis ky lei of prows' EKE*

Sample Es i s s o f f i c l o w i s mit I rails EINE (se Asomix A.

SOME WEE WE fss WEE Sidldle, NOM Osoassoi of flutmissol helms (SAM, 14 fop* Warm*

Ell 38

Arria ilL1441a 21:f 41 /LI. C:, !...j.i11.1; It k.:2xitutelt

At the twelfth grade, the average scores ofWhitestudents was signcfcantly higher than that of Black orHispanic students across all levels of parental education.M addition, Hispanic twelfth graders significantlyoutperformed Black students at all levels of parentaleducation. (Data for fourth and eighth graders are notpresented in this tabulation because of wide variationamong racial/ethnic groups in the accuracy of reportingparental education. For further details, see discussion inAppendix A under "Parents' Education Level.")

A comparison of the magnitude of the scoredifferences among White, Black, and Hispanic studentsyielded no evidence that these differences variedsignificantly across levels of parental education, withone exception. The magnitude of the difference ingeography scores between White and Black twelfthgraders whose parents had some education after highschool was less than the magnitude of the differencebetween White and Black students whose parents werecollege graduates.

The data in Table 2.12 show that the racial andethnic differences in average geography scores, as inthe other subjects assessed by NAEP in 1994, persist

across different levels of parental educationalattainment. These NAEP patterns run somewhatcounter to previous findings from other studies. TheNational Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, withmore complete measures of socioeconomic status, foundsubstantial reductions in achievement differencesassociated with racial/ethnic group membership afteraccounting for family resources? In addition, theCollege Board haff found that racial differences on theScholastic Aptitude Test are diminished somewhat whenfamily income differences are taken into account.* So,the NAEP findings should be interpreted carefully inrelation to these other results.

In interpreting these findings, it is important tounderstand that student achievement is a result ofmultiple factors including educational experience,resources from the home, and the larger socialenvironment. These factors may also differ dependingon the students' racial/ethnic groups and thuscontribute along with parents' educational level toachievement differences. Such factors might contributeto reasonable explanations for why parents' educationallevels might be associated differently with studentachievement for different racial/ethnic groups.

TABLE 2.11Average Geography Scores of White, Black, and Hispanic Students

I Relation to Parents Highest level of EducationGrade 12

THE WIWIIIEPORT r---,.

CARO *marl.A

Lass tim Granted Sam Wailes

HO sdiNI *Wool Aftwillie SOW

Grade 12

*Ito 291 (0.1) 270 (2.1) 279 0.1) 291 (1.1) 299 (0.9)

Black 251 (1.4) 244 (3.4) , 251 (2.2) 266 (1.9) 264 (2.0)

Hip* 261 (13) 259 (2.2) 265 (2.0) 277 (3.4) VII (2.5)

White - Nock a 33 (1.6) 26 (4.0) 24 (25) 25(2.2) 36 (22)

Whits - Nips* a 23 (1.7) 11(3.0) 15 (2.3) 14 (3.5) * 21 (2J)

Black - likpook a 4 (2.1) 16 (4.0) 14 (3.0) 11 (3.9) 14 (3.2)

Nkomo Wow the pops goy be Wily oxploiroi by other fogsI14 bolvdal fa this WA.

In slooki Km of the asibedthcsis Kent ow It passibuk, k an is wid di SS-pwast ads* thr, for eel pwatiosof West, the libm for

sigassie for the ism* --.

the Is aim he *Word "ran 'Ilkvia pappleiss villitpies a

DIffsnotes we arkvisied paw Is ram*

Indkor Aar wed sipikzet Alhesocto w a sigoilkodMusics Wow red441tak sellimps by Imi al prom' eivation.

SOURCE %NNW Wet fas beak. Willa, Notioni Amused el Edwileal Myren (KUP),1,94 Geopsphy Assossmat.

39

. 4LkkekAtAlgitaka ' k1 2( Of t-AY `71 lisq_ViSaRZIktiiktk.1.16411C:p t.k. .

Summary

The NAEP geography assessment showed patterns ofperformance among reporting subgroups, some ofwhom consistently performed better than others. Thesepatterns of performance were also evident in inter-actions among those reporting variables.

10,- Among the different regions of the nation, students'scores varied at each grade level. Grade 4 studentsfrom the Central region, for example, outperformedstudents from the other three regions.

0* In general, the higher the level of parental educa-tion, the higher the level of student performance.

to.- White and Asian students at all three grades hadhigher scores than did Black and Hispanic students.Also, Hispanic students outperformed Blackstudents at all three grades.

At all three grades, male students scored higherthan female students. At grade 12, these significantdifferences persisted across racial/ethnic subgroupsand across all levels of parental education.

Students in nonpublic schools outperformed publicschool students. These differences were significantregardless of parental education levels. The onlyexception was at grade 12 for students reportingparents had some education after high school.

Endnotes

1. Looker, E. D. (1989). Accuracy of proxy reports ofparental status characteristics. Sociology ofEducation, 62(4), 257-76.

2. As a result of the Elementary and SecondaryEducation Act reauthorized by Congress in 1994, thefederal program formerly referred to as "ChapterOne" was renamed "Title I."

3. Green, P. J., Dugone, B. L., Ingels, S. J., & Camburn, E.(1995). A proffle of the American high school seniorin 1992. Washington, DC: National Center forEducation Statistics, NCES 95-384.

4. College Entrance Examination Board andEducational Testing Service (1995). College boundseniors national profile report: SAT program testtakers 1995. Additional unpublished tables.

m 40

-40tag.444.,44.


Introduction

The student achievement levels in tLis report havebeen developed and adopted by the National AssessmentGoverning Board, NAEP's independent policy-makingbody, with contributions from a wide variety ofeducators, business and government leaders, andinterested citizens. These levels of student achievementhave been established to help Americans answer twoquestions that are important to parents and to allcitizens in the communities and nation in which welive. These questions are: "What should students knowand be able to do as they progress and graduate fromschool?" and "How good is good enough in terms ofstudent achievement on NAEP?" Answering thesequestions obviously involves judgments. The NationalAssessment Governing Board is not suggesting thatthere is a single answer to these questions. Rather, theBoard is trying to put forward reasonable judgmentsthat can inform citizens across America informationthey can use to answer these questions in their ownschools and communities.

Developing carefully considered judgments about"what students should know and should be able to do"ind "how good is good enough" is both difficult andcontroversial. The Governing Board believes that thesequestions are so important that answers must be soughtin an informed, responsible way. The process is subjectto revision and refinement, as appropriate.

The student achievement levels in this report approvedby the Governing Board are the reSult of Many hours ofwork. The levels are based on preliminarY descriptions'developed as part of the national consensus process todetermine the assessment design and, cantent. TheBoard's contractor, American College 'rating (ACT),

...,..7g,which has extensive experience in standard-setting in

The average geograPhy performance of our nation's many fields, designed the achievement livel-setting

students as presented in the previous chapter can be .',.'!;Irticets. This procesi was reviewed by kora of individu-

- explored further by considering the percentage of als, including

students who attained specific levels of achievement. ",Aeachers, parents, and other members Of the general

Viewing students' performance from this perspective -"public. To develop the levels, ACT convined

provides some insight into the adequacy of students' section of educators and interested citizens from across

geographic knowledge and skills and the extent to which the nation and asked them to recothniend what students

they are achieving expected levels of performance. should know and be able to do in geography Prior to. adopting these levels of student achievement, the Board

The National Education Statistics Act of 1994 engaged a large number of persons' to coMment on therequires that the National Assessment Governing Board recommended levels and to review the reiults.develop "appropriate student performance levels" forreporting NAEP results. The NAEP law requires thatthese levels be "uied on a developmental basis until theCommissioner of Education Statistics determines .

that such levels are reasonable, valid, and informativeto the public." It requires the Commissioner andthe Board to make clear the developmental status ofsuch levels.

The result of the achievement level-setting processis a set of achievement level descriptions', a set ofachievement level cutpoints on the 500:-point NAEPscale, and exemplar questions. The cutpoints are scoresthat define the Basic, Proficient, and Advcmcedachievement levels at grades 4, 8, and 12 on the NAEPscale. At present, evaluations conducted in other NAEP

41BEST COPY AiAILABLE

subject areas on the level-setting process and critiquesof these evaluations have provided mixed reviews.Therefore, both the Governing Board and theCorrimissioner of Education Statistics regard theachievement levels as developmental; they should not beinterpreted as statistically conclusive. Because theselevels are still considered developmental, the reader ofthis report is advised to consider that status wheninterpreting the results. 'I he reader should recognizethat the results are based on the judgments, approved bythe Governing Board, of what advanced, proficient, andbasic students should know ard be able to do in eachsubject assessed, as well as on their judgmentsregarding what percent of students at the borderline foreach level should answer each test question correctly.The latter information is used in translating theachievement level descriptions into cutpoints on theNAEP scale. NCES uses these levels in reporting NAEPresults, but it does not currently adjudicate the reliabilityor validity of these achievement levels. Rather they arereported directly as adopted by the Governing Board.

The National Assessment Governing Board urges allwho are concerned about "what students ..hould knowand be able to do" and "how good is good enough" toread and interpret these performance levels recognizing

that this is a developing, judgmental process and issubject to various interpretations. The decision to includethe levels in NAEP reports is an attempt to make theassessment results more useful for parents, educators,and policymakers by providing performance standardsagainst which to measure educational progress.

The three geography achievement levels Basic,Proficient, and Advanced were established by theNational Assessment Governing Board for reportingNAEP results. As described in Chapter 1, the Basic leveldenotes partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge andskills that are fundamental for proficient work at eachgrade. The Proficient level represents solid academicperformance and demonstrated competence overchallenging subject matter. The Advanced level signi-fies superior performance. The geographic knowledgeand skills associated with each achievement level aredescribed in Figure 3.1.

The geography achievement levels attained byfourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade students in the NAEPassessment are presented in this chapter. Results aredisplayed for the nation, regions of the country, andmajor reporting subgroups. The cautions mentioned inChapter 2 also are warranted when interpreting differencesamong subgroups.

Agate 3.1 Geography Addeveased Levels

GRADE 4. . .

Basle *Siiidenti shoUld be able to use words or diagrams to define basic geographic vocabulary; identify personal behaviors and.(187) 'perspectives related to the environment and describe some environmental and cultural issues in their community; use visual

'and technological tools to access information; identify major geographic features on maps and globes; be able to read and draw. simple maps, map keys and legends; demonstrate how people depend upon, use, and adapt to the environment and give

.1 examples of the movement of people, goods, services, and ideas from one place to another. In addition to demonstrating anunderstanding of how indduals are alike and different, they should demonstrate a knowledge of the ways People depend oneach other.

Pmfident Students should be able to use fundamental geographic knowledge and roCabularY to identify basic geographic Patteini and(240) processes; describe an environmental or cultural issue from more than one perzPective; and read and interpret information

from visual and technological tools such as photographs, maps and globes, aerial photography, and satellite images. Theyshould be able to use number and letter grids to plot specific locations; understand relative location terms; and sketch simplemaps and describe and/or draw landscapes they have observed or studied. Proficient students should be able to illustrate how

.' people depend upon, adapt to, and modify the environment, describe and/or illustrate geographic aspects of a region using 11:-

fundamental geographic vocabulary and give reasons for current human migration; discuss the impact a location has. uponcultural similarities and differences; and be able to demonstrate how an event in one location can have an impact upcinanother location.

Advanced Students should be able to use basic geographic knowledge and vocabulary to describe global patterns and processes; describe(276) ways individuals can protect and enhance environmental quality; describe how modifications to the environment may have a

variety of consequences; explain differing perspectives that apply to local environmental or cultural issues; and demonstrate anunderstanding of forces that result in migration, changing demographics, and boundary changes. They should be able to solvesimple problems by applying information learned through working with visual and technological tools such as aerial and otherphotographs, maps and globes, atlases, news media, and computers. They should be able to construct models and sketch andlabel maps of their own state, the United States, and the world; use them to descrilx and compare differences, similarities, andpatterns of change in landscapes; and be able to predict the impact a change in one location can have on another. They shouldbe able to analyze the ways individuals and groups interact

Eti42.

Figure 3.1 Geography Addeveseat Levels (cowhand)

7 GRADE 8

Basic Students should possess fundamental knowledge and vocabulary of concepts relating to patterns, relationships, distance,

(242) direction, scale, boundary, site, and situation; solve fundamental locational questions using latitude and longitude; interpret

simple map scales; id ,tify continents and their physical features, oceans, and various countries and cities; respond accurately

to descriptive questions using information obtained by use of visual and technological tools such as geographic models and/or

translate that information into words; explaindifferences between maps and globes; and find a wide range of information using

an atlas or almanac. Students should be able to recognize and illustrate the relationships that exist betweenhumans and their

environments, and provide evidence showing how physical habitat can influence human activity. They should be able to define

a region and identify its distinguishing characteristics. Finally, they should be able to demonstrate how the interaction that

takes place between and among regions is related to the movement of people, goods, services, and ideas..

Proficient Students should possess a fundamental geographic vocabulary; understand geography's analytical concepts; solve locational

(282) questions requiring integration of information from two or more sources, such as atlases or globes; compare information

presented at different scales; identify a widevariety of physical and cultural features and describe regional patterns. Students

should be able to respond accurately to interpretive questions using geography's visual and technological toolsand translate

that information into patterns; identifydifferences in map projections and select proper projections for various purposes; and

develop a case study working with geography's analytical concepts. In addition, students should be able to describe the physical

and cultural characteristics of places; explain how places change due to human activity; explain and illustrate how the concept

of regions can be used as a stntegy for organizing and understanding Earth's surface. Students should be able to analyze and

interpret data bases and case studies as well as use information from maps to describe the role that regions play in influencing

bade and migration patterns and cultural and political interaction.

Advanced Students should have a command of extensive geographic knowledge, analytical concepts, and vocabulary, be able to analyze

(315) spatial phenomena using a variety of sources with information presented at a variety of scales and show relationships between

them; and use case studies for spatialanalysis and to develop maps and other graphics. Students should be able to identify

patterns of climate, vegetation, andpopulation across Earth's surfaceand interpret relationships between and among these

patterns, and use one category of a map or aerial photograph to predict other features of a place such as vegetation based on

climate or population density based on topographic features. Students should also be able to relate the concept of region to

specific places and explain how regions change over time due to a variety of factors. They shouldbe able to profile a region of

their own design using geographic concepts, tools, and ,as.

GRADE 12Basic Students should possess a knowledge of concepts and termseoinmonly used in physical and human geography as well as skills

(270) enabling them to employ applicable units of measurement and scale when solving simple locaEonal problems using mapsand

globes. They should be able to read maps; provide examples of Plains, plateaus, hills, and mountains; and locate continents,

.1 major bodies of water, and selected countries and cities. TheyshOuld be able to interpret geographic data and use visual and

technological toOls such as charts, tablei;eartograms, ind graphs; know the nature ofand be able to identify ieveral basic

types of map projections; understand the basic physical structure of the planet explain and apply concepts such as continental

drift and plate tectonics; and descnlie geography's analytical concepts using casestudies. Students should hire a cornprehen-

slve understanding of spatial relationships including the ability to recognize patterns that exist across Earth ki terms of4

phenomena, including climate regions, time zones, population disbibutions, availability of resources,vegetation zones, and

transportation and communication networks. They should be able to develop data bases about specific places and provide a

;simple analysis about their importance.

I 't

Proficient StUdents should have an extensive understanding and knowledge of the concepts and terminology of physical Urd human

(305) ,geography. They should be able to use geographic concepts to analyze spatialphenomena and to discuss economic, political

and social factors that define and interpret space. They should be able to do this through the interpretation of maps and other

visual and technological tools, through theanalysis of case studies, the utilization of data bases, and the selection of appropri-

ate research materials. Students should be able to design their own maps based on descriptive data; describe the physical and

cultural attributes of major world regions; relate the spatial distaution ofpopulation to economic and environmental factors;

report both historical and contemporary events within a geographic framework using tools such as special purpose maps, and

primary and secondary source materials.

Adam:ad Students should possess a comprehensive understanding of geographic knowledge and concepts; apply this knowledge to

(339) case studies; formulate hypotheses and test geographic models that demonstrate complex relationships between physical

and human phenomena; apply a wide range of map skills; develop maps using fundamental cartographic principles including

translating narratives about places and events into graphic representations, and use other visual and technological tools to

perform locational analysis and interpret spatial relationships. Students should also be able to undertake sophisticated analysis

from aerial photographs or satellite imageryand other visuals. Advanced students should be able to develop Criteria assessing

issues relating to human spatial organizationand environmental stability and, through research skills and the application of

critical thinking.strategies, identify alternative solutions. They should be able to compile data bases from disparate pieces of

information and from these data develop generalizations and speculations about outcomes when data change.

BEST dOPY AVAILABLE 43

Geography Achievement Levelse Nation and Regions

Table 3.1 shows the percentages of fourth-, eighth-, andtwelfth-grade students at or above the three geographyachievement levels. At all three grades, roughly 70 percentof students scored at or above the Basic level. Roughlyone-quarter of the students at each grade were able toreach the Proficient level. Few students at any grade wereat the Advanced level: 3 percent at the fourth grade,4 percent at the eighth grade, and 2 percent at thetwelfth grade. (Note that the percentage of students belowBasic is 100 percent minus the percentage at or aboveBasic.)

There were several differences in regional performanceon the geography assessment. At grade 4, the percentageof students in the Central region who reached theProficient level was higher than the percentage in the

Southeast In addition, when compared with children fromthe Southeast and Northeast a higher percentage ofCentral region students were able to reach the Basiclevel. There were no significant regional differences inattainment of the Advanced level.

At grade 8, a somewhat different pattern was evident.The percentages of students in the Central and Northeastregions who reached the Proficient and Basic levelswere higher than the percentages for the Southeast andWest.. The percentage of students at the Advanced levelwas higher in the Central region than in the Southeast.

A smaller percentage of high school seniors reachedthe Basic level in the Southeast than in the rest of thecountry. In addition, the percentage of students in theSoutheast who reached the Proficient level was lowerthan the percentages in the Central or West regions. Atgrade 12, there were no statistically significant regionaldifferences in the attainment of the Advanced level.

Geography Adtlevement levels,for the Nation Gad by Region

Grades 4, 8, and 12

re IM01111IMPORTuma

Percentage of Stadests

. hairstyle ,

of Stands At AdvancedAl Or AbovePreadult

At at AboveBask law Bask

Grade 4

Wk.Rogba

Wheel..

Southeas;

Central ... .

West

.,

...4,4 ii-.7-,.... , ,..,,:.1..: ....,.1 - - ...

1 , .

2210 8) .-.-..ft-,-(45.;. s- -,.,,.

' f ' n (1.0) ,.;,_ ..,..

*.;,,011.,-,,),,74 (0.8) , ,.... .,ii.t.,,?.(O.7) '-

3 (0.4)

3 (0.8)

. 2 (0.5)

4 (1.3)

3 (0.6)

22 (1.2)

. n (2.5)

17 (2.0)

28 (3.3)

21 (1.7)

70 (1.1)

67 (2.7)

64 (2.6)

78 (2.6)

70 (1.7)

i:. - -. ;' ,30(1.1)

1.. \

33 (2.7)

36 (2.6)

22 (2.6)

30 (1.7)

Gado 8

WOWAngles

Northeast

Southeast

Central

West

.,,.1. ,- .

.. :;,::i,..;03 :.:i!'i-V.

oliAii :".- ::-..? ..144i;fi -.,, ... 1 ,..

.. 20 (04)

c'.;t25 (1.0)

. ,, i.i', 24 (04);;-;.:;-,,..411 tom :

4 (0.4)

6 (1.0)

3 (03)

6 (0.9)

3 (0.7)

-,-:-.-- .28 (1.0)

33 (2.0)

21 (1.6)

36 (2.1)

23 (2.0)

71 (1.0)

76 (2.2)

62 (2.1)

110 (1 .7)

67 (2.4)

29 (1.0)

24 (2.2)

31 (2.1)

20 (1.7)

33 (2.4)

Grade 12

Nation

RiekeNortheast

Southeast

Central

West-

. .i, '

-': 100. - ,

21 (03)

23 (0.8)

i ii 28 (0.7)

. 29 (0.7)

2 (03)

2 (0.6)

1 (0.6)

2 (1.0)

2(0.7)

27 (1.2). -

25 (2.1)

20 (1.3)

32 (2.9)

29 (2.6)

70 (0.9)

69 (2.3)

60 (1.5)

75 (2.1)

72 (2.1)

30 (0:9)

31 (2.3)

40 (13)

. 25 (2.1)

21 (2.1)

01fistmas Woos le import Is mildly exploited W lime isiors Rd Imisioi a *is WM.

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El 44

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Geography Achievement Levels for).lajor Reporting Subgroups

In this section, variations in performance among themajor reporting subgroups are discussed. Again, thediscussion is confined to those differences that werestatistically significant

.3.121:2113;"

Race/Ethnicity. Table 3.2 presents achievement level

results for students in six racial/ethnic groups. Consis-

tent with past assessments, results from the NAEP 1994geography assessment indicated differences in perfor-

mance among racial/ethnic subgroups. Significantdifferences among racial/ethnic groups were observed inthe percentages of students at or above each of the threeachievement levels: Basic, Proficient, and Advanced.

l'ABLWP. t.


by Race/EthnicityGrades 4, 8, and 12

TIE wonMPOIlt

WOEt.

Percentile el Weds

Parc later) At or Above At or Above

of Steads At Ahmed Proficieet Irak Mow Bask .

G(ade 4

Natio* 100 3 (0.4) 22 (1.2) 70 (1.1) 30 (1.1)

Itece/Etheidty .

White 19 (0.2) 4 (0.6) 29 (1.61 81 (1.3) 19 (1.3)

Illsck 1510.1) 0 (0.2) 3 (0.6) 34 (2.4) 66 (2.4)

HisPanic12(0.2) 1 (0.4) 10 (11) 49 (2.7) 51 (2.7)

Asian 2(0.2) 5 (3.3) 32 (6.0) 79 (4.8) 21 (4.8)

Pacific Islander 1 (0.1) 1 (1.5) 17 (6.5) 70 (6.2) 30 (6.2)

Amaricart Indian 1 (0.2) 0 (13) 9 (3.9) 62 (5.7) 31 (5.7)

Grote 8.

Nation 100 4 (0.4) 28 (1.0) 71 (1.0) 29 (1.0)

Ince/EthakftyWhite 19 (0.2) 5 (0.5) 36 (1.3) 82 (0.9) 18 (0.9)

Iliodc 15 (0.1) fl (0.3) 5 (0.1) . 34 (2.9) 61 (2.9)

Hispanic 11 (0.1) 1 (0.5) 10 (1.2) SO (34) SO (3.6)

Asks ., 2 (0.1) 1 (34) 40 (3.9) 79 (4.3) 21 (4.3)

Podfk Islander 1 (0.4)1 3 (3.1)1 15 (4.6)1 63 (10.6)1 . 37 (10.6)1

American Indian . 2 (0.4) I 2 (1.3) I 15 (3.6)1 59 (5.1)1 41 (5.1)1

Grads 12

*OW 100 2 (03) 27 (1.2) 70 (0.9) 30 (0.9)

Rece/EthaidtyUnto 74 (0.3) 2 (0.6) 33 (13) 71 (0.9) 22(0.91

Slack 12 (0.4) 0 (0.1) 5 (1.0) 32 (2.3) U (2.3)

Hispanic . 8(0.2) 0 (0.2) 10 (1.8) 41 (2.8) 52 (2.8)

Asian 3 (0.2) 3 (1.6) 32 (5.7) 119 (3.9) 31 (3.9)

Pori& Islaeder 1 (0.3) I 1 (1.3)1 19 (4.4)1 0 (5.1)1 31 (5.1) I

beckon Indian 1 (0.2)1

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SLIM Mod (sSN iv Unwise Sisain, NOW Amami 0 finciima MinsNM, If% fogrophy lauffmat.

At grade 4, the percentages of White students whoattained each of the three achievement levels werehigher than the percentages for Black and Hispanicstudents. Furthermore, higher percentages of Whitestudents reached the Basic and Proficient levels than didAmerican Indian students. Higher percentages of Asianstudents than Black and Hispanic students reached theBasic and Proficient levels. Also, the percentage of Asianstudents at or above the Proficient level was higher thanthat of American Indian students. The percentage ofPacific Islander students who reached the Basic levelwas higher than that of Black and Hispanic students.The percentages of Hispanic and American Indianstudents who reached the Basic level were higher thanthe percentage of Black students. Finally, a higherpercentage of Hispanic students than Black studentsreached the Proficient level.

At grade 8, the pattern shown at grade 4 was largelyrepeated. However, the sample at grade 8 does not allowfor accurate determination of the standard errorsassociated with the percentages for Pacific Islander andAmerican Indian students. Therefore, these groupscannot be compared with other groups-at this grade.

At grade 12, fewer significant differences existedacross the racial/ethnic subgroups than at the othergrades. For example, there were no significantdifferences among racial/ethnic subgroups in thepercentages of students reaching the Advanced level.The percentages of White and Asian students whoreached the Basic and Proficient levels were higher thanthose for Black and Hispanic students. Finally, a lowerpercentage of Black students than Hispanic studentsreached the Basic level. As at grade 8, Pacific Islanderand American Indian students are not included in groupcomparisons at grade 12 because of sample limitations.

When considering these data, readers should keep inmind the cautions about interpreting group differencesdiscussed in Chapter 1. A further reason for caution isthat, while the percentages of White students scoring at theAdvanced level were larger (in a statistically significantsense) than the percentages of Black or Hispanicstudents at grades 4 and 8, the practical importance ofthese differences may be limited by the small numbersof students reaching the Advanced level.

3 0

46

Cr,'

t''--

Gender. Table 3.3 presents achievement level results formale and female students. At grades 4 and 8, thesignificant gender differences observed in average scalescores were also observed in the percentages of studentsreaching the Proficient and Advanced achievementlevels. For example, the percentages of male students ator above the Proficient level (26 percent at grade 4 and30 percent at grade 8) were significantly higher than thepercentages for female students (19 and 25 percent,respectively).

At grade 12, the achievement level results also showeda significant gender difference, with male studentsoutperforming their female peers. The percentages ofmale twelfth graders at or above the Basic and Proficientachievement levels were higher than the percentages offemale students. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) ofmale high school seniors reached the Basic level,compared with two-thirds (67 percent) of female highschool seniors.

Geography Achievement Levelsby Gender

Grades 4 and 12

Percentage of Students -

Percentage I

of Stadents

At or Above TAt Advanced Preficket

At or Aboveksk Below Bask

Grad. 4Nation 100 3 (0.4) 22 (1.2) 70 (1.1) 30 (1.1)

Gender

Male 51 (1.0) 4 (0.7) 26 (1.7) 71 (1.3) 29 (1.3)

female 49 (1.0) 2 (0.5) 19 (1.3) 68 (1.4) 32 (1.4)

Grad. 8Nation , 100 4 (0.4) 28 (1.0) 71 (1.0) 29 (1.0)

Grader

Mole \ 51 (0.7) 5 (0.6) -2, 30 (1.2) 72 (1.3) -..,:.;,.-1 , 21(1.3)

Female .. , 49 (0.7) 3 (0.4) 25 (1.1) 69 (1.1) .31 (1.1)

Grad. 12Nation '''. ' 100 2 (0.5) 27 (1.2) 70 (0.9) .., 30 (0.9) 'Gender ,.:,..0*...,:' . ..

Mole :50(1.0) 2 (0.7) 32 (1.4) 73 (1.1) _;:",r97 (1.1)

Female ' ','.', ; 50 (1.0) 1 (0.4) 22 (1.4) 67 (1.2) .4i. 33 (1.2)

tams boom de pups my is madlyaphissi. Iry Au Was le Ischead 1 Aig tile.

The signed won oho i s l i m o i l poradopigps. li p e r e r i m i i . k am is " A i Pik 95-psissit odd* 1 4 , f w nth p e p A d i t e i b a n d , the v i e s ht the wit i e m i d i s ' Is V&A pies Arsimiii.N;1;Ari ens.6 ii.ths

NIA* for Ilos soak ' -

SOURCE MANI Cos* for Miaiim UAW Mod Aswan* si fdosed heiress MAE?), 1,94 fasimily AussmAt.

8EST COPY AVAILABLE

47

." JkJ ta Cat iN :471C 71216;11U:A4.151:CA.ALS.A2t:

Parents' Highest Level of Education. As shown inTable 3.4, a positive relationship exists between level ofpartnts' education and the percentages of students ator Zove the three achievement levels. In general, thehigher the level of education reported, the higher thepercentages of students at each achievement level.

At all three grades, a higher percentage of studentswho reported that at least one parent had graduatedfrom college reached the Advanced level than did thosereporting that at least one parent had graduated fromhigh school. In addition, at grade 8, a higher percentageof students who reported that at least one parent had

.-1.TABLE'3.4.- .- .

byGeography Achievement Levels 1.1Parents' Highest Level of Education um

Grades 4, 8, and 12

Praiusge a Students

p At or Above At er Aboveof %dents At Advanced Proficient Itesk blew ledc

Grade 4 .

Natio. 180 3 (0.4) V (1.2) 70 (1.1) 30 (1.1) .

Parents' Edecatioe Level

Graduated College 42 (1.0) 5 (0.9) 31 (2.0) 78 (1.5) V (1.5)Some Education After High khool 7 (0.4) 3 (1.1) 30 (3.4) 80 (2.3) 20 (2.3)

Graduated High School.

12 (0.6) 1 (0.6) 15 (2.1) 63 (2.9) 37 (2.9)

Did Nat finish High School . ; -... 4 (0.4) 0 (0.0) 1 (3.3) 52 (5.2) 41 (5.2)

I Don't Know 34 (0.9) 1 (0.4) 14 (1.1) 63 (1.4) 37(1.4)

.

Nation 100 4 (0.4) 28 (1.0) 71 (1.0) 29 (1.0)

Parses' Edecetioe Level

Graduated College ,', ;'. 42 (1.2) 7 (0.7) 41 (1.4) 82 (1.2) 18 (1.2)

Same Education After High Scheel -, 49 (OJ) 3 (0.8) 29 (2.3) 79 (1.3) '-: 21 (1.3)

Graduated High School 132 (0.9) 1 (0.6) 15 (13) 12 (2.0) .:. 38 (2.0)

Did Not Finish High School 7 (03) 1 (0.5) 1 (1 .6) 47 (3.4) 53 (3.4)

I Don't Know ',',10 (03) 1 (0A) 1 (13) 44 (2.9) - 56 (2.9)

Grid* 12Nati.. , 1X 2 (03) 27 (1.2) 70 (0.9) 30 (0.9)

Pewits' biocides load fGraduated College

- ... ,

'.."-...',.,T, 44 (1.2) .. 3 (0.1) .,.. 40 (1.6) 11 (1.1) 19 (1A )

-Some Education After High Sdiod 25 (0.7) 1 (0.7) 24 (LI) 75 (1.5) ---- IS (13);scanted High &hod .# (0l) :! 0an 14 (1.6) 56 (2.0) , .. (2.0)

Did Not Finish High School (0.4). .

0 (0.0) 7 (2.0) 41 (2.9)

.44

7 59 (2.9)!Don't Know 3 (0.3) 0 (0.0) 7 (1.6) 36 (4.4) 64 (4.4)

Worms bona is grow mils pod* oqiiosi by A. redoes so Wail I *kW& .In storolad ems of is mimed pomoilop I insid %A 9S-pwoot cods* the, fw moth patio of Worst, the vas for *a Is Wilk Elm In olmoind um of theoar powoholoit co sfoolo popoioloo pho orMink haw soogle.

Psramosios of *kb bolo solompo err ad UM IN in is romel.

The Wigan of popoidie porrodwo topottoi so we (ool doodad woes roportho 0.0) on Ws* mum, isi maid lo lon who modsl to foe mod faqir for osermolik lo do ass olio laird-maSOUICE Wiwi CM& for Edrowilm SOW Mimi Aosta* of Waked Propos (NAEP I , 1$4 6togrephy Anourood.

4 8

graduated from college reached the Advanced levelthan did those reporting all other levels of parentale:ducation.

At the Proficient and Basic levels, the patterns weresimilar. At grade 4, higher percentages of students whoreported that at least one parent graduated from collegeor had some education after high school reached theBasic and Proficient levels than did those reportingthat their parents had a high school or lower level ofeducation. (At grade 4, the percentage of studentsreaching the Proficient and Basic levels were notsignificantly different for the groups of studentsreporting the two higher education levels or for thegroups reporting the two lower education levels.)

At grades 8 and 12, higher percentages of studentsreporting that their parents had achieved a given level ofeducation reached the Basic and Proficient achievementlevels than did those reporting lower levels of parentaleducation. For example, at grade 12, higher percentagesof students who reported that at least one parent grad-

uated from college scored at or above the Basic andProficient levels than did students who reported that atleast one parent had some education after high school.Higher percentages of the latter group scored at orabove the Basic and Proficient levels than did studentswho reported at least one parent graduated from highschool; these students, in turn, showed higherachievement than those who reported that neitherparent had finished high school. The exception to thisrule was at grade 8, where there were no significantdifferences in the percentages of students at or above theBasic level who reported that at least one parent graduatedfrom college and those who reported that at least oneparent had some education after high school.

One-third of fourth graders and one-tenth of eighthgraders did not know their parents' level of education.In addition, as noted previously, the accuracy of studentself-reported data may be open to some question. None-theless, the positive relationship between parentaleducation and achievement in geography remains striking.

49

)

lii

Type of Location. 'able 3.5 presents achievement levelresults by type of location. 'IYpe of location categoriesindtcate the location of students' schools and are rintended to indicate or imply social and economicmeanings. (The type of location classifications aredescribed irippendix A.)

At all three grades, no statistically significantdifferences existed among percentages of studentsattending schools in different types of location whoattained the Advanced level. At grades 4 and 8, higherpercentages of students attending schools in urbanfringe/large town locations than students in central city

locations reached the Proficient level. At grades 4 and 8,higher percentages of students attending schools in urbanfringe/large town and rural/small town locations thanstudents in central city locations reached the Basic level.

At grade 12, a higher percentage of studentsattending schools in urban fringe/large town locationsthan those in rural/small town locations reached theProficient level. Finally, the percentage of urban fringe/large town students who reached the Basic level washigher than the percentages of students in other typesof location.

/sIAILP;$ ; :' Geography Achievement Levelsby Type of Location

Grades 4, 8, and 12

DE wows

DAS

Nude? of %deity

P.icentags*of Shads At thawed

At or AboveProfideat

At or AboveBask Mow Bask

Grad. 4Notion

Type of tooth.Central thy

Urban Fringe/lorge Town

iturol/Smoll Town

100

35 (2.1)

43 (2.4)

22 (2.2)

3 (0.4)

2 (0.5)

3 (0.8)

3 (0.7) .

V (1.2)

18 (1.6)

26 (2.0)

21 (2.6).

70 (1.1)

61 (2.1)

76 (1.7)

71 (2.3)

39 (2.1)

24 (1.7)

29 (2.3)

&We 8Notion

Type of LoatheControl City

Urban Fringe/low town

leng/Smail Town

100. ,

A -4.; 36 (2.4),'

(2.9)

. 26 (1.9) '..

4 (0.4)

4 (0.6)

4 (0.6)

4 (03)

,

n(1.0)

24 (1.3)

31 (1.5)

n (2.2)

.

71 (1.0)

64 (2.2)

76 (1.6)

73 (2.3)

,29 (1.0). .. .

31 (2.2)

24 (1.6)

' ". '' V (2.3)

Grail 12lathsType of Location

Control CIty

Mon Fringe/low Town

IteroVSmaii Inn

....IX

...:.;."

..: :. 31 (2.3)

42 (2.8)

.,-,.: 26 (1.9)

2 (03)

2 (0.6)

2 (0.8)

1 (03)

Ti (1.2)

25 (1.7)

31 (2.2)

V (1.1)

70 (0.9)

16 (1.8)

74 (1.5)

61 (1.8)

Tii (0.9). ,

34 (1.1)

26 (1.5)

32 (1.8)

DAM= Woofirm mei is pod* *plied by odor floors est folio& a ilk ilk11. siothril arm of tiolimisd poromOops vow it panda& Mao Is NW vie 15-porsoro =oily ilk hr sea porkies of Mod, Ihs ooloo for do via moidloo k lain pis or Moo too rkoirrd ores of thoado.% hi tho smolt

Putoririos of skim it iis sip* ow/ Word IN doe fo moo*.

WM ?Wiwi Wow for fiksiso Mob, Wind Ammo* of Eividimol Progross (SA), 1914 froirway Issos000d.

5 0El

Tide I Participation. Table 3.6 provides achievementlevel results by Title I status. Compared with theircounterparts who did not receive Title I services, lowerpercentages of fourth-grade Title I recipients performedat or above the Basic and Proficient achievement levels.Significantly lower percentages of eighth-grade studentswho received Title I services performed at or above eachof the achievement levels when compared with theircounterparts who did not receive Title I services. The

.4..1.LL

percentages of iltle I students who performed belowBasic were 71 percent at grade 4 and 62 percent at grac8. Conversely, between 24 and 27 percent of studentswho did not receive Title I services performed below thtBasic level. Grade 12 differences are not discussed herebecause the nature of the grade 12 sample does notallow for accurate estimation of the variability of thepercentages for Title I recipients.

TABLE -311,;.,::,_

TIE WINSGeography Achievement Levels1111101T .M...ii

by Title I PartkipationGrades 4, 8, and 12 mist_____--

Percentage of Studios

At AdvancedAt ea Above At or Above

Proficient lock law BaskGrade 4

NatioTitle I Participle*.

Yes

No

100

, 13 (1.3)

87 (1.3)

3 (0.4)

0 (0.0)

3 (0.5)

n (1.2)

2 (0.9)

25 (1.4)

70 (1.11

29 (3.0)

76 (1.2)

30(1.1)

71 (3.0)

24 (1.2)

God.8NOWTide 1 Portidpatioo

Yes

No

,

100

7 (1.0)

93 (1.0)

4 (0.4)

0 (0.6)

4 (0.4)

28 (1.0)

6 11.8)

29 (1.0)

71 (1.0)

38 (4.3)

73 (1.0)

29 (1.0)

62 (4.3)

27 (1.0)

Gracie 12

!WMMk 1 porildpoKoo

Yes

No

; 100

41. , , Alt .-

2 (03)1

18.1031 , s

2 (0.5).0 (0.0)1

2 (03)

,.

27 (1.2)

3 (1.2)1

27 (1.2)

70 (0.9)

24 (2.8)1

71 (0.9)

-' ' ,, ';,. ::'

-. 30 (0.9)

. 711 (2.8) I

29 (0.9)Worms Wow is pup ony is pot* osphind if What him orA looludoi h Ilit hilt .

Ss sword ow of the oilionisi poopoat io wakes. If as lo viol wifilS-putoot aridity dot, hr rod wham of ilsgetjha volos hi %IAA mollies ivoll. pios oi As* .u'd Orros dileobis for Iho moil.'i. .Th. 6/1""Pralk. PrillliPMPOrbi0 Me (iii NNW arTM IPSrta 111 OA) sty raft maw, hotrprodorl h me whom moll is the unrest INN tot looroomok I Wm cos of ilio MAWmini.1 hiorproisiik who wy isopodno Wok* %Vs Mat. lieoson of he =ph its tot dor he ow* ihrodutIos of dos "Oak of Ilk 1.1w.

SWUM Wool Cow hr Ibroloo Sfoligia, Naiad Osossomor of Eitooktol Progress (W), 1 fI4 Csogrooiry Amossmoot.

1E0

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

nipe of School. Table 3.7 presents results for public andnonpublic schools. At each grade, the percentages ofnonpublic school students who reached both the Basicand Proficient levels were significantly higher than thepercentages of students attending public schools. At theeighth grade, a higher percentage of nonpublic schoolstudents reached the Advanced level.

As noted in Chapter 1, the reader is cautioned againstmaking causal inferences about the relative effectivenessof public and nonpublic schools. Achievement leveldifferences between the two types of schools are, in part,related to socioeconomic and sociological factors, suchas levels of parental involvement in their child's educa-tion. To get a clearer picture of the differences betweenpublic and nonpublic schools, more in-depth analysesare required.

C1Ast01*/ - re wowsGeography Achievement Levels areff0

by Type of School2

Grades 4, 8, Gad 12

hamar of Modest:

itAt Aimed

At Of AboveNNW

At or AboveSok Itolow Busk

Grade 4

Nth*.Typo of School

Publk Schools

Al Nonpublic Schools

Catholic Schools

Other Novak Week

100

.- . 10 (0.8)

. 10 (0.8)

. -. .4, 6 (0.7)

' 4 (03), -

3 (0.4)

3 (0.5)

5 (1.2)

5 (1.9)

4 (1.2)

n (1.2)

21 (1.3)

30 (2.5)

30 (3.0)

30 (4.1)

70 (1.1)

68 (1.2)

84 (2.2)

85 (2.8)

12 (3.5)

30 (1.1)

32 (1.2)

16 (2.2)

, 15 (2.8)

18 (33)

Graf 8NANTypo of School

Pubk Schools

All Nonpublic Schotis

Odhciic Schoch

Othot Nova& Schools

.000'-:,) 4'4' ..

.z.- 90 (0.8)

o (0.1) ;,-. :. --

*46(0.6), ,

. -,":':!::.4.,4(111) .'

4 (0.4)

4 (0.4)

8 (IA)

1 (1A)

7 (2.0)

21 (1.0)

26 (1.0)

44 (2.2)

44 (2.6)

45 (4.8)

71 (1.0)

69 (1.0)

17 (1.7)

19 (1.8)

fli (3.2)

.: ,N (1.0)o

31 (1.0)

; ' ......13 (11)

-.: 11 (1.1)

*-'4! 14 (3.2)

Gra& 12NatioType of School

',Mkt Schools.

All Noopubk Sao&

Who& Schools

Othot Nonpublic Schools

,100

'''s" 19 OA')

t.flfli) ': .

'''' 4711(0.9)

:4 (04) ..., , ,.

2 (0.5)

1 (OS)

3 (0.1)

1 (0.5)

5 (13)

- -t

27 (1.2)

21 (1.3)

, :. 31 (2.3)

33 (3.11)

40 (3.1)

70 (19)

61 (1.0)

13 (2.2)

80 (3.9)

17 (2.4)

--t;-

''''`A (0.9)

..,:., ty.?...0 : - , ,-..

si32 0.0)

-, (-'4":;47 (2.2)

--,-- 20(3.9)

; ' 13 (2.4)

Differwm boom the gringuser be Way aphiesi by 'indoor:se ID:6W I ilt Wk.

lheismithrrsts Is Italie Mil *On for *swillsolio ssiaisd midges spur pussisit. vildSisrai tedity we NO*. sl iindois tam whim hulks piny aim maid anus albssnub for do swile.

-hiaassisder ohm lo Ow Ns Wu al mospilitidissig Ila I is Isart 'mod 'stoop amp& wink ally NimbiMIKE SAW (maw hr anis Wan, NNW Amosind al Eimilood Myst (IW?), 1994 Gs** Aismant

3 6

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32

.:77...14CVLSZAAA-1.1i1..tIk' ti..+1).dirACFrattaittatiikaeljAINgird

SummaryFor the most part, performances of reporting subgroupsreflected patterns of average scale scores noted inChapter 2 of this report.

D. For the nation as a whole, approximately 70 percentof students reached the Basic level, while approxi-mately one-quarter reached the Proficient level.

b. Higher percentages of White and Asian studentsreached the Basic and Proficient levels than didBlack and Hispanic students, at all three grades.

N. At grades 4, 8, and 12, the percentages of malestudents who reached the Proficient level werehigher than those of female students.

7.71.:N1

p. Generally, the higher the level of parental educatiothe greater the percentages of students reaching agiven achievement level.

p. Similarly, higher percentages of students attendingnonpublic schools at all three grades reached theBasic and Proficient levels than did those attendingpublic schools. At grade 8, a higher percentage ofstudents attending nonpublic schools also reachedthe Advanced level than did their peers who wereattending public schools.

53

, ,

. .

Contexts in Which StudentsLearn GeographyGeography learning takes many forms. Teachers ofgeography employ a variety of teaching strategies anduse different geography tools, such as maps, globes, andcomputers, to enhance geography learning. Outside ofthe classroom, exposure to different media and homesupport for schooling can also promote a rich geographyeducation.'

Previous chapters in this report have examined whatstudents know and can do in geography. In this chapter,some of the contexts in which geography learning takesplace are examined, to provide a background for under-s.anding student performance.

The Extent of Students' SocialStudies and Geography InstructionAs part of the NAEP 1994 geography assessment,students were asked a series ofquestions concerning theamount of geography instruction they had received. Inaddition, information concerning social studies or ,

geography instruction was collected from the teachersof fourth-grade students participating in theassessment.' The results illustrate the nature ofgeography instruction in the nation's schools.

Social Studies and Geography Instruction at Grade 4.The NAEP 1994 geography framework that served asthe blueprint for the assessment stated that most fourthgraders will receive some geography education as part oftheir social studies classes, instead of specific classes ingeography. Approximately three-quarters (72 percent) offourth graders reported having a social studies class atleast three times a week. Only 6 percent reported neveror hardly ever having such classes. Table 4.1 shows thepercentages of students and average scale scoresaccording to the frequency with which studentsreported taking social studies classes.

The frequency of social studies classes is positivelyrelated to fourth graders' performance on the NAEPgeography assessment. Students who reported havingsocial studies class every day or three to four times a

e..010,V11.-.7..#31F7

TABLE 4.1Reports oe

Is anarm

Cowie WigMOB

4

Students'Sodoi Stoles

Grade

Ude SanHew Wee De '013 USN* Have iSada( Shan Goss let Sdbeel?

Myst Effigy Day 45 (1.9) 2C4 (14)3-4 Times a Week 27 (1.1) 213 (2.1)1-2 Times a Week 17 (1.0) 201 (1.9)Less 111aa 1 Tot a Wok 5 (0.4) 159 (4.7)Now or Hardy Era 6 (0.7) 156 (4.4)

Carom Wow ile I. whined lay oher Won ad folislod b Illi Wis.pops any wililylie godurd min of obi Wool promos' mi swop oh tiros prow is molts*. II MI bmid ugh 95-potoot mkt* loo, to. sea p000hitso al tom, do las tot go who pair ftsiiio pia a Woo toe *Wed ems el it**ink tit is so*soutcE bleed csew for hhcolta Week Newelsawort elwas* Mrs (681,1194 Gefophybolows.

week had higher average scores than those who reportihaving such classes less frequently or never. In additiorstudents who reported having classes once or twice aweek outperformed those who reported never er hardlyever taking a social studies class.

Teachers of fourth graders weri asked how muchtime they spent on geography in their social studiesclasses. Table 4.2 shows that teachers of 39 percent offourth-grade students reported spending60 minutes ormore per week on geography, while teachers of 44percent of fourth graders reported spending 30 minutes orless per week on geography. No significant differences inaverage scores were evident among students fromclasses with different amounts oftime sPent on geography.

TABLE 4.2 ' %dors' Reports en Tin: Scts aro- 7 Per Week ii Social Steaks i. as

en Geogrolk 'Feeding ' ' elutimisGuide 4

PwaseRpe dWok know

Sea fore

90 Weft ot Moo40 10eules

45 lAinutss

30 Noss or Less

22 OM

, 17 (2.0)

17 OA44 (2.6)

209 12.1)

206 DM

205 (3.3)

102 OM

lama Mew in pow ow le WI* NOW by obli WinedSo swim( was olio ulioded wool nol amp soh sosolopporsa IPA95-Partal add* tot far No wain el tow**, mho brglib** Woo to *NW wool& ilk* in Semi*Srrillta: Wool Coot kr %WM SighIet, Wad lame of WOWirm kofpwhoweent.

Wahl it lit MIL

I milk 11 at loiho ololopopilin lo

New (111/,

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Examined together, the results of the NAEPquestions concerning fourth-grade students' in-schoolexposure to geography indicated:

Ot. The majority of fourth graders reported takingsocial studies classes.

Ito. Frequent social studies classes are positively relatedto scores on the NAEP geography assessment,although teachers of 44 percent of fourth gradersreported spending 30 minutes or less per week ongeography.

Geography Course Taking at Grades 8 and 12. Eighthand twelfth graders were asked whether they hadpreviously taken or were currently taking a geographycourse. In addition, eighth graders were asked whetherthey had taken an earth science course, and twelfthgraders whether they had taken courses in worldgeography and United States geography.

Table 4.3 presents the results of these questions.Fifty-three percent of eighth graders indicated thatthey were currently taking a geography course, and69 percent indicated that they had taken at least onegeography course since the sixth grade. Seventy-threepercent of eighth graders also reported that they hadtaken an earth science course.

The relationship between course taking andgeography performance at grade 8 indicates thatstudents who reported taking at least one geographycourse scored significantly higher than students whoreported not taking any geography courses. (Thirteenpercent of eighth gradeis reported not knowing whetherthey had taken a geography course in the past)Furthermore, students w,ho reported taking an earthscience course (whickeoiirs Content similar to physicalgebgraphy) outperfiMid *dents who iePorted thatthey had not taken sit& a Couise. (Therewas nosignificant difference between eighth graders who reportedthey were currently taldng a geography course and thosewho were not.)

The majority of twelfth graders (79 percent) reportedthat they were not currently taking a geography course.These students, on average, outperformed the 15 percent ofthe twelfth graders who reported they were currentlyenrolled in a geography course. (Again, some twelfthgraders reported not knowing whether theywere currentlytakirg a geography course.) At the twelfth grade, the 66percent of students who reported taking at least onegeography course since the ninth grade did not differsignificantly in performance from the 31 percent whoreported not taking geography.

f

fit4;20T.,,M...117t*:* ,X'11"4315.7.11Ter,Y.:11V.:-Vg-

Mir%dads' Repots ft Geograplri

Curse TakingGrades 8 and 12

si nunarorr.sm--:,

imgill'mas...ft=

Pomo*knew

Ws sato

Grad* S

-Currently Weee &eve*, Gone

Yes 53 (1.1) 263 (0.8)No 29 (1.0) 264 (1.2)1 641 know 11 (0.7) 247 (1.3)

Hes Ube et toast

Ow Glop* Cows.Shea the ith Ore&

Yes 69 (1.1) 266 (0.7)

No 18 (1.0) 250 (1.6)1 don't know 13 (0.6) 243 (1.5)

Tim esler& Sdoece Curse

Yes 73 (2.0) 263 (0.8)No 27 (2.0) 252 (1.5)

Groh 12°grotty Tel*e Gseirephy Goose

Yet 15 (0J) 277 (1.5)No 79 (0.1) Al '. 44'11411 (0.8)

.

1 duet law 5 (0.4) Ib' 271 (1.9)

Nes Tao et Last Oils ..,-- -; .. .'-'. t;; ,.- :11i-f4 .t : , ,!.Geier* Curse ' ' lki -...i.ii."..'/,,.. ,..,

Sike the 916 Geode

46(12) 1,f 1,A..,n5tom .

N. . 31 11.6) ...,0,i`j. 21611.4)

-1 doe't bow_... . 30).9. ::: Ai (2.0

Um a Gone hi :.'.-13 : .': i'1.1.. , :,i,.. ,, ': .. ,.

World Geopsphy .- .1 0.. ' . 4.1":: ,

Yu 62 (1.7) 217 (0.9)No . 38 (1)) ::,,. : 212 (1.1)

Tao s Como le., --,0- ..;

US. Gore* , .--Yes 46 (1.2) 215 11.0)

No 54 (1.2)..

.. 215 (0.9)

O l l i W dos bs s g b i s s i l by AK Ion sw laid' I I Ls r m s a s e n s p i p sus pm*As NEM mos slim Wood pwasimpsIA Imp sois itsto sppm I plink& barn is*I iii 5Sssrtsw oddlyid, fai slth p is 4 Wm!, ths viss 1st Ibe iisis midis. k111. piny obon Ws *OW Kress of Sin* fa Om mph.SOSKE Mood Co* for gods giblis, Mod AMNIONal listsied Pops(NM,Itil fop* immosi.

One explanation for this the significant differencebetween those who are currently enrolled ih a geog-raphy course and those who are not is that studentsenrolled in a geography course in the twelfth grade arenot following course-taking patterns typical ofmost oftheir peers. This difference in course-taking patternsmay indicate other academic differences between thetwo groups. However, twelfth graders who reportedtaking a course in world geography outperformed thosestudents who had not. There were no significant differ-ences between students who reported taking a courSe inUnited States geography and those who had not.

Perhaps more consistent with the grade 12performance for students who reported taking worldgeogiaphy, Table 4.4 shows that a positive relationshipexists between the numbers of semesters of potentialgeography-related course work completed by twelfthgraders and their average scale scores. The results showthat as the number of semesters ofgeography-relatedcourse work increases, average scale scores alsoincrease.

TAKE 4.4 Wats/ Repels on NumberHistory, Geography,Studios Takes

12

,

waof Semesters of. or Soda!

:- Grade

km"*Wm of Soessfers Porceoloto Sok kw

Now 1 (0.1)1 Of 2 7 (0.6) 264 (1.7)3 Of 4 29 0 .1) 275 (1.2)5 Of 6 30 (1.2) 294 (1.1)

.

7 or Mors 34 0.9) : 291 (1.1).

Oilisms Immo is pp Noy is poldly aqiiiNd by Ow howsos1 WNW le la Nbh.ifw omit ones din allood pow000psal mop witoores is 1 ow INmow proodwit.

sl hiondolie vas for is Ash whim hmid .110pworo isointi114 for sodtpodolvaoohs On w Um too alai ems of So oink for towokPorcoolos of *Am I do slipup way 111101 Mao lo nook. : ......:

* Semple IN WINN is mite Mak NINie ON Amu& AL

SOME 11401101 Ca* fw firoolosSoloks,1111.1loweno of fisalowliononos (Wit .104 Gap* lawwwal. -

4.1 klAarlinalir-MARMENSEIM

Geognrphy Course Taking Within Subgroups atGrades 8 and 12. Chapter 2 discussed significantdifferences at grades 8 and 12 among various subgroupincluding males and females, racial/ethnic groups, andstudents attending public and nonpublic schools. Onepossible explanation for such differences could bevariations in course-taking patterns that are measuresof exposure to geography instruction. 'Wes 4.5 and 4.present results for selected course-takingyariables.

At grade 8, no significant differences in coursetaking were observed between Male and female studentThe percentage of White students who reported takingat least one geography course since the sixth grade wassignificantly higher than the percentages for Black andHispanic students (see Table 4.5). Also, the percentagesof students attending nonpublic schools who reportedtaking at least one geography course and who reportedtaking an earth science course were greater than thepercentages of their peers attending public schools.

StiMMEH---lents'Reports on Geography nr:1Course Tabs for Selected Subgroups .

Grade 8

el %heft WU

Cons Susillet=At belt Ow

61(1.2)

70 (1.4)

IteakfakeityIlkKok&patAskm

ftd& klawlerMAN Mom

72 (1.4)

63 (2.0)

60 (3.3)

73 (5.1)

U (14)1 jo(

67 (14)1

Type of Wiwi

NonAlit

IV

ft (1.2)

76 (11)

A

Ammo Cum

75 (2.4)

70 (24)i (67 (23)

:!7. 74 (4.1)

Moms Wow is 'mom! is pow* fooldwilly okor boloisi 444

*viol win of to owlomisipooloow spoor itionsikods.11anionli 0-outoo4011.1y 11, iw Reign of lowswohnlios fedi viols mils. kid& phow oho healai ow olio Wm* hr sopit1 Wept oldie** orf comimat imoldog 114 moo of Isioopis loss oi dot fitonorow iwoniolioo mg*" of Ns oohs. , . ,MEE kind Cower iw Wm. WOO, llolowl DownWoi of WOWPalm pam, , A,isrolqhmaiwi.

,

BEST COPY AVAIIAB

At grade 12, the only significant difference betweenmale and female students was that more male studentsthafi female students reported taking a United Statesgedgraphy course. The percentage of Black studentswho reported taking at least one geography course wassignificantly higher than the percentage for Hispanicstudents (see Table 4.6). Also, the percentage of Whitestudents who reported taking a world geography coursewas significantly higher than the percentage of Hispanicstudents. The percentage of students attending publicschools who reported taking at least one geographycourse in high school was larger than the percentage forstudents attending nonpublic schools.

TABLE4:6'"Students' Reports on Geography

Course Taking for Selected SubgroupsGrade 12

THE won%nil

Pomo+, 0Shies WU Reported Tab....

At Imo OmgantCane A Gorse hi A Corso i0rede WNW Gain* US. Gewirepirit

GliderMole 67 (1.7) 64 (1.7) 49 (1.2)

Wok 64 (1.9) 60 (2.0) 42 (1.6)

Roce/Etheidty

Whits 66 (2.0) 64 (2.0) 47 (1.5)

Slack 70 (2.6) 63 (2.8) 43 (2.1)

Hisponk 57 (3.2) 53 (2.7) 39 (22)Asian 63 (4.0) 56 (4.1) 35 (4.7)

Podfk Islander SI (4.5)1 SO (5.1)1 36 (4.8)1

Amwkon Mon

Typo of Scheel,

,-

hilk . 67(1.8) 63 (1.8) 46 (1.3)

Nalialk 58 (3.4) 59 (3.1) 47 (2.1)

Whams Ask" 64 raps pay is We* eq16141 hi dhor ficisrs so held it *Milt

thi 'Mini mai ihe WNW phtelepi war i persdhoh. II am 14411440441as0Mitt *A 1st nth maga al ling, *swiss 1sr the Ads whin is Aim pis w aims ho41.641 ows ills ohm fir Is mph.I limpet vitt Who my amperhus WO* ilk *Oak. lig oars et as somph dos ad 4114. forWar* dinisliss of fie mishit/ lift viss.-' 4 Sem* she 1414111*4 hi long 1 rails oho* (iss Ansa& A).

WM Mod tom he filtihs Stiiindlihed Atiered 41 Eduarhed Popo UM1994 Gm* Arnow. .., '4 l 'a ' , ,

Differences in course-taking behaviors is onlyone possible explanation for differences in studentperformance on the NAEP geography assessment.Many other variables could explain the observed scoredifferences. Moreover, not all of the significant groupdifferences discussed in Chapter 2 were accompanied by

corresponding differences in course-taking behaviors(e.g., gender differences at grades 8 and 12). Hence, thereader is cautioned against making causal inferences inregard to the relationship betwecn course taking andperformance on the NAEP geography assessment.Nevertheless, the breadth of the NAEP geography dataaffords other researchers the opportunity to explorethese and other factors and their relationships togeography achievement.

Teacher Background and ExperienceGiven the current interest (discussed in Chapter 1) inmaking geography learning a substantive part ofeducational curricula, it is useful to explore theeducational backgrounds and experiences that teachers -

of students in grades 4 and 8 bring to their geographylessons. As part of the NAEP assessment, teachers wereasked a series of questions about their educationalbackgrounds. Teachers of assessed students in grades 4_and 8 were asked about their undergraduate andgraduate fields of study and about the kinds ofcontinuing education they had pursued. (Fourth-and eighth-grade teachers were asked to indicate allundergraduate and graduate majors that applied.Therefore, some teachers indicated two or more majors,so that the percentages in Tables 4.7 and 4.8 sum tomore than 100.)

rn

TABLE .47k Teachers' Reports on

Undergradeate

We MORI

.'.. 0 xs el...,.fh'c, if . *Z-.., I.

anhh 4 ' i .:, '' '

'',..7::. ''" '''-'. '''t. ''. ''' ' ' Perallkir ISialsits

.. : :tt..5_c. v .t t.-.,:4*

. ,.. -.. i : ,,..... ,.,,

. ''','2 (03)

80 (2.1)

10 (1.1)

1(1.2)

33 (2.4)

presiliii 111 Wits.. .

. ...4V1i0i;;44-giii..ii:,..,,... .. ,

1%e4i'W...t .1.*'.t:4,61V.)., Alaile

e.' 0 (I .5). .

' 46 (2.6)

47 (2.6)

. 42 (3.0)... ,

37 (3.2)

Timbers' , ,

1lidaril,h1" M4r

6w0rePhY

tendon

History

Social %dies Education....,,

Other

0014tscos Wows ths par way is put*

its Mai errus its sullomail porcodepsmil glib 'Slued 40.4 the, for estiOhio plus al says toe vindsri WM 41

Us pu s I *Alb Ow incheson aka le ham II Imprimis

Isiah bili etA In* 441/0 WimpSOURCE kind (441w for Walla ShIhIhs,M4 kg*" Amasmt.

44164 by odor hors mot

ald amp lesh ion ofpurpipisho 41 Mink the who for

the wash fer in

fiesisil I ih hhh.

hi prokeis. k coil1144 hrhil p40441

Nen 6 we Ishi Mikedo sore Ark4d Is

Pops (PAIR

um*topsrhol priloshir 4.1440414

*In. In sifts, pi 4 MowsAds milts.

%NW lawassal of lessilemi

57

s.

The results suggest that teachers of eighth graders

may have more subject-specific backgrounds, whileteachers of fourth graders are more likely to haveSackgrounds specializing in education. It should benoted that the organization of fourth- and eighth-gradeclasses also differs. According to school administrators,56 percent of fourth graders attend schools where thefourth-grade classrooms are described as self-contained(students have the same teacher for all academicsubjects). At grade 8, the majority of students,,85 percent) attend schools where the organization ofeighth-grade classes is described as departmentalized(students having different teachers for most or allacademic subjects). The difference in classroomorganization may explain the differences in teachers'educational backgrounds. Table 4.7 shows teachers of

most fourth-grade students (80 percent) reportedhaving majored in education at the undergraduate level,

while teachers of 46 percent of eighth graders reported a

major in education. However, teachers of approximatelyhalf of eighth-grade students reported having anundergraduate degree in either history or a socialstudies education. Few students at either grade hadteachers who reported a major in geography (2 percentat grade 4 and 9 percent at grade 8).

TABLE 4.8Teache:s1 Reports as

Molars4 and 8

THE MOWSWORT

mamaGraduateGrades

Gosh 4 Groh G

Potash" of Weds Peresenge of Stodge',

Teadserf Gradate Meler

ClographY

Education

History

Sodoi Studies Education

Other

No Graduate Study

. 1 (0.1)

59 (23)

2 (0.7)

3 (1.1)

. 19 (1.7)

22 (2.0)

4 (1.0)

47 (2.5)

23 (2.1)

20 (2.5)

23 (2.3)

18 (2.3)

Whims Immo iso imp muy be pet* 4*W by Wm hem he head ide elk

Seshaani elms i ile soissisd paramps oll map salmons war is prosikek. ham M

aid with 95-pometMit, W , fm me pod*. el Mout im miss for is this paths hMee phs m men hm maid men si dm shmoh for ilm mph.

llm mmishis el Mame vim WE reporMd porkierpals* *on is me UM 1C0 shwa

loors we sled M WON Awomb" *sm.SOURCE kiwi (aim ht filmes SimMiadheml Ammo ei fiskehmil Mins IIIMP),

1114 Gm*/ lasumm.

Similarly, at the graduate level (Table 4.8), teachersof the majority (59 percent) of fourth graders reportedhaving a graduate degree in education, while few fourthgraders had teachers who reported having graduatedegrees in either geography, history, or social studieseducation. Teachers of 47 percent of eighth-gradestudents had degrees in education. Noticeably moreeighth graders had teachers who reported graduatemajors in history and/or social studies education. Again,few students at either grade had teachers who reported agraduate major in geography. (About 20 percent of bothfourth and eighth graders had teachers who reportedother graduate majors, and approximately another20 percent reported no graduate study.)

Table 4.9 shows continuing education activities.Results indicate that eighth graders had teacherswhoattended somewhat more workshops or seminars thandid teachers of grade 4. At grade 4, teachers of35 percent of students reported participating in nocontinuing education activities in subjects related tosocial studies, history, or geography comparedwith18 percent at grade 8. 1Wenty-four percent of grade 4students had teachers who reported spending at least6 hours in workshops or seminars, compared with54 percent at grade 8. :

1.14:9 Teachers'ThE IM-7

Reports onEducation IiiE_It

4 and 8Continuing

i ., ;, Grades

. Pe Wonrnotege ofi

hneenge of Steads

Anoint of S

Coadedog Ehadise ., .:t I..' .. '.. :..-:

lopertod by Umbers* .

Now 35 (2.4) -,.: 11 (2.1)

lass Than 6 Noun 41 (2.4) 29 (2.8)

6-15 Noun 16 (1.7) 21 (2.0)

16-35 Hours 4 (0.1) 15 (1.7)

Mon Than 35 Noun 4 (0.9) 11 (13)

Dihnsom beams fa pop ism be peek amihni ly like flee he lied I de milt

the deka men el inedumed smile rump sale sans mpor M porminh. k am bs

mid ad 95-pomml ark* id, he me mmea m siMmE,Ilie mho for lho Ike whim IMee Wm m mhos Ms Medea smn i es WM* fw dm momplo.

led lbw i OW &mimosa verb* m mein i mei skim w is Mock ilea*dim 113..% et pep* iris tho led ma. .

Ponaisp i sMiuds la es aims art um MI 100 em is mimes.

SOW: SAW Lew he Eire* SWING, Ilimibissiod i limited Mom (NAM1 tf4 famorbykorammL

t 58BEST COPY AVAILABLE

TIMMItt...!*a.ro.:41';*?t,TAV.WOMPIP' 1:0114..reritlefeIr'Veri.fIe'stl'PA"k

The Context for Learning Geographyat Grades 4 and 8Activities in school, family support for students'educational efforts, and student motivation create thecontext in which academic learning takes place. Hencethis section contains contextual information related toinstructional activities in, home support for, and studentinterest in geography learning. Because of the smallpercentage of twelfth graders currently taking ageography course (15 percent), grade 12 students'reports of instructional activities related to geographyare not presented. (The small percentage of twelfthgraders who reported currently taking a geographycourse may be due to school requirements for thesubject. Sixty-six percent of grade 12 students attendedschools that reported having no geography requirementfor graduation.3) Teachers' reports of instructionalactivities for eighth graders are not presented because oflimitations of the data (see Endnote 2).

Instructional Materials and PracticesTeachers use a range of instructional materials andpractices in their classrooms. Studies have shown thatincorporating a variety of teaching methods andmaterials can help ingage students with differentlearning styles.4 Maioyer, the many applications ofgeographic knowledge, afid thivarieties of subjectmatter included in,geography learning, make the use ofdifferent materials and teaChing practices especiallyimportant.5 In additiOil to itandard textbooks, teachersmay use mips and globes, special projects, andcoinputers as part of their instruclion. q:

,

I

As presented in the following discussion, somediscrepancies exist between student- and teacher-reported frequencies for some of the instructionalmaterials and practices examined. It is not possible tooffer conclusive reasons for these discrepancies or todetermine which report most accurately reflects fourth-grade classroom activities. The reports presentedrepresent students' and teachers' impressions of thefrequency of various activities in their classrooms.

Instructional materials and strategies may bechosen for a variety of purposes. Consequently, therelationships between frequency ofuse of variousmaterials and practices and scores on the NAEPgeography assessment cannot be interpreted in a causalfashion. The design of the assessment does not allow forthe evaluation of the effectiveness of different strategies.The initial ability of the students, the particular topicsbeing taught, and the complexity of the subject matterall need to be controlled before cause-and-effectstatements can be made, and such experimentalmethods were not possible in a large-scale assessment.

m59

oEST COPY AVAILABLE

C.-,tuisor yi4_,;i1c; kaaleaciefaVaillt..m.ukviav:, ,-WIZEIZ-AlthiSIMMISabaRznizarpsufmmuivaofiemixaniwroara

The Use of Maps and Globes in Learning Geography.

Many of the geography skills that students are expectedto master involve the use of special tools and materials.6Maps and globes are the primary tools of geographybecause they assist in the visualization of space and can

be used to communicate complex social and physical

data.' As part of the NAEP 1994 geography assessment,students in grades 4 and 8 and teachers of fourth-gradestudents were asked about the frequency of using mapsand globes in school. Tables 4.10 and 4.11 presentteachers' and students' reports on the use of maps and

globes in geography instruction.

Table 4.10 shows that fourth-grade teachersreported higher frequencies of use of maps and globesthan did their students. Teachers of 83 percentof fourthgraders reported use of these tools at least once or twice

a week. Teachers of only one percent of fourth gradersreported never using maps and globes in class. Thegrade 4 students who had teachers reporting daily and

weekly use of maps and globes outperformed studentswho had teachers reporting monthly use.

TAlti.P4:1 0 Teachers' Reports on Use ofand Globes

4

labUN

weMapsGrade

Gras 4

Parcseempo of Stedests Avenge Soh San

Moog boy Day

Oace or Twice a Wsk

Once or Twks a Month

kw

29 (2.3)

54 (2.5)

17 (2.1)

1 (0.3)

210 (2.1)

209 0.7). ,199 Li2)

m

taws Wow fm pipsowl be perfidy wished by silisr Wen id WNW

The *Wird was of iho WNW poisdion sit map soh scitss workIA filmilit MI* id, Iff Wino, Os isr Wm

, ,.... .

In *is Iiih,

wadi*. li co isAsh mil" it

Pars (1011),

nil ski mills II Nisgib phi wells to Aoki won silo wilds fir the no*Psicoispi of *ids lie sagnipiimrs ad mil IX in is nese*

'S.* du impillitiout ic wok I Alia oink (so Apo& 4WM blind Cow fii flivolos Shilsici, Wiwi know* el Eilucliiimi1191 faqir* fessismi. ,

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

As Table 4.11 shows, 50 percent of fourth gradersand 39 percent of eighth graders reported using mapsand globes at least once or twice a week. TWenty-seven

percent of fourth graders and 28 percent of eighthgraders reported never using maps and globes.

Students in grade 4 who reported using maps andglobes once or twice a month outperformed studentsreporting use more frequently, and students reportinguse once or twice a week outperformed studentsreporting use almost every day. Students reporting useonce or twice a week or once or twide a month out-performed students who reported never using mapsand globes at grade 4. Furthermore, at grade 8, studentswho reported any use outperformed students reportingno use.

TABLE 4.1i. on Use ofand Globes

4 and 8

THE wonmiLna-4

iN41§-ii

Students' ReportsMopsGrades

mm,....._..

Groh 4 Groh 1

Perceetese wedMap Sado Score

hrometoip eelkw" Sale Scoro

Alraosi Every Day

Once or Twke a Week

Oixs or Twks a Moth

New.

.

11 (0.9)

202 (2.1)

32 (01)

211 (13)

23(0.8)V.

217 (1.7) .....

23 (1.0)

201 (IA *

9 (0.6)

. 211 (1.7)

30 (0.9)

24 (1.1)

33 (0.9)

263 (1.1)

21 (1.0)

253 (119.

IDiffirmais berme We yrs* oirf is pia/ iiiiiiimilry ellw fedirs millehisi

The *Mad ow olio solodid sionlipt of amp Ws am ippormid Mit 15-ponsui middy Ilid,ist oda pipailin of Musk lieid**Mil tosikodsi4 dile whole in &mph:

ii 4k idis.

ii poi* kap Inievinit maim ii ..

4 t '

how MAK ,

pis w misis onus

SOUICE Muni Wier fit Edwin Siellift19f4 Cop* Asimilt.

.,:-:

Masi Assiost of filming!

60

The Use of Projects in Learning Geography.Geography projects can help students learn to acquireinformation from primary and secondary sources and toanalyze, synthesize, and evaluate geographic informa-tion, all important skills discussed in the NAEP 1994geography framework.' Tables 4.12 and 4.13 show thepercentages and average scale scores for teachers' andstudents' reports of doing projects related to geographystudy. Table 4.12 shows that at the fourth grade, teacher-reported frequencies of never using projects are rela-tively consistent with student-reported frequencies.Teachers of 82 percent of fourth graders reported havingstudents do projects related to geography at leastsometimes. Teachers of 18 percent of fourth gradersreported never having students do such projects. Therewere no significant differences in student performanceby frequency of using projects.

=3 Teachers' Reports onUse of Geography Prefects

Grade 4

IIE wonREPORT

CARD gt

UNetrimenwal

Grade4

Ponostogo of %dents Amoy* Salo Score

Often ..

Sometimes

Never

I (1.5)

74 (2.3)

18 (2.2)

214 (4.8)

206 (1.8)

205 (2.4)

Dawson isnot the he wished by Aided.% mot twined Is in kik -,

sod swop sails Kens Now in pronins. It cm heel West, Ilo win for fa 44 wake k

slow for to somplo

loNool Aosomot of &NNW Pnires (11A8), ;i a ` ;

,... ,

pope ay peditThe simian wren ofthe solided powers*Id Oil IS-pertest tenuity thoi, for a& pooh*.WI. plus a sins too oniori ornis of Om

SOURCE 1106sOil War fa WAN Soidb,1114 ilsoppliy AnnosooL ;

As Table 4.13 indicates, 78 percent of fourth gradersand 69 pereent'af eight graders reported doinggeography projects at least sometimes. 'INventy-threepercent of fourth graders and 31 percent of eighthgraders reported never doing such projects.

As with the use of maps and globes (see Table 4.11),there was some relationship between students' reportsof doing projects related to geography and geographyperformance on the assessment. At grade 4, studentsreporting doing such projects often or sometimes out-performed students who reported never doing suchprojects; and at grade 8, students reporting doing projectssometimes outperformed students who never did them.

When reported use of projects for the 53 percent ofeighth-graders currently enrolled in a geography courseis examined, the picture changes. Table 4.14 shows theresults for eighth graders' reports of doing geographyprojects only for those grade 8 students who reportedthey were currently taking a geography class. (The

TABLE 4.13Students' Reports on Doing

Geography Pr4ectsGrades 4 aW 8

111I Wengruff

CM

/114

Grate 4 Graf $

Fercunege endAvenge We Scsse

- Fermi". emllames Wit Seers

Often

Sometimes

Nora

29 (1.1)

211 (1.7)

49 (0.9)

208 (1.6)

23 (0.8)

198 (1.8)

.,. 21 (0.8),, 260 (1.1)

41 (0.8)

.262 (0.9)

31 (1.0)

257 (1.2)

Mims homes the stens soy be perk* exohion by sit Wets on

The tionerd ones of tke skilled toneskses en swop seek scene ipponmkt sith 95-petnot coo** ho sok 'opines of knout, in nen feestilt pin or sits toe amid woos of the Inane for the sunk.

homages el *Ate 1 the 'Arne on oonnel 100 dee is tank.

MOUE hiked Coster fa axons Stinks, Muni known el EdneenelItt4 Gilpin Asesseaws.

inledei ill* kikMt pewits*. It cm he

Ito Ash kpatios-

.

Nina MARL

-

eighth-grade results presented in Table 4.13 are for alleighth graders. Reports of geography-related projects bystudents not currently enrolled in a geography classmay be associated with projects assigned in history orsocial studies classes.) For those eighth-grade studentswho reported they were currently taking a geographycourse, the frequencies of doing geography-relatedreports were similar to those reported by all eighthgraders (see Table 4.13). However, unlike tbe'results forall eighth graders that show some relationship betweendoing geography reports and performance, pc'451gnificantdifferences were observed for the subset orStddentscurrently taking a geography course. '140110.4:v

-0TABLE 4.14

Sic:dents' Reportsor Students

Cowin,8 . ,...,,,,,vilolip±Likiki#,',,..,,

;.,;,

'' '1-!407'-'

.._,7.--, GeograptiodProleds

Ear in a Geowyky.. : , ,:. Grads

irudel. , 1 ,

finny Salk Safe

Fir Gni, II Stellate CurrentlyTAM! e Geogr.* Corse

Often

Sometimes

Wu

27 (1.1)

52 (1.0)

21 (1J)

.

264 (1.2)

264 (1.1)

. < 260(1.7)

Difistestet bonne the peps mey I. pokilySs gold arm of the estimsin ponsoksesmid IA IS-pensetanew tiin, fee es& soiskesnits pin a nest km onion etnis el the

SOUICE Inked Cense fie Einikte Milk,1S4 Sospephy laramet

by hden lotheittd I the wife.

ie poneihnk Inn is*nide ',Anise I

hops (MAK

widen sekw set

sod Irmo sub sone weerel Wend, the easier

Whisk for its nook.

Udall Arnosen el bloonsmi

in 61

The Use of Computers in Learning Geography.Computers can be an important classroom tool. Ingeography learning, they have many uses, includingdeveloping models of complex geographic relationshipsand environmental and cultural processes.' Tables 4.15and 4.16 present teachers' and students' reports on thefrequency of use of computers for studying geography.

Teacher-reported frequencies of computer usewere more or less consistent with student-reportedfrequencies. Table 4.15 shows that teachers of 42 percentof fourth graders reported using computers at leastsometimes. As with student-reported data, teachers ofthe majority of fourth graders reported never usingcomputers in the teaching of geography.

There was a somewhat different relationshipbetweenuse of computers and student performance associatedwith fourth-grade teachers' reports than that associatedwith student-reported data; grade 4 students who hadteachers reporting using computers sometimes outper-formed students who had teachers reporting neverusing computers. (Students whose teachers reportedusing computers sometimes also outperformed thosewhose teachers reported using computers often.)

TABLE 4215 Teachers' Reports onComputers

4

ME anonCM11

ION1 I 0 1 1Serr

Use ofGrade al .0

, Gm& 4

Amer Scak Sao

Ohm ' '': ''' ' .. ' ' . 3 (1.4) 194 (6.0)

Sometimes 39 (2.0) 212 (2.1)

Never 58 (2.1) 204 (1.6)

Maim boom the imp my be poWly aqWeed ki Nkff kw IN WNW k ik Nile.IN skald min i die WNW potaNNIN NWmop mis sins wow in peruihsk. It cal boNW sith15-psras vita*is, fir asck NONNI ef WINN IN Niss iv Ns WA NOON kNAN Ws or Nies No *Wad wits i ilskokam kris' N.*

SOURCE NNW UN" ht AWN SMOG, NNW Amami of EiNdkod Nem (NAM,1tf4 fop* INENNN.

As Table 4.16 indicate, about 30 percent of bothfourth- and eighth-grade students reported usingcomputers at least sometimes for geography study. Morthan two-thirds of students at both grades reported notusing computers for geography: 68 percent at grade 4and 70 percent at grade 8. Fourth-grade studentsreporting using computers sometimes or neveroutperformed students reporting using them often.(Also, fourth graders who reported never using acomputer outperformed those who reported sometimesusing them.) There were no significant differences atgrade 8. Again, given the number of variables (such asstudent ability levels and different uses of computers)that the NAEP geography assessment cannot accountfor, the reader is asked to avoid inferring simple causalrelationships from these results.

1733711 Students' Re orts on Use ofComputers for Geography

Grades 4 and 8Ng,-94.........

Ono 4 &elk S

?motor NWAmp We San

Pinsitage NWAnew Sae San

Oho

Sometimes

Never

6 (0.4)

186 (3.4)

26 (1-0)

198 (2.31, .

68(1.1)..211 (P)

4 (0.3)

256 (3.1)

26 (0.9)

262 (1.3)

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The Use of Films, Videos, or Filmstrips in LearningGeography. Audiovisual material can communicate andenhance many kinds of information important to thestay of geography. For example, major geographicprocesses, such as ocean currents and vulcanism, can bevividly illustrated with such materials, as can aspects oflife in different cultures and communities. Table 4.17presents fourth-grade teachers' reports about thefrequency of use of these materials for studyinggeography, and Table 4.18 presents fourth- and eighth-grade students' reports.

As Table 4.17 shows, teachers of most fourth graders(79 percent) reported using films, videos, or filmstripsat least sometimes. The average scale scores for studentswhose teachers reported some use of these materials washigher than that of students whose teachers reported neverusing them.= Teachers' Reports on the Use of

Films, Videos, or FlmstripsGrade 4

Gras 4

heads" of Steads' Amer Sado San

Often 11 (1.6) 213 (3.5)

Sometimes 48 (1.8) 209 (1.8)

Near 21 (2.1) 191 (3.2)

liffererni Wiled*FS* WM heed* added by edit heirs ad hdedd le dis We.

The seeded erros el the erereeed perameei lad mop xis scorss eppeor le mein*. k cee besid sib f5-pmed add* gee, far emit pepadee i bend, do Nies for ihe Ash pain leOlio des sr aim tee sided mos die fele* fir de milk . . , .. . ,

WEE Mod Wu for Mean gelds, Med kaossal of Waged Mrs flART, 150Cole* heemad. .

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Table 4.18 shows that 65 percent of fourth gradersand 69 percent of eighth graders who reported use ofaudiovisual materials at least sometimes. Approximatelyone-third of both fourth- and eighth-grade studentsreported never using such materials, while teachers ofonly 21 percent of fourth-grade students reported no use.

There was a positive relationship between averagescale scores and the use of films, videos, and filmstrips.At both grades 4 and 8, students who reported that thesematerials were used sometimes outperformed thosewho reported that these materials were not used, andat grade 8, students who reported that such materialswere used often also outperformed those reporting theywere not used.

,

-TABLE 4.' 18Students' Reports on the Use

or Filmstrips4 and 8

am WOWS

of 1,61"5air her........

Films, Videos,Grades

Gran 4 Gras $

header endAvenge Sado kw

haulage eadbons Soh Sam

Often

Sometimes

kw

17 (0.8)

206 (1.8)

48 (1.0)

209 (1.7)

35 (1.1)

--,',-303 (1.41

20 (1.0)

262 (1.3)

49 (1.0)

212 (0.8)

31 (1.1)

- 255 (1.2)

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is ended erns idle elleeel pmeriess xi mop %de ewes work pondiesb. II am heedi ad %wed Maly det, fer nth maim el Me* die via kr die Ade mien iteilhie dee a vim tee slaked anus side *drew ler due mode .... . :

! SOME lielead Gilt fee Mediu' Sedieres, Mod Alesined of fixdbed lbws (BAK I ffeCope* Assam*.

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The Use of Homework in Learning Geography.Teachers frequently reinforce the lessons taught in theirclassrooms with homework. As part of the NAEP assess-ment, students at all three grades were asked to indicatethe amount of time they usually spend on homeworkeach day. This question was not restricted to socialstudies or geography homework but referred to home-work across all subject areas. Table 4.19 presents theresults for fourth, eighth, and twelfth graders. Overall,a positive relationship existed between spending sometime on homework and average geography scale scores.

At all grades, between 7 and 14 percent of thestudents indicated that they did not usually have anyhomework assigned. For students who indicated thatthey usually had homework assigned, those reportingthat they spent some time on homework significantlyoutperformed those who reported they did not usuallydo their homework. (At grade 12, the average scalescores for student who usually don't do homework andthose who spend an hour were not significantlydifferent.) At grade 4, the average score for students whoreported spending more than one hour on homeworkeach day was significantly less than that for those whoreported spending one hour. At grade 8, average scalescores increased with each incremental increase in thetime spent on homework. At grade 12, theaverage scalescore for students who reported spending more thanone hour on homework each day was significantlyhigher than that for students who reported spendingone hour.

Eighth graders were also asked about how muchgeography homework they did each week. Table 4.20presents the results for students who reported thatthey were currently taking a geography class. Studentswho reported spending 1 or 2 hours on geographyhomework performed significantly better than thosereporting no time spent on geography homework.

TABLE 4.20Students' Reports on

Spent onEach Week

8

112 Yam111.0kT

:ail21""r-

TimeGeography Homework

Grade

For Grob 11 gullets Comedy Groh $Wag a Goer* Coorso

Forcombrao bergs Ws Scorn

None 30 (1.3) 259 (1A)

1/2 Hour 34 (1.2) 264 (1.3)

1 Hour 19 (0.8) 265 (1.3)

2 Bouts 10 (0.6) 268 (2.0)

Moto llson 2 Hours 7 (0.6) 266(2.7)

othrouss Immo is Ips yolsbed by ohm Wm id 1.61401 18 *is tih.pup say podelly

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SCUM kind bier tor dualism 510dits, Iliad issaima al &WOW Pfsirs:1111111,1994 iseripby Atossout

TABLE 4.19.,Ste Reports ondente

. .:.: ... .. I!WSpat ou Homework Each DayGrades 4, 8, and 12

Time

Grolo.4 Grail $ Gook 12

Forceilop old...,

Potash" ma Paton* Oil ..Mop Sado Score Ammo Saio Scoro knave Salk kw

Don't Usually Bove Any13 (1.2) 7 (0.7) 14 (0.7)

211 (2.8) 249 (1.9) 270 (1.4)Wally Don't Do It

4 (0.51 1 (03) -. 9 (0.4)112 (4.4) 243 (1.9) *I (1.7)

1/2 Hour or Loss31 (1.2) 23 (0.1) 22 (0.1)

207 (1.4) 251 (1.4) 211 (0.7)1 Hour

29 (0.91 36 (0.1) 21 (0.7)- 209 (1.7) 212 (0.9) 215 (1.1)

Bore Than 1 HOW16 (0.8) 21 (1.1) 27 (0.1) .

201 (1.9) 217 (LI) 291 (1.3)

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The Use of Newspapers, Magazines, or Journals inLearning Geography. Articles in a range of periodicalscan supplement geography learning both inside andouttide the classroom.10 Students who indicated thatthey do read such materials may be reading them bothin and out of school. In either case, for eighth-gradestudents, there was a positive relationship betweenreading these materials and geography performance.Table 4.21 shows percentages of students readingperiodicals related to geography and their averagescale scores.

Approximately two-thirds of students at grades 4and 8 reported reading such materials at least some-times. At grade 8, students who reported reading thesematerials sometimes outperformed students whoreported never reading them. However, at grade 4,students who reported reading such periodicals some-times or never outperformed those who reportedreading them more frequently.

CtsliaktiftiNtIESKOOKOMMR4

TABLE4.21 Rodents' Reports ON ReadingNewspapers, Magazines,

or .lownak Rated to GeographyGrades 4 and 8

1111 anonIMPORTaft142=7.

Groh 4 Gods $

Poodep EdAvow Sok Son

Paustop alAmp Sole SPItt

0411

SOMME

kw

20 (0J)

200 (1.9)

48 (0.9)

208 (1A)

33 (0.8)

208 (1.8)

.

15 (0.6).

260 (1.4)

52 (0.8)

262 (0.9)

32 (0.9)

251 (1.1)

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trim* for Is sample.'. - ,

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Students' Home Support'file support students receive at home for learning is asimportant in geography as it is for other subjectssurveyed in NAEP assessments. Variables related tostudents' home environment often show a strongrelationship to performance. The following sectionpresents information about home support for geographylearning.

Discussing Schoolwork at Home. A measure of theimportance of schoolwork for students and theirfamilies is how often schoolwork is discussed at home.When students discuss academic work at home, theycreate an important link between home and school.Recent studies have noted the positive relationshipbetween parental involvement in schooling and studentachievement." Supporting cooperation between parentsand schools is a major objective of many recent edu-cational reform efforts, among them the NationalEducation Goals.'2

Students in the NAEP 1994 geography assessmentwere asked how frequently they discussed their studies

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at home. (This question was not restricted to discussingsocial studies or geography studies at home but referredto all subject areas.) Their responses are summarizedin Table 4.22. The majority of students across gradesreported discussing their studies at home at leastsometimes. Seventy-eight percent of fourth graders,68 percent of eighth graders, and 62 percent of twelfthgraders reported discussing their studies at home atleast once or twice a week. However, approximatelyone-fifth of fourth and eighth graders, and nearly one-quarter of twelfth graders, reported never or hardly everdiscussing their studies at home.

At all three grades, students who reported neveror hardly ever discussing their studies at home wereoutperformed by students who reported discussingtheir studies on a regular basis. At grade 8, studentswho reported daily discussions outperformed studentswho reported discussions once or twice a week ormonth, and students who reported discussions once ortwice a week outperformed those reporting discussionsonce or twice a month. At grade 12, students whoreported daily or weekly discussions outperformed thosereporting discussions once or twice a month.

Students' Reports on the Frequencywith Which They Discuss Their Studies at Home*

Grades 4, 8, and 12

TIE NMI,

SIMa2L1==0........

Grade 4

Percatage adAverage Scala Score

Akaost Every Day

Ora or fake Week

Once or bite a Month

Never or Hardly Evw

56 (0.8)

209 (1.4)

n to.6210 (1.6)

5 (0.4)

206 13.2)

17 (0.8)

191 (2.2)

Grade 8

.

Grade 12

Percestage wadAvenge Sale Sare

Percatege adAvorags Salk San

39 (0.9) 31 (0.8)

267(0.9) 290(1.0)

-29 (0.7) __Al (17)264 (1.2) 211 (0.9)

11 (0.5) 14 (0.6)

257 (2.3) 213 (1.3)

21 (0.6) 24 (0.7)

251 (1.3) VI (1.0)

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Literacy Materials in the Home. Students can learnmuch about geography from written sources readoutside of school. Newspapers and magazines, forexample, can expand students' knowledge of placelocations, as well as cultural, environmental, andeconomic patterns relevant to today's geographycurriculum. Moreover, parents who read regularlymodel a pattern of curiosity and lifelong learning thatis important for their childrens' academic success.°As part of the NAEP assessments, students at all threegrades are asked whether their families have anencyclopedia, receive a newspaper regularly, receive any

magazines regularly, or have more than 25 books in thehome. Table 4.23 presents the percentages of studentsreporting that their families have all four types, onlythree types, or two or fewer types of these literacymaterials.

As presented in the table, 38 percent of fourth graders,51 percent of eighth graders, and 57 percent of twelfthgraders reported having all four kinds of literacy materi-als in the home. Across all three grades, the more typesof literacy materials reported in the home, the higherthe average geography scale scores.

ABLE1.23Stedents' Reports

ma &falcon'on the limber of Different Types MOT

Materials in lie Homoual

Grades 4, 8, ad 12.

.of Wormy

Grads 4 Grek 8 ends 12

Psradsgs owlhasp Ws San

hunter suilArsrsge Scab kers

Peraidego adAvenge We San

4 horns

3 hems

2 a Fent hams

. .

31 (1.0)

220 (1.6)

33 (0.7)

206 (1.4)

29 (0.9)

119 (13) -. .., t.i.J , .

51 (0.7)

270 ',0.8)

21 i0.1)

257 (1.1)

. 22(0.6)

240 (1.1)

-. : g (03)291 (0.1)

27 (0.7)

212 (0.9)

11 (0.5)

270 (1.2).:. 4...Mims Wow 1. Iy Est Wen irk &ilia.

.

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Ulevision Viewing Habits. Past NAEP assessmentshave highlighted the national concern over the amountof time students spend watching television. Forexample, the NAEP 1992 and 1994 reading assessmentsfound a negative relationship between the amount oftelevision watching and reading performance. A majorconcern is the possibility that time spent watchingtelevision may be consuming time that could be spenton schoolwork or reading activities.

Table 4.24 presents students' reports of theirtelevision-viewing habits. Thirty-nine percent of fourthgraders, 44 percent of eighth graders, and 46 percent oftwelfth graders, reported watching two to three hours of

#

television per day. Twenty percent of fourth graders,16 percent of eighth graders, and 7 percent of twelfthgraders reported watching six hours or more per day.

Generally, there was a negative relationship betweenincreased hours of television viewing and studentperformance. At all three grades, students who reportedwatching six or more hours of television per day scoredlower, on average, than students who reported lessfrequent viewing. In addition, at grade 4, students whoreported watching two to three hours of television perday outperformed those who watched four to five hoursper day. At grades 8 and 12, the less time spent watchingtelevision, the higher the average geography score.

TABLE 4.24Students' Reports

Wattleon the Anoint of Uwe Spent 1111 upon

WMWien Ws Day onti

um4, 8, and 12 umssma

Gide 4 Groh 8 Geode 12

Formby; adhome Ws Sao

Poreatego wadbores Sail Score

Permits'. ad 'Amor Salo Sore

1 Hour or Loss

2 - 3 Hours

4-5 Hours

Moro thon 6 Hours

19 (0.7)

209 (2.0)

31 (0.8)

214 (1.5)

22 (0.7)

208 (1J)

20 (0.8)

115 (2.1)

13 (0.7)

V0 (LC

44 (0.8)

2U (01)

V (0.9)

257 (1.0)

16 (0.6)

240 (1.2)

29 (0.1)

292 (1.21

4i (0.7)

286 (0.1)

11 (03)

27i (LW

1 (0.3)

2117 (1.8)

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Se goad arm of *a 4000 pstadaps sal mop ale sou appal mak&1m Ile WWI fir is

Utile.II as is oil vii 'Slaw arieigokt,

1914 Ow* lama

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Student Interest in GeographyA curiosity about and interest in geography may fosterlearning of the subject at school or at home. The NAEP1994 geography assessment asked students to indicatewhether geography is their favorite subject, whetherthey like other subjects better, or whether they havenever studied geography. Table 4.25 shows student-reported degrees of interest in geography, and relatedaverage scale scores.

As the table indicates, between 14 and 26 percent ofstudents reported that geography was their favoritesubject. Students across the three grades who did reportthat geography was their favorite subject scored signifi-cantly higher than students who preferred other subjects.

'TABLE 4.25Students' Reports on How Much

Like Studying GeographyGrades 4, 8, and 12 .

Ili moorschimE,

They

. Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 12 .

Formative endAvenge Scale ken

Percentage nodAveroge Scale Score

Percautaget sadAverage Scale Scare

Founts Subiect

IN Other Subions Bitty

Now Studied

..:,.. 26 (0.3)

,- 214 (1.6)

57 (0.8)

208 (1.4)

17 (0.7)

191 (1.8)

19 (0.8)

274 (1.2)

67 (0.9)

260 (0.7)

14 (0.6)

241 (1.9)

14 (0.6)

297 (1.3)

63 (1.1)

215 (0.8)

23 (1.2)

277 (1.3)

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is Wirth 'Slow catilost, fa isch wide. of bind, deli. holm Web peptides Is Obit phs at vimP.; 1 t ,

NAM, 1194 %FA inuand.

pop way poll/ whined no

Ile *Wool arm i ii efts*, proilis sal map Ids mos war Is pormillosis.11altoe sisWord ores of the Weis for IN ink

SONCE WNW Got ist few /a Wig% MANI Amami i bistriwAl Mem

, -10,ht vat:.

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1.6*,

SummaryThe picture of geography education and studentperformance gained from an examination of backgroundvariables relating both to course work and classroompractices is quite varied. Encouragingly, exposure togeography at grade 8 and to social studies at grades 4and 12 was associated with higher average scale scores.While grade 12 students who indicated that they werecurrently taking geography had lower scores, the moresemesters of potentially geography-related course workdone, the higher the scores. Moreover, grade 12 studentswho indicated that they had taken a course in worldgeography outperformed those who reported that theyhad not.

Although some discrepancies exist between teacher-and student-reported data about instructional materialsand practices, it is fair to say that the materials andpractices reviewed in this report all received at leastmoderate use. For example, approximately one-third offourth and eighth graders reported using maps andglobes once or twice a week, while 79 percent of grade 8students who were currently taking geography reporteddoing geography-related projects at least sometimes.

Generally, some use of instructional materials, suchas films, videos, and filmstrips, was associated withhigher scale scores, although computer use wasnegatively associated with scores. The relationshipsbetween amounts of homework (across all subject areas)and geography scale scores for students in grades 4, 8,and 12 were positive. There was also a positiverelationship between amount of time spent ongeography homework and scale scores for grade 8students who were currently taking geography.

Performance associated with home support variableswas consistent with educational research findings. Dis-cussion of schoolwork at home and literacy materials inthe home were both associated with higher scores, whilefrequent television watching was associated with lowerscores. (Given the number of factors the NAEP assess-ment cannot control for, the reader is again cautionedagainst drawing causal inferences.)

Finally, students across the three grades whoreported that geography was their favorite subjectoutperformed those who preferred other subjects.

;

(weal

Endnotes

1. 7 Geography for Life: National Geography Standards1994. Geography Education Standards Project.Washington, DC: National Geographic Research andExploration.

2. Teachers of eighth-grade students participating inthe assessment were also asked to complete aquestionnaire. The questionnaire contained U.S.history sections (for teachers with students takingthe NAEP 1994 U.S. history assessment) andgeography sections (for teachers with studentstaking the NAEP 1994 geography assessment). TheU.S. history sections appeared first in thequestionnaire. Since many of the eighth-gradeteachers taught Students in both assessments, alarge portion inadvertently completed the U.S.history sections of the questionnaire instead of thegeography sections. Therefore, at the eighth grade,students' geography performance cOuld not beadequately matched to teachers' reports ofinstructional practices.

3. As part of the 1994 NAEP geography assessment,school administrators were asked how manysemesters of geography their schools required forstudent graduation from grade 12.

4. Boston, J. (1984). "Mapping, moving, modeling,motivating - Meaningful geography in the elemen-tary school." Social Studies Review, 24(1), 43-45.

Ediger, M. (1991). "Interest, social studies, and theemerging adolescent." Opinion Papers (120). (ERICDocument Reproduction Service No. ED3656601).

. ,

Svingen, B. E. (1994). "NeW technologies in thegeography classroom."Journal of Geography, 93(4),180-92.

5. Gutierrez, E. D. and Sanchez, Y. (1993). "Hilltopgeography for young children: Creating an outdoorlearning laboratory."Journal of Geography, 92(4),176-79.

Marran, J. F. (1992). "The world according to a grade12 teacher A reflection on what students ofgeography should know and be able to do." Journalof Geography, 91(4), 139-42.

Stoltman, J. P. (1995). "The national gelographycontent standards." Office of Educational Research

-and Improvement, Washington, DC. (ERICDocument Reproduction Service No. ED381480).

Thfonoff, K. M. (1995). "Going beyond location:Thematic maps in the early elementary grades."Journal of Geography, 94(2), 368-74. .

6. Geography for Life: National GeographyStandards1994. Geography Education Standards Project.Washington, DC: National Geographic Research andExploration.

7. Ibid.

8. GeographyFramework for the 1994 NationalAssessment of Educational Progress. Washington,DC: National Assessment Governing Board.

9. Ibid.

10. Geography forLife: National GeographyStandards1994. Geography Education Standards Project.Washington, DC: National Geographic Research andExploration.

11. Christenson, S. L. (1992). "Family factors andstudent achievement: An avenue to increasestudents' success." School Psychology Quarterly,7(3), 178-206.

Heller, L. R., and Fantuzzo, .1. W. (1993). "Reciprocalpeer tutoring and parent partnership: Does parentinvolvement make a difference?" School PsychologyReview, 22(3), 517-34.

12. The National Educational Goals Report: Building aNation of Learners. Report of the NationalEducation Goals Panels. Washington, DC: U.S.Government Printing Office, 1994.

13. Rogoff, B. Apprenticeship in Thinking: CognitiveDevelopment in Social Context. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1990.

71

What Students Know andCan Do in Geography

This chapter provides additional perspective on whatstudents know and can do in geography by examiningthe specific knowledge and skills demonstrated by .

students at various points on the composite geographyscale, and the three subscales (the subscales correspondto the three geography content areas, around which theassessment was organized).

An overview of the geography knowledge andabilities demonstrated by students within three perfor-mance ranges on the geography scale, and informationon their self-reported study habits, is included. Averagescale score results are presented for the nation andfor selected subgroups of students based on the threesubscales. Finally, selected illustrative questions aredisplayed in item maps, which indicate the types ofquestions that were likely to be answered successfully bystudents scoring at particular levels on the content-areasubscales.

Overview of Students' Performance onthe NAEP Geography Scale

The NAEP geography scale, ranging from 0 to 500,summarizes the overall score results of students at thefourth, eighth, and twelfth grades. The followingdescriptions of students' knowledge and abilities arebased on sets of questions that were answered suc-cessfully by students performing within three ranges onthe scale. These ranges represent lower, middle, andhigher performance based on percentile distributions.The sets of questions identified in each of the threeranges on the scale were analyzed by geography edu-cation experts to characterize the nature of students'geography knowledge and abilities. (Appendix B containsa description of the procedures tised to generate thisportrait of students.)

Fourth-Grade Profile. Grade 4 students who were nearthe 25th percentile (scale range 170 to 187) demon-strated success working with maps and diagrams. Theycould read a simple map key and an elevation profile,

and they showed a rudimentary understanding of how toconstruct a map from written directions. They demon-strated partial knowledge of the location of the equator,the poles, and continents. These students could identifya major ecosystem from visual clues and demonstrated.an initial understanding of human actions leading todeforestation.

Fourth-grade students who were near the 50thpercentile (scale range 206 to 216) were able to extractbasic information from an atlas, maps, photographs, anda bar graph. Given a number of options on a map,students could locate Hawaii. They knew the approxi-mate location of their home state or district and couldlocate some of the 0:--_mtries in North America. Theyshowed a rudimentary understanding of how to constructa weather map from written directions. Students at thislevel were able to answer some uncomplicated questionsthat did not rely on visual prompts, such as questionsrelating to climate, diffusion of information, and envi-ronmental issues such as pollution.

Fourth-grade students who were near the 90thpercentile (scale range 249 to 269) demonstrated anability to use scale, measurement, and direction. Theycould interpret and apply information from simplethematic maps and graphics. Given outline maps of theUnited States and Canada, these students could identifybodies of water and a mountain range. They could alsoidentify Canada, the United States, and Mexico andcould locate Japan and Australia. Students were able toconstruct a weather map and a map of a town fromwritten directions. They demonstrated understanding ofsome physical geographic concepts such as Earth-Sunrelationships and soil erosion. They also demonstratedknowledge of the relationship between climate andeconomic activities and limited knowledge of reasonsfor migrat.n. These students knew some consequencesof how technology affects the environment, and theyhad a rudimentary understanding of the cohsequencesof human activities, such as waste disposal.

Eighth-Grade Profile. Eighth-grade students who werenear the 25th percentile (scale range 230 to 243) couldread and extract data from visuals.such as diagrams,simple line graphs, and a bar graph and could makeuncomplicated inferences from photographs of desertlandscapes. They understood a basic coordinate systemand could identify their home state or district, SouthAmerica, and Antarctica. These students could locateinformation on simple reference maps and, using anatlas, could make simple inferences from informationcontained in thematic maps.

Eighth-grade students who were near the 50thpercentile (scale range 258 to 267) could locate somemajor rivers and lakes in North America and recognizesmile simple landform and water features. They couldconstruct maps from written instructions with partialaccuracy that improved when a grid system was given.They understood the function of a transit map and hadpartial success mapping out a specified route. Thesestudents demonstrated knowledge of what causesearthquakes and were able to make connections betweenclimates and locations of cities and betWeen climatesand types of crops. Students were able to recognizerelationships between topography and human settle-ment and could identify a reason for an urban land usepattern. They demonstrated some understanding ofmovement in relation to immigration and trade.

Those eighth-grade students who were near the90th percentile (scale range 295 to 312) demonstratedan ability to use a range of geographic tools such asgraphs, pie charts, population pyramids, climographs,cross-sectional diagrams, and an isotherm map. Theycould identify the largest ocean and knew which countrywas located in the Alps. They could also find majorphysical features on different types of maps at a varietyof scales. Students coidd infer geographic processesfrom visual representations, and they could constructmaps from written instructions using a scale and legendaccurately when given a grid and with considerableaccuracy without a grid. These students understood theinfluence of elevation On`climate and of climate onvegetation and had some understanding of the effect ofmonsoon winds on climate and economy. Students atthis level demonstrated ioine understanding of thedynamic interconnections between human systems andphysical systems and Understood what cOntributes to airpollution. They could apply uncomplicated concepts ofeconomic development, trade and transportation, andeconomic interdependence and could relate geographicconcepts to historical knoWledge.

cagemeremaeorgiomieloosamiko

livelfth-Grade Profile. Students who were near the25th percentile (scale range 259 to 270) could read andinterpret visual material in the form of single maps, (asopposed to sets of maps or maps with accompanyingtext). They demonstrated knowledge of basic physicalgeography terms, could interpret a map to locate aregion, and showed some tmderstanding of processesrelating to earthquakes and erosion. Students,couldidentify where Spanish is spoken on a woild map. Thesestudents demonstrated a rudimentary understanding ofrelationships between topography and human settle-ment and of how relationships between and amongplaces are affected by factors such as accessibility,proximity, and distance.

1Welfth-grade students who were near the 50thpercentile (scale range 283 to 291) were able to locatesome physical features such as United States deserts andidentify major world religious centers. They demon-strated knowledge of some fundamental geographicskills such as the ability to read and interpret contourmaps, different map projections, and a time zone map.Students were able to use atlases to answer fundamentalphysical geography questions relating to climate, 7

natural vegetation, and growing seasons. They demon-strated understanding of how major procesteS sUch asweathering and erosion shape patterns in the naturalenvironment and of the influence of natural systems onhuman environments. Students displayed some abilityto translate narrative descriptions that include data intomaps. These students demonstrated knowledge ofphysical reasons for land use patterns, understanding ofmovements such as diffusion and migration, and someunderstanding of reasons for trade. ,

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Nelfth-grade students who were near the 90thpercentile (scale range 316 to 329) were able to comparedifferent kinds of maps, graphics, diagrams, tables, andother visuals to draw conclusions and interpretinformation. They were often able to apply some outsideknowledge to interpret maps and other visuals. These

students were able to transfer information from onereporting form to another and could draw generallyaccurate two-dimensional maps. They could locate andlabel features such as the Mississippi River and theRockies on a cross-sectional diagram of the UnitedStates, and could identify South America from itselevation profile. Students could identify major deserts

on a world map. They were able to infer some physicalgeomorphic processes from examining physical featuresshown on a map. They also understood regional termssuch as "megalopolis" and "corn belt", and conceptsrelating to connections among places such as travel and

transportation

Students at this level could recognize the economicand political importance of places such as the SuezCanal and demonstrated some understanding of how

political unrest can influence economies. They knew a

reason for the formation of the Organization ofPetroleum Exporting Countries and could identify thecountries that belong to this organization. Using a mapshowing the languages of Africa, students couldinterpret information about language patterns in Africa.

These students also demonstrated partial understandingof causes and consequences of human migration and arudimentary ability to discuss different people'sperspectives of the same environment at a varietyof

scales, local to global.

Profiles of Students' GeographyKnowledge, Abilities, and Study Habits

Figures 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3 show profiles of the lower-,middle-, and higher-performing students. The profileslink the knowledge and abilities of these students withtheir self-reported study habits, and also summarize theperformance descriptions from the previous section.The study habits presented in the figures are based onstudents' self-reports about three activities: number ofpages read per day in school, hours per day spent onhomework, and frequency of discussing studies athome.

By examining all three profiles, a common patternemerged at each grade. As the students' geographyscores increased, the complexity and sophistication ofthe geographic knowledge and skills they exhibitedincreased. Moreover, students performing at the higherrange of the scale were more likely to read more pagesper day, spend more time on homework, and morefrequently discuss their studies at home.'

101 it14',

ttSit

Figure 5.1 Profiles of Low% Mae, and Higher Perform* Fourth Guiders: Geogrophp Knowledge, Abillifes, cod Slimly Habits

Fourth-grade stedents wise werenear the 25th percentile col&

to. read simple maps and &grams

to. show initial understank of the relationship

between human and natural systems

0. identify a major ecosystem from visual dues

25th Percentile

Fowth-grode stalest: whe weremar the 50th percentile caulé

extract basic information hot!! On atlas,

photographs, and other visuds

kbel approximate localioa of home state

or &strict on a map

to. grasp simple concepts, suds as relationships

between geography smd the Anion of

information

50th Percentile

Shorty habits of fourth graders whirwere mew the 25tb percentile

0. 48 mem read we thcm 10 pages each dayin Awl and for homework

1. 44 permit spent one or more bows each daysuodomework

0. 73 percent (Focussed slaw of homed host

owe or twice a week

Fewth-grode students who woreneer the 90th percent& caulk

to. use scale, measurement, and &scrim

0. interpret and apply informetion from simple

thermic maps and milks

Mom PhYskol MO* colksPts,such as Eords/Sun relationships

90th Percentile

-`'11_

`,....11111111

Study habits ef few& graders whewere near the 50th percentile

0. S0psrcsntr.admor.thmrlopagsssothdayin school and for homework

0. 46 want spent one or more ban each dayon homework

too. 77 percent disassed studies al home at least

once or twice a week.

.,:T;1,;,!.. VA..., .

'!* :

Stedy Mks el berth graders winwere new the 90th [wrestle:

0. 62 percent mod more than HI pages each day

ie school and for homework

0. 47 pwceM spent one or more hours each dayon homework

0. 85 percent &cussed status d home al leastonce or twice a week

SOURCE Woad Cold for Idealise SIMON NOW Osmond ii aidised ?ogress (OAK 1194 Geogrephy Asussadd.

756 0

' ,

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Figure 5.2 Profiles of Lower, Middle, and Higher Performing Eighth Graders: Gear* Knowledge, Abties, end Stedy Hal

25th Percentile .=1,,Eighth-grade stedeats who werestar tie 25th pomade coal&

read and extract data from visuals, such as&grams and simple line graphs

make simple Worms from photographsof a natural region

livo read and interpret thematic maps in an atlas

'' 50th PercentileEighth-grade Meats who weresear the 50th percentile code

recognize a range of simple physical features

and patterns of the environment .

0- cite probable cause of a natural event

11- grasp some interactions between natural and

human systems, such as relationships between

topography and human settlement

Stmly hales el eigla yedsrs who .

were new the 25th percentile:

I* 31 percent read more than 10 pages each dayin school and for homework

58 percent spent oae or more hours sach day

60 percent diseased studies at hoMe at least

oace or twke a week

Eighth-grade Meets who worenow the 90ti perm.* cool*

use a range of tools, such as pie chark

population pyramids, and dimographs

Ot maw maps from written instructions usingscale and legend oaurately

lib apply simple =mitts of ecoeomk

development and interdependence

.4,00th Percentile

Stedy habits of eighth graders whowere near the SO& penestik

35 went read more than 1 0 pages each dayIn school and for homework

II 64 percent spewam! more hours each dayon homework

68 percent &sassed studies at home at leastonce or toice a week

1!,

.*41.f",t.

,

- Steffy Milts of eightlfsnulers whowere am the 90th woods:

_

48 wan mod more ion HI pages nth dayin school and for hammock

In. 70 period spent one mom hours nth dayon homework

77 saw disaandskidiss thorns afloatau retake owe&

e

SOURCE National Center for Education Stat, Notianal Assessment of Unlined Prowess MAUL 1494 Gsogroidty Assessment.

rn 7

Figure 5.3 Profiles of Lower, Middle, and Higher Performing Twelfth Graders: Geography Knowledge, Abilities, ad Study Habits'

Twelfth-grade students who VIMnear the 25th percentile awl&

>. read and interpret visual material from a map

t* recognize bask physical geography terms

0. grasp some influences of proximity and

distance on rektionships between and among

places

Twelfth-grade students who wore

new the 50th percentile awl&

0. read and interpret contour maps, different

map projections, and a time zone map

11. use atlases to answer hmdamental physkal

geography questions, such as those relating to

climate and vegetation

0. show understanding of how major processes,

such as weathering and erosion, shape patterns

in the natural environment

show knowledge of major processes of human

geography, such as migration and diffusion

,

25tb Percentile

,00°Z21110

SOth Percentile

Stvdy habits of twelfth graders whowore near the 25ti permute .

II. 29 percent read more than lO pages each day

in qhool and for homework

01. 52 percent spent one or more hews mh day

on homework

55 percent discussed stacks at home at least

once or twice a week

Tweifth-grade students who wwenow the 90th percentile cola:

le. compare Marco kinds of maps, graphics,

and other visuals to draw conclusions and

interpret information

jp. locate and kbel a range of features of the

physical ond human environments on maps

and diagrams

le. infer some physical geomorphic processes

horn physical features shown on a map

&cuss in rudimentary terms different

people's perspectives of the same

environment at a variety of scales,

local to global

90ti Percentile

Study habits of twelfth graders whowere war dee 50th percentile::

N. 40 percent read more than. l0 pages each day

in school and for homeark

0. 53 percent sprat one or more has each day

on homework

59 percent discussed studies at home at least

once or Me a week

Shody habits of twelfthwere near the 90th pertentllei

57 paced read more ihari 10 pages each day

in school and for homeark

It. 62 percent spent one or more hours each day

co homework -

0. 74 percent &sassed stuches at home it least

once or twice a week

SOURCE Rational Center for Educetioe %Nig Nosed Assessment of Education! Progress (NAV), 1914 Googrmity Assessment.

6 2

77

Average Performance by Content Areas

Ai described in Chapter 1, the NAEP 1994 geographyassessment was organized around the following threecontent areas:

Space and Place. Knowledge of geography relatedto particular places on Earth, to spatial patterns onEarth's surface, and to physical and humanprocesses that shape such patterns.

0. Environment and Society. Knowledge of geographyrelated to the interactions between the environmentand society.

D. Spatial Dynamics and Connections. Knowledge ofgeography related to spatial variations and connec-tions among people and places.

.401.

I

The three content areas were designed to ensurecoverage of the major branches of geography. They wereseen as broad areas that would sometimes overlap toaccomplish this coverage. (The geographic cognitiveareas presented in the NAEP geography framework cutacross all three content areas.) A look at the patterns ofstudent performance on the subscales can contribute toa more precise understanding of composite scale scores,although the patterns of performance among subgroupson the composite scale were also generally evident forthe subscales.

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Performance on Geography Content Areas for theNation. Table 5.1 presents the1994 average scores bygeegraphy content area's bir students at grades 4, 8, and12!The subscales for the three areas were createdindependently of one another and no attempt was madeto equate the subscales. Therefore, comparisons acrosssubscales (for example, fourth graders performed better

on Content Area 1 than Content Area 2) are notnecessarily meaningful. Appendix A contains a moreextensive dhicussion of the geography scalingprocedures.

Patterns of performance among subgroups on thecomposite scale were also generally evident for thecontent area subscales.

41n tell `Average Scale Scores at Various Penenti les by Geography Content Areas

Grades 4, 8, and 12

TIE wonNMtooMc

Coated Area 1 1 Coarse Area 2 (oded Arse 3Spatial liptimits ad

C.suposlt. Space tad Mace Erviraramt ad Sodety Candkes

Grads 4 .

Average Sarre). Score 206 01) 208 (1.3)I 204 (1.3) 204 (1.2)

10th Percentile 146 (1.9) 148 (1.8) 138 (2.8) 147 (1.6)

25th Percentile 179 (1.4) 181 (1.4) 175 (1.3) 178 (2.2)

50111Percaaile 211 (1.3) 213 (1.8) 210 (1.5) 209 (1.3)

75th Percentile 237 0.21 240 (1.8) t39 (1.8) 234 (1.3)

90$ Perm& 257 (1.8) 261 (1.4) 261 (2.1) 254 (1.8)

Grade 8 .

Average &Amok Score 260 (0.7) 259 (0.8) 263 (0.7) 257 (0.9)

10th Percentle 213 0.3) 209 (1.1) 218 (1.4) 211 (1.1)

2.5111Perceatie 237 (0.9) 234 (0.9) 242 (0.9) 735 (1.2)

506 remade . 263(1.0) 262 (0.9) 266 (0.8) 261 (1.3)

756 Nang. 285 (0.9) 285 (1.1) 217 (0.7) 212 0.0)

906 Percentile 303 (1.6) 305 (0.8) 304 (1.0) 300 (1.3)

Gras 12 `.

Average Subscale Score 215 (0.7) ' 283 (0.8) 283 (0.7) 288 (0.8)

10th Wedge 244 (0.9) 237 (1.1) 247 (0.9) 2410.1)25th Percearie 265 (0.9) 260 (1.01 265 (1.3) 261 (0.9)

506 Percsable 217 (0.1) 286 (02) 285 (0.8) 291 (1.0)

751111'mnd* 307 (0.9) 308 (0.8) 302 0.0) 310(0.9) .

' 906 Percerage 321 (0.9) 326 (0.9) 315 (0.9) 325 (1.0)

Th. swig wan 0 Ihe odimisi ale gam II be 15-pstant atia#01wo, 1st ad whim of Mind, the yew fw ths iiiie ppuldlat is viiii phis ef aim two *mad wind Wewomb pwailosit. an tali siikwino for On vispis.

SONCE IIMINW Color for Wools' MIK hind komiii si fixsiuml Mrs MARL 1994 ficirwiry knitsad.

AiLAL..44.1;"- Wid.d.LL'sb .4311,::;e!

Performance on Geography Content Areas by Region.Table 5.2 presents the average scale scores and subscaleresults by region. These results are fairly consistentwithtfie composite scale results found at each grade.

At grade 4, for the composite scale and all threesubscales, students from the Central region out-performed students from the Southeast. Studentsfrom the Central region also outperformed studentsfrom the Northeast for Space and Place, andstudents from the West for Spatial Dynamicsand Connections.

...

At grade 8, students from the Northeast and Centralregions outperformed students from the Southeastand the West for all three content areas.

At grade 12, students from the Northeast out-performed students from the Southeast for Spaceand Place and Spatial Dynamics and Connections.Central region students outperformed students fromthe Northeast for Space and Place and studentsfrom the S/jutheast icr all three content areas.Finally, students from the West outperformed thosefrom the Southeast for all content areas.

_... . ,u.s.,/1-- Average Scale Scores in Geography Content Areas by Region

Grades 4, 8, and l2

DR NATION'SREPORT

CARD

ftwm___,...,......

West km 1 1

Cuuiposfts Spas ad Pk.

Cutest kw 2 I

Exvirearmet ea Soddy

Coated kes 3Spatid Ortarks tad

Gramodkas

Grad. 4

Teed

bilesNortheast

Southeast

WaalWest

206 (1.2)

203 (2.7)

200 (2.3)

215 (3.2)

205 (I J)

208 (1.3)

204 (2.8)

201 (23)

217 (3.3)

209 (2.1)

204 0.3)

401 (2.9)

199 (3.0)

214 (3.9)

202 (2.0)

204 (1.2). ., .

203 (2.7)

199 (2.5) ,..-

213 (2.9) -..

202 (1.9)

Total

Negles

Nathan!

Southeast

Control

West

260 (0.7)

266 0.9)

252 (1.6)

268 (1.6)

233 (1.8)

239 (0.8):.! . s

265 (2.2)

249 (1.0)

269 (1.7)

254 (2.0)

- 263 (0.7)ii."....; ',.;

268 (1.7)

, 257 (13)

270 (1.7)

, 280 (1)) :

257 (0.9) -.

. i,i4e.-

264 (2.1)

251 (1.1)

266 (1.7)c.k apY:f.

253 0.8)

Grail 12bid H

bilesNortheast

Southeast

CoedWest

285 (0.7)

284 (1.6)

278 (1.1)

289 (1.8)

286 (1.9)

. ..

, 213 (0.8)_

212 (1J)

276 (1.3)

219 (2.0)

215 (2.1)

283 (0.7)

' -; 2020.4)271 (0.9)

215 (1.7)

285 (1))

.

288 (01) &L,

. 218 (1.8) ''''

281 (1.1)

.212 (li) ,

290 (1.9)

Difisesmss kw. is pops ow Is psdisly whinedby why hosrs scaldsiled Is ids Is& .:

118 *mid onus sl dis Istosithesis soros spur I proshsok. II as be sal Id 95iwari arm*do, hr so& milk' si "isn't& vies Wits shsis mean it vitWis piny silos tee Assad errorssf lirs

Mimic fst lie sople.4.,... ' .

VOCE Mud WIN isr Earasiso %Mks, lidinglasso*si Waked Prom (RAM, 1914 ;sylph hasnart) .---

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80

Performance on Geography Content Areas by RacelEthnicity. Table 5.3 reports the subscale results and theoverall average scale scores for racial/ethnic subgroups.Win) some exceptions, White and Asian students out-performed Black and Hispanic students, and Hispanicstudents outperformed Black students, as ,3n lie com-posite scale. (Racialhthnic classifications are based onself-reported information provided by students.)

For the Pacific Islander and American Indian studentsamples at grades 8 and 12, the nature of the samplesdoes not allow accurate determination of the stmdarderrors. For this reason, differences among thse samples

'MU: t v- '0.t4

and other racial/ethnic subgroups are not discussed forthose two grades.

11. At grade 4, for each content area, White studentshad a significantly higher average score than Black,Hispanic, and American Indian students, andAmerican Indian students had a significantly higheraverage score than Black students. Hispanic stu-dents outperformed Black students for Space andPlace and Environment and Society, but not forSpatial Dynamics and Connections (an exception tothe pattern for the composite scale). Asian students

. .

-."- TABLE 5.3 ...

Scale Scores in Geography Content Areas by Roce/EthnicityGrades 4, 8, and 12

THE wonNew

amoAverage

Coated Area 1

Sport ad Place

Gotta Area 2

bwkommid sodSodety

Cutout Area 3Spatial Drank: awl

Coredisin

Grad. 4

Teta( 206 (1.2) 208 0.3) 204 (1.3) 204 (1.2)

Race/Etiecidty .

Mite 218 (1.5) 220 (1.7) 218 (1.7) 215 (13)

Mack 168 (2.5) 169 (2.8) 162 (2.9) 171 (2.2)

Hispanic 183 (2.5) 181 (2.6) 180 (2.9) 181 (2.8)

Asian 218 (5.0) 224 (5.2) 210 (6.6) 219 (4.8)

Pedfk islander 205 (5.3) 207 (5.9) s. :,: ,. 203 (8.0) 204 (6.0)AMIfiCali IrAol 193 (3.6) 1% (3.5) , 191 (4.3) 190 (33)

Grad. 8

Tete( 260 (0.7)

. . .259 (0.8)

.

. '. I. 263 (0.7)

.., . .257 (0.9)

Recefitioldtp .i. 1 , -

.

White 210 (0.8) 270 (0.9) 213 (0.8) 261 (1.1)

Ilaci 229 (1.7) 225 (1.8) 235 (1.8) 2 3 0 0 .7) i ikr i ,-.'Hispanic 239 (1.9) . 237 (2.2) .. 244 (1.7) 736 (2.0) ',':..c''..'

kian 271 (2J) 273 (2.8) .-- 774 (23) - 266 (3.6) - i-,..:.--? .

-= %talc Islander 252 (83) I 249 (83) I , '., i 256 (9.2) I 252 (8.3) .1e American Indian 248 (3.4) I 246 (4.0) 1 : 253 (3.3) I 246 (3.3) 1

Grade 12,

TetiRice/Etheidtp

285 (0.7) 283 (0.8) 2113 (0.7) 211 0.1):.

White 291 (0.8) 291 (4.9) 288 (03) 294 (0.1)Sock 258 (1.4) 252 (13) 261 (1.2) ' 264031Hispanic 268 (1.5) 264 (1.1) 267 (13) 273 (1.6)

Asian 287 (3.2) 285 (3.5) 283 (3.0) 293 (3.6)

Pacific islander

kneckan Indian

282 (3.1) I ni (3.3) I 279 (3.2) I 215 (3.7) I

Mum Won is pops pp be prOolly sqlsiud by AN foam id Ibleil Is Ns ishit.

llitliaraid won sl the mimed mie was Ippon Is wills*. II am be mii .110S-psoll arid* thot, lef wit prisiisa ti iisnd, In wile for ths viols prokilmi is vain plow shie to *Word was el thsohm* fit Om gm*

I Ws,* Pi aniimmy =prima 141. Mc titrik. The NMa 1611111101 if** Am Iii eon* isismiliimti is swish* thhit riss.Ss*** latiltisi Is wok s Akioadmit (ne Apes& A)

SOM UMW We fr Maim SIMMIts, Med Ammustwi el rdwilusl Pops 0/21, 1914 Cop* lastrant.

'6 6

81

tr. th : '

outperformed Black and Hispanic students on allsubscales and American Indian students for Spaceand Place and Spatial Dynamics and Connections.Pacific Islander students outperformed Black andHispanic students for Space and Place and SpatialDynamics and Connections and Black students forEnvironment and Society.

1. At grade 8, for each content area, White and Asianstudents had significantly higher average scores thanBlack and Hispanic students. Hispanic studentsoutperformed Black students for Space and Placeand Environment and Society, but not for SpatialDynamics and Connections (again, an exception toHiSpanic students' performance on the compositescale).

At grade 12, for each content area, Hispanic stu-dents demonstrated a higher average scorethan Black students, and Asian students demon-strated a higher average score than Black andHispanic students. White students had significantlyhigher average scores than Black and Hispanicstudents in all content areas.

Performance on Geogniphy Content Areas by Gender.Table 5.4 presents male and female students' perfor-mance on the three geography content areas. Asreported in Chapter 2, males did demonstrate averagescale scores significantly higher than those for femalesat all three grade levels on the composite scale. Therewere some deviations from this pattern whenperformance was examined at the subscale level.

At grade 4, male students outperforr femalestudents for the content area Space .1 Place, butthere were no significant differences for the othertwo content areas.

ts. At grade 8, male students outperformed femalestudents for Space and Place and Environment andSociety, but not for Spatial Dynamics andConnections.

At grade 12, as on the composite scale, malestUdents outperformed female students in all threegeography content areas.

TABLE 5.4 - .Average Scale Stores in Geography Content Areas by Gender

Grades 4, 8, and 12

TNT UMWONT _11111

isim TM

Camposhe

toted Area 1

Spam tad Pim

: ; POW Area 2

Ironwood ad Society

Coke km 3

Conedbas

Gra& 4Tod 206 (1.2) -,' 201 (1.3) 204(1.3) 204 (1.2)

Gelder

Male ' 1 208(1.4) 212 (1.6) 206 (1.4) . 201 (13)

Female *v t 103 (1.4) 204(13) 203 (1.7) , 202 (1.4)

__. .

Gra. S . :.

Tod , , '.... 210 (0.7) 259 (0.8) 263 (0.7) .. 257 (0.9)

GnawMale 262 (0.9) 262 (1.0) 215 (0.9) 738 (1.1)

Female 258 (0.8) 255 (0.9) 262 (0.7) 2.57 (1.0)

Grad. 12

Tod 715 (0.7) 283 (0.8) 233 (0.7) 288 (0.8) .

Geode(

Male 288 (0.8) 288 (1.0) 215 (01) . 290 (0.9)

Female 281 (0.9) 278 (1.0) 210 (01) 286 (ll)

Damns Infirm the reap lay I. Welly uphind by miff Won est iciedei la Wolk

So Woad la Rae as A 95-mnest unity id, In oda poprldiss of Mont ihe hr the Ash kW* On a sis km Iliad am itsstaideri ems of*, so sant "par pumas*. illsillaule he the wripla.

win pepshiss

SCUM NNW Coda iv Main *Ma, Mod Assume, i Eitslissi ?reps MAR), 1,14 Tor* Assemoml.

82

Performance on Geography Content Areas by Parents'Highest Level of EducaHon. Table 5.5 presents perfor-mance by student-reported parental education level forthithree content area subscales. The positive relation-ship between parental level of education and performancenoted with the composite scale was also evident for eachof the three subscales. Generally, as the level of parentaleducation increased, average subscale scores increased.

At grade 4, average subscale scores, for the mostpart, increased with increasing levels of reportedparental education. However, across subscales, therewere no significant score differences betweenstudents who reported that at least one parent had

graduated from college and those who reported thatat least one parent had some education after highschool (consistent with the exception for the com-posite scale), and between students who reportedthat at least one parent had graduated from highschool and those who reported that neither parentfinished high school.

At grade 8, for all three subscales, average subscalescores increased with increasing levels of parentaleducation.

lo Similarly, at grade 12, for all three subscales,average scores increased with increasing levels ofparental education.

THE woreAverage Scale Scores in Geography Content Areas IIEFORT cut

by Parents' Highest tcovel of Education

&Ides 4, 8, and 12

untie um I Ceded kw 2 Casten Ana 3. Spdid Ppm& ad

Spa al Ma hvkaustat awl Soddy Camodoesri

Gresle 4E

Teti 206 (1.2) 208 (1.3) 204 0.3) 204 (1.2) .

Paws' Mantis. levelSniveled Whip 216 (1.6) 218 (1.8) 215 (1.8)

.

215 (13)Sew Educe* After HO School 216 (2.5) 218 (2.6) 214 (3.5) 215 (2.8)finausiol High School 197 (23) 199 (2.7) 197 (3.3) .195 (2.2)DOI Not FWA High Schad 114 (3.7) 189 (4.0) 114 (5.6) 184 (4.0)1 Dal Kate 197 (1.4) 200 (1.6) 194 (1.6) 195 (13)

.. .Teta 260 (0.7) 259 (0.8) 263 (0.7) 257 (0.9)

. .

Finds' Welke Level ,,.272

' 743,±

Waled (siege 272 (1.0) 0.21 . 275 (0.9) 271(1.7)Semi Education lbw High School 265 (1.0) 264 MR 269 (0.9)

....262 (1.4)

Evaluated Nigh School 250 (12) 241 (13) 254 (1.3)..,

241 (1.3) .,-' Hid Not Reish Hiah School 231 (1.7) : 236 (2.0) 242 (1.8) 238 (2.2)

I Dail HMO 234 (13) 233 (1.8) 240 (13) 231(1.7)

Gm* 12bid ' 215 (V) 213 (0.8) 213 (0.7) 218 (01)Fagots' rslocalee 1,nel . !.! . '

Groluoiol Wogs 294 (0.9) 294 (1.0) 291 (0.8) 291 (0.9)isms Eihicetioe Aher High khool 286 (1.0i 215 (1.2) 284 (1.0) 219 (1.0)Gredueied High Sdtool 274 (1.1) 271 (13) 273 (1.0) VI (1.2)Did Ka Finish High School 263 (1.2) 259 (1.6) 264 (1.3) 267 (1.3)1 Dcet Kin 257 (2.1) 252 (3.2) 261 (2.6) 261 (3.4)

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Performance on Geography Content Areas by lype ofLocation. Table 5.6 presents the performance of studentsattending schools in the three types of locations,according to the geography content areas. With oneexception, performances on the three content areasubscales mirrored performance on the composite scale.

At grade 4, for all three subscales, studentsattending schools in urban fringe/large town andrural/small town locations outperformed studentsattending schools in central city locations.

4401111 5:67-

Average Scale

At grade 8, for Space and Place, students attendingschools in urban fringe/large town locations out-performed students attending schools in centralcity locations. (On the composite scale, studentsattending schools in urban fringe/large town andrural/small town locations outperformed studentsattending schools in central city locations.) For duother two subscales, student performance mirroredthat of the composite scale.

At grade 12, for all three subscales, studentsattending urban fringe/large town schoolsoutperformed students attending both central cityand rural/small town schools.

h Geography Content Areas by Type of LocationGrades 4, 8, and 12

Composite

Cutout kw 1 Coated Area 2

Spiv ad Moat Effiresmat ad Soddy

Coated Area 3Spatiof Ormolu mal

CemediemGrad. 4

Total

Type of Localise

Central thy

Urban Fringo/Lorgo Town

luroVSrnall Town

206 (1.2)

196 (2.2)

213 (1.9)

207 (2.4)

208 (13)

198 (2.3)

. 216 123)

209 (2.7)

204 (1.3)

194 (2.5)

211 (2.2)

207 (2.8)

204 (1.2)

.

195 (2.0)

211 (1.9)

205 (2.6)

Orris 8Total

Type of Locative

Centro' Cdy

Urban Fringe/Largo Town

Itural/Smal Town

260 (0.7)

255 (1.6)

264 (1.3)

261 (1.9)

259 (0.8)

. .253 (1.7)

263 (1.6)

' i. ,,. le0 (22)

263 (02)

251 (15)

267 (1.2).

. , . 265 (1.1)

, ..,

257 (0.9)

.

' '."--' ' 253 (1.7),.,-?.... ., 261 (1.41

k-41...'. ,..k,.:'- `, - 259 (2.0)...

,

Grad. 12Total

Typo of imamControl City

Urban FringiAorgo Town

kwol/Seoll Town

215 (0.7)

2E2 (1.4)

288 (1.4)

212 (1.1)

';.-

...

' 283 (0.1)

281 (13)

287 (1.5)

281 (1.3)

283 (0.7)

281 (1.2)

285 (1.2)

280 (1.1)

,, : . -..

in (0.8),

286 (1 .4)

: :' 292 (1.4)

216 (1.2)

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Performance on Geography Content Areas by Type ofSchool. Table 5.7 presents the performance of studentsattending public and nonpublic schools in the threegeOgraphy content areas. Again, performances on thethree content area subscales mirrored performance on

the composite scale. At grades 4, 8, and 12, studentsattending nonpublic schools had significantly higheraverage scores than those attending public schoolsacross all three geography content areas.

4:1ABLE-5Yr.,,F,

Average Scale Scores in Geography Content Areas by Type of SchoolGrades 4, 8, and 12

DIE 1111110111WORT(=OM

sits

Coatod Ana 1 Cutest Aron 2

Spam aad Mace Errirommt ad Soddy

Cutest Ana 3Sped Dposoics aod

Comdisco

Grad. 4

Total 206 (1.2) 208 (1.3) 204 (1.3) 204 (1.2)

Typo of School

Pubk Schools 204 (1.4) 206 (1.5) 202 (13) 203 (1.3)

Nonpublic Schools 221 (2.2) 222 (2.5) 223 (23) 211 (2.3)

Colholk Schools 222 (2.6) 223 (2.7) 223 (3.2) 220 (2.8)

Otlw Nonpublic Schools 220 (3.8) 221 (4.3) 222 (4.1) 215 (3.7)

Grad* 8

Total 260 (0.7) 259 (0.8) 263 (0.7) 237 (0.9)

Typo of School . , .,

Pal& Schools 258 (0.8) 257 (0.9) 262 (0.8) 255 (1.0)

Nonpublic Schook . 276 (1.3) 275 (1.4) 278 (1.4) 275 (1.4)

Catholk Schools 276 (1.6) .ia, iyt P i 275 (17) , 279 (1.9) 276 (1.5)

OM lloapubk Schools 276 (2.6) 276 (2.9) 277 (2.6) 274 (2.9)- .

.

Grade 12 - ,Totol 285 (0.7) - - 113 (0.8) 283 (0.7) :181 (0.1)Typo of School . t..,...: ..

Mk Schools 233 (0.8) 2112 (0.91 282 (0.8) '-'#1 (0.8)Noopcillic Schools 294 (1.6) .?..i,,.,t v293 (1.9) . . 291 (1.6) .298 (1.7)

Who& Schools 291 (3.0) 219 (3.3) 219 (2.7) 296,(2.9)

011w Nonpublic Schook 298 (2.0) 299 (2.3) 294 (1.8) 300 (2.6)

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Profiling Students' Performance onthe Three Geography Content Areas

To illustrate the range of assessment tasks that studentswere asked to perform, this section provides a visualrepresentation of each geography content area subscale,called an "item map." The item map shows a set of tasksin the order of their difficulty for the populationassessed. Each task is identified by a brief description.Not all the tasks in the assessment could be presentedin these figures. Instead, sample tasks were selected toillustrate the range of abilities across the subscales andto demonstrate the types of tasks that students withdifferent subscale scores could typically perform correctly.

The item maps (Figures 5.4, 5.5, and 5.6) identifythe points, on each content area subscale at whichindividual tasks were answered correctly byapproximately two-thirds (65 percent) of the students.(The criterion was set at 74 percent for multiple-choice

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questions to adjust for the possibility of students'answering correctly by guessing.) The point on thesubscale item map at which a task is positionedrepresents the subscale score attained by students whohad a 65-percent probability of successfully performingthe task. Thus, for each task and its correspondingsubscale score, it can be said that at least 65 percent ofstudents at or above that point on the subscale haveadequately performed that task.

For example, the fourth-grade Space and Place itemmap (Figure 5.4), indicates that at least 65 percent offourth graders with a score of 216 or better on theSpace and Place geography content subscale were ableto locate physical features on a map of North America.Fourth graders who scored higher than 216 on thissubscale were even more likely to demonstrate thisability, while students who scored lower on the subscalewere less likely to do so. In interpreting item mapinformation, it should be kept in mind that students atdifferent grades demonstrated these geography abilitieswith grade-appropriate materials.

8 6

Fik.w7WA

Figure SA Map of Selected Items on the GeographyContest Ara Subscales forGrade 4

Each geography question was mapped onto theNAEP geography content area subscale on thebasis of students' performance. The point on thesubscale at which a question is positioned on themap represents the subscale score attained bystudents who had a 65-percent probability ofsuccessfully answering the question.

Thus, it can be said for each question and itscorresponding subscale score that students withscores above that point on the subscale have agreater than 65-percent chance of successfullyanswering the question, while those below thatpoint on the subscale have a less than 65-percentchance. (The probability was set at 74 percent formultiple-choice questions.)

The item map presented in thisfigure containsselected questions to illustrate the isiessmerit. Ininterpreting the item map information, it shouldbe kept in mind that students at different gradesdemonstrated these abilities with grade-appropriatematerials.

NOTE: In this graphic Mustratice, ths IocstonSc lois poI inP nocamadry appro;anslo kirguaMono delayed d000ly topmastSOURCE: Wiwi CNN( 10r Edooirlion ikatiolim, WINN( Mumma* of EcluoallonsiProgreso (NAEP), 1004 Geography Mamma

NAEPScale

CONTENT AREA I

Space and Place

(313) identify units of measurement used on world map

(292) Develop map from list of area's geographicfeatures

(291) identify major physical feature of Switzerland

90th (261) Locate highest feature on ormemectionPoreentits diagram of South America

(211) (260) Use map to identify four countries on shooter(257) Use map legend to identify region of highest

eievation in Africa ,

(253) Drww oceanic route behveen North America andEurope and label ocean

(249) Crests weather map and legend Weed on list ofchmactarietice of South Anodes

(235) Recognize religion of majority of people in U.S.(233) Estimate size of South Amedcen region from

map of growing masons(230) Locate and label mejor comities of North

America

50thPercentile (216) Locate physical feet= on Map of North

g13) America(210) Locate Hawaii on map

25111

Pundits (19th Use graph to determine time of Mast reinfall in(1111)15. Oregon

(163) identify country with !tweet average Orationon profile Map

1411EP

Scaleran"t.-

t-4

OttPorcentlie

(25I)

51thPercentile

(210)

7

>VI!

25diPercentile

Do*

CONTENT AREA 2

bakaanot ad Soddy

(318) Describe two effects of oil spills on wwironment

(294) Explain and compare White and RataAmerican Maws of land use

(282) Expiain Impact on physical environmentofcuMng down tome

(279) Analyze consequences of waste disposal onemironment

(2110) Understand impact on environmentof entergingairport

(257) interpret disrpsm of seasons to identifymason for summer

(231) Understand mil erosion minas

Percentile(254) N

(22$) Recognize technology used to predict nether(225) karma map to Mier impact of blocked bridge

on transportation route

(215) Mier location from description of conventionalclothing

(20$) identify *atomic* modified forhuman umfrom photogrephs

(190) Undersign sources of sir and wear pollutionMO Mena/ wen cycle from picture(152) Recognize chareciedelice of fain forest

aminament

NthPircentilegat

25thPercentile

(17$) II.

275

. .

250

2,25

:10200

o

in 88

CONTENT AREA 3

Spatial Dynode ad Collodion

(212) Use map data to identify and expiairi.setlismwpatterns In China

(309) interpret physical resource map to identify litzlocation of lerge city

(291) interpret physical resource map to explain whicounty produces steel

Pa% Illtergre bar 9raith to compare and &souse U.:energy production and consumption

(285) Uss several mops to explain highway lantanain Canada

(272) Interpret physical resource map to identlfycountries most in oonfliot over resources

(257) infer trads patients from exportcharts(251) Draw road mute on map, mate rood symbol,

and explain chosen location(250) identlfy and draw on transit mop la most diret

route between two Smetana

(237) Use mop to ideally continent with most Masi(234) Uneaten climete's reistionhip to nide pea

ths Unhed Males(233) Pam Mations In eke order from lawn to ant(22$) Unwound kinds of Wormation mp,ansnI.den

four different maps

(207) Recognize awes of global &IllusionofInformation

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figure 5.5 Map of Selected Items on the GeographyContent Area 'Subsoil's for Grade 8

Each geography question was mapped onto theNAEP geography content area subscale on thebasis of students' performance. The point on thesubsrale at which a question is positioned on themap represents the subscale score attained bystudents who had a 65-percent probability ofsuccessfully answering the question.

Thus, it can be said for each question and itscorresponding subscale score that students withscores above that point on the subscale have agreater than 65-percent chance of successfullyanswering the question, while those below thatpoint on the subscale have a less than 65-percentchance. (The probability was set at 74 percent formultiple-choice questions.)

The item map presented in this figure containsselected questions to illustrate the assessment. Ininterpreting the item map information, it shouldbe kept in mind that students at different gradesdemonstrated these #bilities with grade-appropriatematerial&

t

NOTE: In the graphic Illustration, the locations a/ scale pothts are nemesia./ oppraditelolorquestions clustmd ciceeN together.

SOURCE: NaUonal Center br Education Stale/W. National Assftsmoni of EduconsIProgress (NAEP), 1901 Oisogrephy Assimernod.

NAEP

ScaleCONTENT AREA I

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NAEPScats

90thPercentile

(304)

5DthPercentile

(268)16.

,--u;_e,-:.-N,Illt121A0_1.LtrAILLAfiellaktFAMIMMOINK~102

CONTENT AREA 2.

Environment and Society

(430) Infer and describe desert climate fromphotographic clues

(395) Recognize features in photograph of villagethat indicate a hot, dry climate

(341) Expla In mos and cons of developing nuclearenergy

(331) Use map to Identify and explain settlementpatterns In Egypt

(329) Explain why tundra is difficult to settle(321) Interpret table and understand human

contribution to Mimetic changes

(311) Recognize what natural processes form fossilfuels

(300) Use map to explain why early civilizationsflourished in Tigris/Euphrates valley

(294) Understand effects of ocean CUrfellts onPeruvian ecosystem

(291) interpret diagram to expialn stage In water cycle(283) Understand relationship between natural

feature* shown on map and population size

(275) Interpret data displayed on maps to determinerainfall pattern In South America

MEPScale

90thPercentile

(300)

51611

Percentile(20111*

CONTENT AREA 3

Spatial Dynamks and Connections

(360) identify two reasons for changes in rural andurban populations represented on graph

(34$) Explein historical reasons for langusgeWilma represented on map.-:Interpret graph and explain travel trendsbetween the United States and EutopeExplain reasons for international trade patternrepresented on mapExplain changes in the United States populationcenters represented on map

(333)

(331)

(335)

(306) Recognize reason for formation of OPEC(296) Use map to evaluate expanse of building rail

route between two locations

(280 Explain why U.S. imports certain products(2112) Understand why countrIse )oln International

organizations

(276) Recognize communimtdons technology thatenabled rapid spread of ideas

cum Infer from map factors that can contribute toInternational conflicts over mineral resources

(263) Understand why Immigrants congregate InNov/York City

25thPercentile

(242) O

(257) Recognize relaffonship between topographyand location of built environments

(217) Recogntse what method Would enable cropproduction in desert eswironment

25thPercentile

(235)

(246) Recognke mason why skyscrapers are built inAmerican ales-7

901111

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Figure 5.6 Map of Selected Items on the GeographyContent Area Subscales for Grade I 2

-OF

Each geography question was mapped onto theNAEP geography content area subscale on thebasis of students' performance. The point on thesubscale at which a guestion is positioned on the

; map represents the subscale score attained bystudents who had 65-percent probability ofsuccessfully ansWering the question.

4...-

Thus, it can be' said for each question and itscorresponding subscale score that students withscores above that point on the subscale have agreater than 65-percent chance of successfullyanswering the question, while those below thatpoint on the subscale have a less than 65-percentchance. (The probability was set at 74 percent formultiple-choice questions.)

The item map presented in this figure containsselected questions to illustrate the assessment Ininterpreting the Item map information, it shouldbe kept in mind that students at different gradesdemonstrated these abilities with grade-appropriatematerials.

NOM In tils peptic luaindion, ths loceilons or scale points we recosoaely 'marina& brquestions duotared dos* bgefew.

SOURCE: Nationsi Canter ix Education Statistics, National Amasionent of EducationalProgreso (NAEP), 1904 Otiogroohy Aemeerent.

P

NAEPScale

9001Percentile

(328)

300

50thPercentile

(225)

25thPercentile

(210)0

N:,...1

in 91

Space and Mace

(364) Infer cause of landscape fomation from model(356) Locate rotifer physical features an outline map(352) Expieln origins of rock deposits found in

specific region(350) Use atlas data to drrw graph of areas of

continents and to create scale(349) Draw cross-section graph at South Amedca

from wrttten directions(340) Use atlas to orphan location pattern of Chinese

industry

(325) Recognize major bastion of fjords

(317) Graph elevation of landionn using contour map

(307) Infer trends in urban and rural populationpatterns from tabled data

(294) Identify highest point on contour map

(267) Compare map prolections to determine whichshows accurate shape and area of msforlandmasses

(290) Draw map without grid and awes legend basedon description of Island

(277) Use two maps to determine North Americanregional vegetation

(272) Use alies to compere climates of differentregions

(254) identify flat area using cordour map

(249) U. atlas to identify physical Darner toEuropean travel

(331) Use map to Identify area of esseiguake activity

NAVScale

SillthPercentile

(315)

CONTENT AREA 2

Eaviroameat oad Sedety

(391) Interpret tabled data on hydrocarbons In atmo-sphere and explain pattern shown

(380) Chan* professionals for U.tL committer) ondeeertification and justify choices

(369) Analyze Marc it perspectives on global warmingshown in cartoon

(365) Explain causes of South American village climatebased on description

(348) Explain diffemnces between two countries'population densities

(332) Explain reasons tor tropical deforestation

(321) Describe effect of Amazonian deforestation onNorth America

(308) Use contour map to explain formation of andwhat features of landform obstruct humansettlement

(299) Recognize cause of greenhouse gases Inatmosphere

(280) identify natural boundaries of Chile

(277) Uss atlas to identity pattern of land use inIreland

(271) Discuss pro and con of locating cities by dyers

MEPScale

90thPercentile

(325)

50thPercentile

(231)

" 25

25thPercentile

(258)

.

360:

275

250

225

't.t.

,;

r.

200

1:4141':

CONTENT AREA 3

Spatial Dynasks aid Coasodloas

(379) Use map to defend choice of site for townshopping center

(357) We map to describe urban growth pattern

(349) Explain causes of migration to *Woo City(345) Compere and explakt dots from two population

pyramids

I."

(323) infer U.S. trade pattern from pie charts(320) Understand impact of technology on suburban

development

(314) Understand impact of slavery on Caribbeandemographics

(310) Recognize economic chsisobriefic of deveiop-ing countries

(307) interpret map to infer cause of African languagepattern

(297) infer characteristics of developed nation from*Wades! tabie

(291) Recognize regional chareCrihortice

(276) Identify characteristic of rattan business distrlct

(270) Use graph to infer source of HIspenic migrationto the United States r

(258) Locate Spanish-speshing,arene on world map

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Summary

Examining specific knowledge and skills demonstratedby Students at various points on the geography compos-ite scale reveals a variety of patterns in student perfor-mance. Generally, students across grades in the higherpercentiles exhibited greater abilities to work with arange of geographic tools, create maps based on tabularor narrative data, grasp processes and relationships,bring outside knowledge to bear on answering questions,and analyze data. Perhaps predictably, these studentswere more likely to read more pages per day in school,spend more time on their homework, and more fre-quently discuss their studies at home than their lowerperforming peers. (See Endnote 1.)

When student performance on specific tasks isillustrated on item maps for each subscale, the percentilesfor each subscale help to place these performances inperspective. Clearly, students found the assessmentchallenging. For each subscale across grades, a numberof tasks fell at or above the 90th percentile. The NAEP1994 geography assessment was rigorous; many tasksdemanded the ability to analyze and interpret visual,tabular, and textual material. On the other hand (withsome variation across grades and subscales), some tasksalso fell at or just above the 50th percentiles, suggestingthat half the student population was able to answer areasonable portion of assessment questions.

Patterns of student subgroup performance onthe three geography content areas for the most partreflected those shown on the composite scale. Forexample, across the three content areas, a positiverelationship existed between increasing levels of parentaleducation and student scores, and students attendingnonpublic schooi.; outperformed students attendingpublic schools. In addition, with only a few exceptions,miles outperformed females across content areas.

Endnotes

1. Results for pages read in school and time spent onhomework are based on collapsed data. The data donot necessarily imply a direct, positive linearrelationship between student performance on theNAEP geography assessment and students' reports ofpages read in school and time spent on homework.

t

The NAEP 1994 geography assessment required studentsto analyze data in a variety of formats, explain complexgeographic phenomena and processes, and show knowl-edge of relationships among human problems andevents and geographic phenomena. A variety of stimuli,such as maps, photographs, tables, and charts, were used.In addition, a large percentage of assessment time wasdevoted to constructed-response questions, for whichstudents had to write their own answers and createmaps and tables.

Many students found the assessment difficult. Forthe nation as a whole, approximately one-quarterreached the Proficient achievement level, representingsolid academic performance. Furthermore, whenstudent performance on specific tasks is illustrated on itemmaps for each NAEP content area subscale, a number oftasks fell at and above the 90th percentiles for eachsubscale, indicating that only top-performing studentscould fully respond to these questions. On the otherhand, approximately 70 percent of students were able toreach the Basic achievement level, which denotes partialmastery of knowledge and skills fundamental for profi-cient grade-level work. And (with some variation acrossgrades and subscales), some tasks also fell near the 50thpercentile on the subscale item maps, suggesting thathalf of the students sampled were able to answer areasonable portion of assessment questions.

Some of the patterns in performance are character-istic of patterns seen in other NAEP assessments, suchas reading and U.S. history. For example, White andAsian students generally had higher average scale scores

than did Black and Hispanic students. In addition,students whose parents had higher levels of educationoutperformed their peers who reported lower levels ofparental education, and students in nonpublic schoolsoutperformed those in public schools. On the otherhand, while male students outperformed female stu-dents only at grade 12 in the U.S. history assessment,male students outperformed female students at all gradesin the NAEP 1994 geography assessment.

Subscale performances for geography generallymirrored performances on the composite scale, withsome interesting variations. For example, at grade 4males outperformed females on tasks assessing thegeography content area Space and Place, while therewere no significant performance differences in the othertwo content areas.

Performance associated with home support andother background variables also was consistent withthat found in other NAEP assessments. Frequent televi-sion watching was associated with lower scale scores,while literacy materials in the home and discussingstudies at home were associated with higher scale scores.It is encouraging that exposure to geography at grade 8and to social studies at grade 4 were associated withhigher average geography scores, and the more semes-ters of potentially geography-related course work doneby twelfth graders, the better their performances.

While the NAEP results presented in this reportcannot be used to draw causal inferences, they do pointout interesting characteristics and patterns of studentperformance. Future research and other projects andanalyses can use NAEP data to shed more light onrelationships between performance and background data,which in turn can be used by policymakers;educators,-and citizens to bring change to the United Statespdticational system.

Overview of ProceduresUsed in the NAEP 1994Geography Assessment

Introduction

The conduct of a large-scale assessment of educationalprogress entails the successful coordination of amultitude of projects, committees, procedures, andtasks. This appendix provides an overview of the NAEP1994 geography assessment's primary components:framework, development, administration, scoring, andanalysis. A more extensive review of procedures andmethods used in the assessment will be includedin a subsequent technical report: The NAEP 1994Technical Report.

NAEP's Geography AssessmentFramework

The framework underlying the NAEP 1994 geographyassessment reflects current consensus among educatorsand researchers about the study of geography.

The framework's purpose was to provide a view ofgeography on which to base the NAEP assessment.Developing this framework and the specifications thatguided development of the assessment involved thecritical input of hundreds of individuals across thecountry, including representatives of national educationorganizations, teachers, parents, policymakers, businessleaders, and the interested general public. Thisconsensus process was managed by the Council of ChiefState School Officers for the National AssessmentGoverning Board.

The framework sets forth a broad content matrixthat describes geography in terms of content areas andcognitive dimensions. Figure A.1 illustrates this contentmatrix.

Figure A.1 NAEP 1994 Geography Assessment Framework Elements

Silasand Place

'Where ii,the world's largesttropical Ain forest? '''"w

..;

Understanding

Content Dimension

Envirorelt spatial Dynamics

aid Coneections " '

I

-" - ,

What mineial iiiouiceS'are Whatulate,'often eXtrieted by strip T'huMan Migiations?mining? ,f-w

,Why are tropical rain forestslocated near the equator?

Support the conclusion thattropical rairi forestspromote wide speciesvariation.

Explain the effeas of stripmining and shaft mining onthe landscape.

How,can both economic andenvfiorimental interests bereconciled in in area Of strip'mining? .

Explain the motivationsof modern-day Mexicansand Cubans for immigrat-ing to the United States.

.

Compare current settlt'..ment and eMployment

patterñsf Cuban and.Mexicari Immigrants inthe United States. 0.v.

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95BEST COPY AVAILABLE

The assessment framework specified the aspects ofgeography to be measured and the percentage ofasssment time that should be devoted to each. TableA.1 presents the target percentage distributions ofcontent areas as specified in the framework, along withthe actual percentage distributions in the assessmentThe actual content of the assessment was consistent withthe targeted distribution.

The Assessment DesignEach student in the assessment received an assessmentbooklet containing general background questions,geography questions, a set of background questionsspecific to social studies or geography, and a set ofquestions that determined students' motivation andfamiliarity with the assessment tasks. The geographyquestions and their stimulus material were arrangedinto blocks. Students were given either two 25-minuteblocks or one 50-minute block. At the fourth grade, only25-minute blocks were used.

The grade 4 assessment consisted of six 25-minuteblocks, two of which were also administered to eighth-grade students. Each block contained single questionsand sets, a variety of stimulus material, and a combina-tion of multiple-choice and constructed-responsequestions. One or two of the constructed-responsequestions in each block required an extended response.A total of 59 multiple-choice questions, 23 short con-structed-response questions, and 8 extended constructed-response questions were adrninistered at grade 4.

The grade 8 assessment consisted of six 25-minuteblocks and one 50-minute block. The six 25-minUteblocks include two also administered at grade 4 (total of31 questions) and two also administered at grade 12(total of 34 questions). The 25-minute blocks followedthe same pattern as those for grade 4. The 50-minuteblock included questions all focused on a particular themeand contained two extended constructed-responsequestions. A total of 84 multiple-choice questions, 32short constructed-response questions, and 9 extendedconstructed-response questions were administeredat grade 8.

The grade 12 assessment consisted of six 25-minuteblocks (including two also administered at grade 8)and one 50-minute block. These blocks followed thesame pattern as those for grades 4 and 8, except thatall blocks (with the exception of one block for bothgrades 8 and 12 that included one extended constructed-response question) included two extended constructed-response questions. The 50-minute block includedquestions all focusing on a particular theme andcontained two extended constructed-response questions.A total of 85 multiple-choice questions, 25 short con-structed-response queions, and 13 extended constructed-response questions were administered at grade 12.

The assessment design allowed for maximumcoverage of the domain of geography at each grade,while minimizing the time burden for any'One student.This was accoMplished through the use of matrixsampling, in which a representative sample of studentstookeachportion of the assessment Individual studentsWeie required to take only a small part; however, theaggregate results across the entire assessment allow for

TABLE A,1,

Target and Actaal Distribetion of Assessment Um byGrade aad Coated Area

Grades 4, 8, aad 12

um warsWONT

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Geed ANN

Bode 4 Grade 8 Groh 12

Target Adm.! Tart kW Tups Adved

Space and Mace 42% 39% 42%

Environment and Society % 21% 30% 30% 30% 30%

Spatial Dynamics and fanned= 30% 31% 30% 32% 30% 21%

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WM SAW (oft ler amass Mks, kiwi Assam, of Edwaliosi Mims (1011), 014 Calm* koala

BEST COPY AVAILABLE

. 711011drue.4.-

broad reporting of geography abilities for the targetedpopulation.

in addition to matrix sampling, the assessmentdesign used a procedure for distributing booklets thatcontrolled for position and balance effects. Studentsreceived different blocks of questions in their bookletsaccording to a specific design. Balanced incompleteblock (BIB) spiraling was used to assign blocks ofquestions in a manner that balanced the positioningof blocks across booklets and balanced the pairing ofblocks within booklets. The spiraling aspect of thisprocedure cycles the booklets for administration so thattypically only a few students in any assessment sessionreceive the same booklet.

Teacher and School QuestionnairesOne of the most important parts of NAEP's efforts todocument the nature of students' achievement is thecollection of contextual information regarding students'school experiences. As a part of the 1994 geographyassessment, NAEP administered a questionnaire toteachers responsible for teaching social studies orgeography to students who participated in the fourth- oreighth-grade assessments. In addition, the principals orother administrators of sampled schools at all gradeswere asked to complete a school questionnaire. Thesequestionnaires were developed in consultation with anexpert panel. These instruments focused on five areas:instructional content, instructional practices andexperiences, teacher characteristics, school conditionsand contexts, and conditions outside the school (i.e.,home support, out-of-school activities, and attitudes).

I. !--

The fourth-- and eighth-grade social studies andgeography teacher, questionnaires were composed of two.sections each. One section contained questions aboutteachers' background, education, and resources. Theother section contained questions about teachers' recentexposure to training in various areas of geography

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education, the structure and nature of their classroominstruction, and the types of materials and approachesthey use in teaching geography.

Because the sampling of teachers for the teacherquestionnaires was based on participating students, theteachers' questionnaire responses do not necessarilyrepresent all fourth- and eighth-grade teachersin the nation. Rather, they represent teachers of therepresentative sample of students in the assessment.Consequently, these findings portray the nature ofstudents' instructional experiences and the backgroundof their teachers.

It is important to note that in this report, as in allNAEP reports, the student is the unit of analysiseven when information from teacher or schoolquestionnaires is being reported. Using the student asthe unit of analysis makes ;.1. possible to link students'performance with their instructional and backgroundexperiences, thus providing a rich source of relevantinformation for educators and researchers. Althoughthis approach may provide a different perspective fromother studies that simply report information aboutteachers or schools, it is consistent with NAEP's goal ofproviding information about the educational contextand performance of students.

Some students selected for the assessment werejudged by school authorities to be incapable ofmeaningful participation in the assessment because theyhad limited English-language proficiency, were mentallychallenged, or were functionally disabled. (See theLimited English Proficient and Individualized EducationPlan section in this appendix.) For each.studentexcluded from the assessment, schools were required tocomplete a questionnaire about the characteristici ofthat student and the reason for exclusion. !

NAE t' Geography SamplesThi results presented in this report are based onnationally representative probability samples of fourth-,eighth-, and twelfth-grade students. The samples wereselected using a complex multistage sampling designinvolving the sampling of students from selected schoolswithin selected geographic areas across the country. Thesample design had the following stages:

1) selection of primary sampling units (PSUs)geographic areas defined as counties or groups ofcounties);

2) selection of schools (both public and nonpublic)within the selected areas; and

3) selection of students within selected schools.

itat,-APX, '961101MZhiSiV.ir'SlacteitiERMASSUSaiiiiinialifiESEUMadOkliaMit

Each selected school that participated in theassessment, and each student assessed, represents aportion of the population of interest. To make validinferences from the student samples to the respectivepopulations from which they were drawn, samplingweights are needed. Sampling weights account fordisproportionate representation due to oversampling ofnonpublic schools and of students attending schoolswith high concentrations of Black or Hispanic studentsor both. Lower sampling rates for very small schoolsmust also be accounted for with the sampling weights.

Table A.2 provides a summary of the weighted andunweighted student sample sizes for the geographyassessment. The numbers reported include both publicand nonpublic school students.

57115111111"

Unweighted and Weighted Sample Sizes by Grade and RegionPublic and Nonpublic Schools

Grades 4, 8, and 12

111E WOWSWORT

CMIgurwagited se*She (sod head of Total)

Groh 4 Grob $ ends 12

Wm 5,507 (100.0%) 6,878 (100.0%) 6,234 (100.0%)1101

Northeast 1,362 (243%) 1,289 (18.1%)southeast ,.:. , , , . 1,445 (26.2%) 2,075 (302%)

1,407 ( nim1,729 (273%)

.. . .Clairol 1,211 (22.1%) 1,444 (21.0%)..... 0 . 1,275 (103%).'''"'"West 1,484 (26.9%) 2,070 ( 30.1%) 1,123

. ....., . . Weighted Smile Ski (sod Nowt of Wel) i -I .,.-.0-. ts- -- ..!. .,..

bon . ,""r , 3,530,816 (100.0%) ...4', . 3,447,145 (100.0%) 3,543,314 (1110.0%),

llorthsost 717,700 (21.1%) 694,286 (20.1%) 543,540 (31.4%)Southeast 813,351 (23.0%) 865,529 (25.1%) 573,651 (22.5%)

' Gobi 899,746 (253%) 830,366 (24.1%) '.700,601 1 174%1WEI . 1,050,010 ( 292%) 1,056,963 ( 303%) 125,515 ( 283%) '

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98

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1..nlited English Proficiency (LEP)4nd Individualized Education PlanCiEP) StudentsIt is NAEP's intent to assess all selected students.Therefore, every effort is made to ensure that allselected students who are capable of participating in theassessment are assessed. However, some studentssampled for participation in NAEP can be excused fromthe sample according to carefully defined criteria.Specifically, some students identified as having LimitedEnglish Proficiency (LEP) or having an IndividualizedEducation Plan (IEP) may be incapable of participatingmeaningfully in the assessment. The:Je students areidentified as follows:

Students classified as LEP may be excluded from theassessment if

> the student is a native speaker of a language otherthan English; AND

1:ro the student has been enrolled in an English-speaking school less than two years; AND

l the school staff most familiar with the student havejudged the student to be incapable of taking part inthe assessment.

Students classified as IEP may be excluded if

the student is mainstreamed less than 50 percent ofthe time in academic subjects and is judged to beincapable of taking part in the assessment, OR

the IEP team has determined that the student isincapable of taking part meaningfully in theassessment.

When there is doubt, the student is included inthe assessment

For each student excused from the assessment,school personnel complete a questionnaire about thecharacteristics of that student and the reason forexclusion.

Data CollectionThe NAEP 1994 geography assessment was conductedfrom January through March 1994, with some make-upsessions in early April. As with all NAEP assessments,data collection for the 1994 assessment was conductedby trained field staff. For the geography assessment, thiswas accomplished by Westat, Inc., staff.

ScoringMaterials from the 1994 assessment were shipped toNational Computer Systems in Iowa City for processing.Receipt and quality control were managed through asophisticated bar-coding and tracking system. After allappropriate materials were received from a school, theywere forwarded to the professional scoring area wherethe responses to the constructed-response questionswere evaluated by trained staff using guidelinesprepared by NAEP. Each constructed-response questionhad a unique scoring guide that defined the criteria tobe used in evaluating students' responses. The extended-response questions were evaluated with four-levelrubrics. Many of the short constructed-responsequestions were rated according to three-level rubricsthat permitted partial credit to be given.

For the NAEP 1994 geography assessment,approximaterty 375,000 student responses were scored.This figure includes a 25-percent rescore to monitorinterrater reliability. Comparable to the NAEP 1994reading and U.S. history assessments, the overallpercentages of agreement between scorers for the 1994geography reliability samples were 93 percent at grade 4,93 percent at grade 8, and 90 percent at grade 12.

Data Analysis and IRT S.611rig44:

Subsequent to the professional scoring, all informationwas transcribed to the NAEP database at EducationalTesting Service. Each processing activitiwas conductedwith rigorous quality control. After the aisessmentinformation had been compiled in,the clatapase, the datawere weighted according to the popiiiaati StrUCture.*The weighting for the samples refiect4thi probability'of selection for each student as a reiiIt Ofthe simplingdesign, adjusted for nonresponie. Thrii*ity4tification,the weighting ensured that the repiesentieon of dertainsubpopulations corresponded to figures from the U.S.Bureau of the Census and the Current PoiiiilationSurvey.'

Analyses were then conducted to determine thepercentages of students who gave various responses toeach geography and background question. Indetermining these percentages for the geographyquestions, a distinction was made between missingresponses at the end of a block (i.e., missing responsessubsequent to the last question the student answered)and missing responses prior to the last observedresponse. Missing responses before the last observed

41..-f,t2L

response were considered intentional omissions.Missing responses at the end of the block werecorisidered "not reached" and treated as if the questionshad not been presented to the student In calculatingresponse percentages for each question, only studentsclassified as having been presented the question wereincluded in the denominator of the statistic.

It is standard ETS practice to treat all nonrespondentsto the last question in a block as if they had not reachedthe question. For multiple-choice and short constructed-response questions, this practice produces a reasonablepattern of results in that the proportion reaching thelast question is not dramatically smaller than theproportion reaching the next-to-last question. However,for bl6cks that ended with extended constructed-response questions, the standard ETS practice wouldresult in extremely large drops in the proportion ofstudents attempting the final question. A drop of suchmagnitude seemed somewhat implausible. Therefore,for blocks ending with an extended constructed-responsequestion, students who answered the next-to-last questionbut did not respond to the extended constructed-response question were classified as having intentionallyomitted the last question.

r Item response theory (IRT) was used to estimateaverage geography scale scores for the nation and forvarious subgroups of interest within the nation. IRTmodels the probability of answering a question in acertain way as a mathematical function of skill. Themain purpose of IRT analysis is to provide a commonscale on which performance can be compared acrossgroups such as those defined by grades and characteristics,including race/ethnicity and gender.

Because of the BIB-spiriling design used by NAE12,students do not receive enough questions about aspecific topic to provide reliable information aboutindividual performance.t.aditional test scores forindividual students, even those based on IRT, would leadto misleading estimates of population characteristics,such as subgroup means and percentages of students aor above a certain achievement level. Consequently,NAEP constructs sets of plausiblevalues designed torepresent the distribution of stores in the population.A plausible value for an individual is not a scale score forthat individual but may be regarded as a representativevalue from the distribution of potential scale scores for

all students in the population with similar character-istics and identical patterns of item response. Statisticsdescribing performance on the NAEP geography scaleare based on the plausible values. They estimate valuesthat would have been obtained had individualperformances been observed that is, had each studentresponded to a sufficient number of cognitive questionsso that performance could be precisely estimated.2

For the NAEP 1994 geography assessment, within-grade scales were created to report performance foreach subscale (i.e., content area). Similar scalingprocedures were used to establish each of the threesubscales. Specifically, three within-grade subscales(one for each grade) were established for each of thegeography content areas. The within-grade subscales forgrades 4 and 12 were then linked to the grade 8 subscaleto form a common reporting metric. This commonreporting metric, which runs from 0 to 500 for each ofthe subscales, was established so that the mean scoresacross all three grades is 250 and the standard deviationof the scores is 50.

The composite NAEP geography scale was producedas a weighted average of the subscales, the weightsbeing given by the target percentages shown in Table A.1.The reporting metric of the composite scale, which alsoruns from 0 to 500, was again established so that themean score across all three grades is 250. No constraintswere imposed on the standard deviation'Of the crosi-grade composite scores. . .=.401.;1:

It may be helpful here to provide some guidance tothe reader of this report about the tyPes Otcrass,-gradeand croil-scile iriferencei that are apProgitite. The useof a common cross-grade metric for the subscales andthe composite scale was motiVated primarilY b issuesof convenience in the reporting ofresults. In groducingthe inbscalei; IRT para meteri fOr qiieritiOni-commonacross the grades were not constrained to be equal. Asa result of this scaling convention, crOikride corn-.parisons of scale score averages, both at the subscalelevel as well as for the Composite scale, May not bemeaningful. Similarly, scale score differences (e.g.,between subscale or composite scale averages for malesand females) should probably not be compared acrossgrades. The reader is best served by focusing on within-grade group comparisons and inferences. ,

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The use of a common scaling procedure for eachof the subscales does provide for some within-gradenormative meanings across subscales. For example, atgrade 4, a score of 200 is one cross-grade standarddeviation unit below the cross-grade average for each ofthe geography subscales. Similarly, a score of 210 isfour-fifths of a cross-grade standard deviation below thecross-grade average for each of the scales. A group,for example males, scoring 200 on the Space and Placesubscale and 210 on the Environment and Societysubscale did indeed perform "better" on the latter thanon the former in a cross-grade normative sense.However, other inferences about relative performancein, say, a percent-correct metric do not necessarilyfollow. For example, a score of 200 on the Space andPlace subscale may imply a higher expected percent-correct score on the collection of assessment exercisesthat define that scale than is implied by a score of 210on the Environment and Society subscale. Thus,continuing with the current example, performance onthe Space and Place subscale was better in the percent-correct sense than performance on the Environmentand Society subscale.

In Chapter 5, performance across subscales iscompared by examining patterns of subgroup differences(i.e., patterns of statistical significance between subgroupsacross the three subscales). These patterns are discussedseparately for each of the three grades. Within-gradeinferences based on such comparisons are defensiblegiven the limited degree of comparability that exists inthe subscale reporting metrics. As noted above, othertypes of inferences (e.g., inferences involving subscalescore differences) may be less defensible.

The subscales summarize student performanceacross all three question types in the assessment

7 (multiple-choice, short constructed-response, andI extended constructed-response). In producing thesesubscales, two IRT models were used. Multiple-choicequestions were scaled using the three-parameter logistic(3PL) model; and short constructed-response questionsrated according to a three-level rubric, as well asextended constructed-response questions rated on afour-level rubric, were scaled using a generalizedpartial-credit (GPC) model.3 Developed by ETS and firstused in 1992, the GPC model permits the scaling ofquestions scored according to multipoint ratingschemes. The moddl takes full advantage of the.inforrnation available from each of the student responsecategories used for these more complex constructed-response questions.

The geography scale is composed of two types ofquestions: multiple-choice and constructed-response(scored according to a partial-credit model). One naturalquestion about the scale concerns the amount ofinformation contributed by each type of question.Unfortunately, this question has no sidgple answerfor the NAEP geography assessment, due to the complexprocedures used to form the composite geography scale.

The information provided by a given question isdetermined by the IRT model used to scale the questionand is a function of proficiencies.' Thus, the answer tothe query "How much information do the different typesof questions provide?" will differ for each level ofgeography proficiency. When considering the compositegeography scale, the answer is even more complicated.The geography data are scalcd separately by thegeography content areas. As discussed on the previouspage, the composite scale is a weighted combination ofthese subscales. IRT information functions are onlystrictly comparable when they are linked on a commonscale. Because the composite scale is based on threeseparate calibrations, without any common item linking,there is no direct way to compare the informationprovided by the questions on the composite scale.

NAEP Reporting Groups

Findings from the NAEP 1994 geography assessment arepresented for groups of students defined by sharedcharacteristics. Data are reported for subgroups onlywhere sufficient numbers of students anci adequate .

school representation are present. There must be atleast 62 students in a particular subgroup, and thesestudents must come from at least six different PSUs (see

--'description of sampling design on page 84). Data for all-students, regardless of whether their subgroup wasreported separately, were included in computing overallnational and regional results.

The reporting subgroups presented in this reportinclude: region, race/ethnicity, gender, parents' highestlevel of education, type of school, and type of location.Definitions of these subgroups are provided on thefollowing page.

103101

Region. Results are reported for four regions of thenation: Northeast, Southeast, Central and West. Statesincluded in each region are shown in Figure A.2. All50 states and the District of ColuMbia are listed. U.S.territories were not assigned to a region.

RacelEthnicity. The race/ethnicity variable is animputed definition of race/ethnicity, derived from up tothree sources of information. This variable is used forrace/ethnicity subgroup comparisons. Usto questionsfrom the student demographics questionnaire were usedin the determination of derived race/ethnicity:

If you are Hispanic, what is your Hispanicbackground?

0 I am not Hispanic.

0 Mexican, Mexican American, or Chicano

0 Puerto Rican

0 Cuban

0 Other Spanish or Hispanic background

Students who responded to this question by fillingin the second, third, fourth, or fifth oval wereconsidered Hispanic. For students who filled in the firstoval, did not respond,to the question, or providedinformation that was 'illegible or could not be classified,responses to the following question were examined in aneffort to determine riCifithnicity:

4..; ,.f f,3

Rpm L2 States NAM in the Few %hos

.5*INAISAARILIWAaa.itakii4.

Which best describes you?

0 White (not Hispanic)

0 Black (not Hispanic)

0 Hispanic ("Hispanic" means someone who isMmdcan, Mexican American, Chicano,Puerto Rican, Cuban, or other Spanish orHispanic background.)

0 Asian ("Asian" means someone who is Chinese,Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, or other Asianbackground.)

0 Pacific Islander ("Pacific Islander" meanssomeone who is from a Filipino, Hawaiian, orother Pacific Island background.)

0 American Indian or Alaskan Native ("AmericanIndian or Alaskan Native" means someone who isfrom one of the American Indian tribes, or one ofthe original people of Alaska.)

0 Other

Students' race/ethnicity was then assigned to cor-respond with their selection. For students wha filled in theseventh oval ("Other"), provided illegible inforination orinformation that could not be classified, or did notrespond at all, race/ethnicity as provided froni school

..records Was Used. '.

DeriVed riceiethnicity couldnot be detenninedfor students who did not respond to either of thedemOgraphic questions and for whom rice/ethnicity wasnOt Provided by the schbol.

-- S. .

;

NOR'THEAST 'SOUTHEAST CENTRAL WEST

ConnecticutDelaware

District of ColumbiaMaine

MarylandMassachusetts

New HampshireNew JerseyNew York

PennsylvaniaRhode Island

VermontVirginia*

,

AlabamaArkansas

z . FloridaGeorgia

KentuckyLouisianaMississippi

North CarolinaSouth Carolina

TennesseeVirginia*

West Virginia

.

*'''IllinoisIndiana

IowaKansas

MichiganMinnesotaMissouriNebraska

North DakotaOhio

South DakotaWisconsin

*Note that the part of Virginia that is included in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area isincluded in the Northeast region; the remainder of the state is included in the Southeast region.

in 102

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Arizona.CaliforniaColoradOHawaii ;$'

IdahoMontanaNevada

New MexicoOklahomflOregonTexasUtah

WashingtonWyoming

Gender. Results are reported separately for malesand females.

Parents' Highest Level Education Level. The parents'education level variable is derived from responses to twoquestions in the student demographic questionnaire.Students were asked to indicate the extent of theirmother's education (How far in school did your mothergo?) by choosing one of the following:

0 She did not finish high school.

0 She graduated from high school.

0 She had some education after high school.

0 She graduated from college.

0 I don't know.

Students were asked to provide the same informationabout the extent of their father's education (How far inschool did your father go?) by choosing one of thefollowing:

0 He did not finish high school.

0 He graduated from high school.

0 He had some education after high school.

0 He graduated from college.

0 I don't know.

The information was combined into one parentaleducation reporting category as follows: if a studentindicated the extent of education for only one parent,that level was included in the data. If a student indicatedthe extent of education for both parents, the higher ofthe two levels was included in the data. For studentswho did not know the level of education for both parentsor did not know the level of education for one parentand did not respond for the other, the parentaleducation level was classified as unknown. If the studentdid not respond for both parents, the student wasrecorded as having provided no response.

It should be noted that approximately one-third offourth graders and one-tenth of eighth graders reportednot knowing the education level ofeither of theirparents. The percentages of students who reported notknowing their parents' education level were larger forfourth-grade Hispanic students and for eighth-gradeBlack and Hispanic students compared to their Whitecounterparts. (See Table A.3)

In addition, evidence from other surveys by theNational Center for Education Statistics that gather datafrom students and parents indicates larger discrepancies

ll1.14111/Wilika"4311Waitanit

TABLE A.3 116 =linPercentage of %dents Who WONTCNIRRepoded Not KnowingTM& Parents' %best Level of Z.".

Education, by Race/EthnieityGrades 4, 8, and 12

1994 Geography Assessment

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Groin 4 34 (0.9) 33(1.2) 31 (13) 41(24)

ands 8 10 (OS) 7(0.4) 14 (1.2) 11 6.9)

Groh 12 3 (0.2) 1 (0.2) 5(03). 1 ILO

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between students' and parents' reports for Black andHispanic students as compared to White students.These differences between racial/ethnic groups aremost evident at grade 8. As shown in Table A.4, thecorrelations between students' and parents' reports ofparental education were lower for Black and Hispanicstudents than for White students at both grades 8 and 12,although all correlations were higher in twelfth grade.

TABLE A.4-

conviatioisktweestii6isiowllarents' Reports of Parents' Education Level,

by Roci/EfhlidtY -tqe:.Grades 12

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0.07

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' 4, t`'Type of School. Results are reported by the type ofschool that the student attends: public or nonpublic.Nonpublic schools include Catholic and other nonpublicschools. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools anddomestic Department of Defense (DoD) schools are notincluded in either the public or nonpublic categoriesbut are included in the overall national results.

ei 103 BEST COPY AVAILABLE

-0401'.1-0:11

Type of Location. Results are reported for studentsattending schools in three mutually exclusive locationtyq.s: central city, urban fringe/large town, and rural/small town:

Central City: This category includes central cities ofall Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas(SMSAs).5 Central City is a geographic term and isnot synonymous with "inner city."

Urban FringelLarge 7bwn: The urban fringe categoryincludes all densely settled places and areas withinSMSAs that are classified as urban by the U.S. Bureauof the Census. A Large Town is defined as a placeoutside a SMSA with a population greater than orequal to 25,000.

RurallSmall 7bwn: Rural includes all places andareas with populations of less than 2,500 that areclassified as rural by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.A Small Town is defined as a place outside a SMSAwith a population of less than 25,000 but greaterthan or equal to 2,500.

As described earliekthe NAEP geography scalemakes it possible to examine relationships betweenstudents' performanciand a variety of backgroundfactors measured by NAEP. However, the fact that arelationship exists between achievement and anothervariable does not reVeal the underlying cause of therelationship, Which maibe 'influenced by a number ofother variables. Similarlyt,the assessment does notcapture the influence if Unmeasured variables. Theresults are most useful when they are considered incombination with other knowledge about the studentpopulation and the educational system, such as trendsin instruction, changes in the school-age population,and societal demands and expectations.

Estimating Variability

Because the statistics presented in this report areestimates of group and subgroup performance based onsamples of students, rather than the values that could becalculated if every student in the nation answered everyquestion, it is important to account for the degree ofuncertainty associated with the estimates. TWo components

of uncertainty are accounted for in the variability ofstatistics based on scale scores: 1) the uncertainty due tosampling only a relatively small number of students,and 2) the uncertainty due to sampling only a relativelySmall number of questions. The variability associatedwith the estimated percentages of students with certainbackground characteristics or who answered a certaincognitive question correctly is accounted for by the firstcomponent alone.

In addition to providing estimates of percentages ofstudents and their average scores, this report providesinformation about the uncertainty of each statistic.Because NAEP uses complex sampling procedures,conventional formulas for estimating samplingvariability that assume simple tandom sampling areinappropriate. NAEP uses a jackknife replicationprocedure to estimate standard errors. The jackknifestandard error provides a reasonable measure ofuncertainty for any information about students that canbe observed without error. However, each studenttypically responds to so few questions within anycontent area that the score measurement for any singlestudent would be imprecise. In this case, using plausible-values technology makes it possitile to describe theperformance of groups and subgroups of students, butthe vnderlying imprecision that makes this stepnecessary adds an additional component of variability tostatistics based on NAEP scale scores.' $1.:TA L

:The reader is reminded that, like fmdings from allsurveys, NAEP results are, also subject to other ,kinds oferrors including the effects of imperfect adjustMent forstudent and school zwnresponse, and Other,iinkimvableeffects associated with the particular. instrumentation ,

, and data collection methods. Nonsampling 0'00 can beattributed to a number of sources: inability t4-Ao,btain 4coliriplete information about all selected-schools in the ,

saniple (some students or schools refused to participate.Lor students participated but answered only cer,!ainquestions); ambiguous definitions; differences in inter-preting questions; inability or unwillingnessto givecorrect information; mistakes in recording, coding, orscoring data; and other errors of collecting? PtcOssing,sampling, and estimating missing data. irt. (*tent ofnonsampling error is difficult to estimate...BY their '

nature, the impact of such errors cannot be reflected,inthe data-based estimates of uncertainty pràvided inNAEP reports.

9 0104

te

e

Drawing Inferences from the ResultsThe use of confidence intervals, based on the standarderrors, provides a way to make inferences about thepopulation means and percentages in a manner thatreflects the uncertainty associated with the sampleestimates.

An estimated sample mean ± 2 standard errorsrepresents an approximate 95-percent confidenceinterval for the corresponding population quantity. Thismeans that with approximately

95-percent certainty, theaverage scale score for the entire population of interestis within ± 2 standard errors of the sample mean.

As an example, suppose that the average score ofstudents in a particular group was 256, with a standarderror of 1.2. A 95-percent confidence interval for thepopulation quantity would be as follows:

Mean ± 2 standard errors256 ± 2 x 1.2

256 ± 2.4

253.6, 258.4

Thus, one can concludewith 95-percent certaintythat the average scale score for the entire population ofstudents in that group is between 253.6 and 258.4.Similar confidence intervals can be constructed for

percentages, provided that the percentagesare notextremely large (greater than 90) or extremely small(less than 10). For extreme percentages, confidenceintervals constructed in the above manner may not beappropriate. However, procedures for obtaining accurateconfidence intervals are quite complicated. Thus,comparisons involving extreme percentages should beinterpreted with this in mind.

To determine whether there is a real differencebetween the mean score (or percentage ofa certainattribute) for two groups in the population, one needsto obtain an estimate of the degree ofuncertaintyassociated with the difference between the means orpercentages of these groups for the sample. Whencomparing two independent estimates, this estimate ofthe degree of uncertainty called the standard error ofthe difference between the groups is obtained by

rir10,*71

taking the square ofeach group's standard error,summing these squared standard errors, and thentaking the square root of this sum.

SEAB = 4SEA2 + SEB2

In a manner similar to that in which the standarderror for an individual group mean or percentage isused, the standard error of the difference can be used thelp determine whether differences between groups inthe population are real. The difference between themean scale score or percentage of the two groups ± 2standard errors of the difference represents anapproximate 95-percent confidence interval. If theresulting interval includes zero, there is insufficientevidence to claim a real difference between groups inthe population. If the interval does not contain zero, thdifference between groups is statistically significant(different) at the .05 level.

The procedures described in this section, and thecertainty ascribed to intervals (e.g., a 95-percent confi-dence interval) are based on statistical theory thatassumes that only one confidence interval or test ofstatistical significance is being performed. When oneconsiders sets of confidence intervals, statistical theoryindicates'that the certainty associatedwith the entire stof intervals is less than that attributable to each individualcomparison from the set. If one wants to hold thecertainty level fora specific set of Compariioni at aparticular level (e.g.', 95 percent), adjustments (calledmultiple-comparisons procedures) neid to be made. Amore complete discussion of the multiple-comparisonsprocedures is presented in the NARP 1994 DchnicalReport.

The standard errors for means and percentagesreported by NAEP are statistics and-arrtul)ject to acertain degree ofuncertainty. In certar cases, typicallywhen the standard error is based on # small number ofstudents (or when the group.of students is enrolled in asmall number ofschools), the amount of uncertaintyassociated with the standard errors may be quite large.Throughout this report, estimates of standard errorssubject to a large degree of uncertaintyare designatedby the symbol "1". In such cases, the standard errorsand any confidence intervals or significance tests involvingthese standard errors should be interpreted cautiously.

D 1.06

t.trY310°.61,4 VI* .1,15s9ViTriYM .7MXIffirrk. !wfintivr1"74vzof.7%747rgri

EndriOtes

1. Ror additional information about the use of weightingprocedures in NAEP, see Johnson, E. G. (1989)."Considerations and techniques for the analysis ofNAEP data." Journal of Educational Statistics,14(4), 303-34.

2. For theoretical and empirical justification of theprocedures nnployed, see Mislevy, R. J. (1988)."Randomizzaa m-based inferences about latentvariables from complex samples." Pyschometrika,56(2), 177-96.

For computational details, see Mislevy, R. J. (1990)."Scaling procedures." In E.G. Johnson & R. Zwick, incollaboration with N. Allen, et al. Focusing the newdesign: The NAEP 1988 Technical Report. Princeton,NJ: National Assessment of Educational Progress,Educational Testing Service. See also Mislevy, R. J.(1992). "Scaling procedures." In E.G. Johnson &N. Allen, The 1990 NAEP7bchnical Report. Washington,DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

3. Muraki, E. (1992). "A generalized partial creditmodel: Application of an EM algorithm." AppliedPsychological Measurement, 16(2), 159-76.

4. Donoghue, J. R. (1994). "An empirical examination ofthe IRT information of polytomously scored readingitems under the geneialized partial credit model.*Journal of Educiitiond Measurement, 31(4), 295-311.

Muraki, E. (1993). "Information functions of thegeneralized partial.credit model." AppliedPsychological Measurement, 17(4), 351-63.

5. Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA) asdefined by the Office of Management and Budget.

6. Por further 'details,,see Johnson, E. G., & Rust, K. F.(41992). 'Population inferences and variance estimationfor NAEP data." Animal of Educational Statistics,17(2), 175-90.

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9 2106

1)!.*,:.

Describing Students'Geography PerformanceThis appendix contains detailed information aboutthe procedures used for describingstudents' geographyknowledge and abilities and profiling students' studyhabits. Chapter 5 presents the results of theseprocedures.

Performance Descriptions Based onthe Geography Composite Scale

A procedure known as scale anchoring was used todevelop descriptions of student performance at selectedpoints on the NAEP geography composite scale. Thescale points selected for anchorihg reflect three levels ofgeography knowledge and abilities corresponding tolower, middle, and higher performing students. Theselevels correspond to the 25th, 50th, and 90th percentilepoints on the composite scale as established by theperformance of students in 1994 the first assessmentadministered under NAEP's current geographyframework.

Around each percentile point, a band was built todefine a range of scale scores. Students described asbeing at a particular level were within a range of fivepercentile points on either side of the specified scalepoint. For example, the 50th percentile was defined asthe region between the 45th and 55th percentile pointson the scale. A question was identified es anchoringat a percentile point on the scale if at 10 t 65 percent ofthe students within that percentile band answered thequestion successfully. (The criterion was set at 74percent for multiple-choice questions to correct for thepossibility of answering correctly by guessing.)

After defining the bands of the scale to be anchored,the next step in the process was to identify: (1) questionsanswered correctly for dichotomously szvred questionsand (2) questions answered at a particular score level forpartial credit constructed-response questions. Becausethe extended constructed-response questions werescored according to four levels of performance, eachextended constructed-response question was treated asthree distinct questions corresponding to scores of

"Partial or better," "Essential or better," and "ComplettThese distinct score levels were then analyzed in thesame manr.cr as questions scored dichotomously, aseither correct or incorrect. Thus, for example, anextended constructed-response question might anchorat the 50th percentile for "Partial or better" responsesand at the 96th percentile for "Essential or better"responses.

A committee of geography education experts,including teachers for the grades involved, collegeprofessors, state curriculumsupervisors, and researchers,was assembled to revieW the sets of questions identifiecfor each percentile band. The committee was dividedinto three groups, one for each grade. Each groupexamined and analyzed questions that anchored at the25th, 50th, and 90th percentiles to determine thespecific geography knowledge and abilities associatedwith each question.

Committee members were also given the sets ofquestions at each grade that "did not anchor" to informtheir decisions about what students could do by seeingexamples of what they could not do. Drawing on theirknowledge of geography, committee members wereasked to summarize student performance by describingthe knowledge, skills, and abilities demonstrated bystudents in each of the score bands.

The performance descriptions are:curnulative (thatis, the abilities described for the lowerformingstudents are CoriSidered to be axnoihèabilities ofstudents performing at higher pointi:Orithe scale).Therefore, the full description of sttiCletlti' geographyknowledge and abilities in the midelle-,kale band wouldinclude those abilities described at the lower bind.Similarly, the abilities of students oirfOrming at thehigher scale band include the geogriphy abilitiesdescribed for students at the middleifidlOwer bands.

,

Profiling Students' Study Habits

Using the scale bands defined for the anchoring processdescribed above, the profiling of students' study habitswas accomplished by examining the responses ofstudents within those bands to selected backgroundquestions. Tables B.1, B2, and B.3contain a completepresentation of students' responses to the threebackground questions highlighted in Chapter 5. Thepercentages that appear in the tables are conditionalon the anchor scale point. That is, they are percentagesof students who scored within a five pe,tentile pointrange on either side of the specified scalepoint.

107

!141i7.4;;

TABLE 8.1 : :Responses of Students Hear Seletted Percentile Points

to General Study Habit QuestionsGrade 4

IME wonWONTOleg

!-

2.Sth Percentile SOth Pause& goth Pim&Sale Range 170-147 Scale Rep 204-216 Soh Rags 2411-20

Tim Spat Erick Day m Homowork

Mors Am I How 16 (2.1) 16 (2.0) 14 (3.1)Ono Hour 20 (3.5) 31 (23) 33 (3.1)One ligif HOW Of Loss 39 (2.4) 37 (2.9) 17 (3.6)Assilywebon't Use* Do 5 (2.2) 4 (1.3) 1 (0.6)Not Usually Assigned 13 (2.5) 13 (23) 14 (3.4)

Olson Stodies at HMIDailOwoct Dotty 53(3.6) 57 (3.4) 61 (3.6)Onto/like a Wook 20 (3.6) TO (2.8) 24 (2.6)Once/Iwko a Month 5 (1.3) 6 (1.7) i (2.1)Nover/Harly Ever 22 (2.2) 17 (2.1) 9 (1.7)

Paps Rood Each Day la kiwiali for Homework

MOM Than 20 21 (2.1) 21 (23) 24 (3.3)16 to 20 13 (2.3) 14 (3.1) 19 (2.9)I 1 to 15 13 (1.6) 15 (1.9) 19 (2.6)6 to 10 23 (3.1) 25 (3.1) . 25 (2.8)5 or Frew 30 (2.7) 25 (2.))

Differeona between the grew- row be psi* whiled by other fodors not hickaled in this labk ,

11se standard goers el the mt. aged percestoves gra is parenthesis. ft coo be said sills PS-percent sodomy that, for sods populetke el Moist, thevalue Isc the halideleek mouldiso pia w mins' ' -. .. : -P tit-,r,Twe sawierd was el the same fele somle.

.. - ' ,i. .

Percsidegss of stain* in the Mire* nary net WI 100 doe to rani% ,t :. 4-:'..%i v.:4 '.

SOURCE Notional Coder for Nannies Statistics, Iletiong Assessment of Educational Progress (PAP), 1994 Geography Assessment... . . i .

1...t"4,7*1.

: 14 41.4 o:.

z - !i":,',?';1:

. a

Responses of Students Near Selected Percentile Pointsto General Study Habit Questions

Grade 8

WOKSWORT=

ftee..A.0,..111=1

256 Pease&Sale Rage 230-243

50th Perna*Scale Runge 2511-267

906 Permed.Sate begs 293-312

Time Sped Eyck Day es Homework

Mon Son 1 How 23 (2.4) 27 (2.6) 33 (2.7)One Hour 35 (3.5) 38 (23) 37 (2.6)Om ihilf NOW w lass 23 (3.5) 22 (3.3) 21 (1.8)Assigned/0ml Usually Do 10 (1.7) 7 (1.3) 4 (1.1)Not Usually Assigned 9 (1.6) 7 (1.6) 5(1.1)

Dienes Studies at Ham

DelYrnaost Doh 33 (3.0) 37 (3.9) 49 12.8)OnaNke a Week 26 (3.4) 31 (2.9) 28 (3.4)Onceihvice a Alm* 13 (2.2) 12 (2.4) 10 (1.7)Norm/Hadly Eyw 23 (3.0) 20 (2.1) 13 (1.9)

Pages Rood loth Day for School

aod Homework

Moro Than 20 9 (1.9) 10 (2.3) 17 (2.4)16 to 20 9 (1.4) 10 (2.3) 13 (2.1)11 to 15 14 (2.0) 15 (2.2) 18 (2.0)6 to 10 28 (2.3) 31 (2.5) 30 (2.2)5 or Flom 41 (3.1) 35 (2.8) 23 (2.7)

Differences beam the groups ow k penally explained by odor boors not induded in this table.

Tbs modoni eras sides esdasted pottsiogos *poor in poroothosis. It am bs sold sith 95-porcsot Matey that, for rode population of interest, the value for the awls pspoldioa !sails pinor alastwo sward wars el the mimeo for the simple.

Porampos of oodomtio IN srAormos moy mmi 100 km rousding.

sousa NMenel (sew fet Educotica %Ostia, Notkeol Assesia. It of Educational Progress (NAM, 1994 Geography Assumed

in 109

414. 4111144.Y.:41%3117 -4' a", :' ,1

:TABLE.B.3 1'of Students Near Selected Percentile Points

! to General Study Habit QuestionsGrade 12

NE NAMWONTwog

25th Percentile 506 Paustile 99ti Perces&We Rage 259-270 Sa lb bop 233491 Sada Rap 216-329

Tine Spied Eyck Day es Hesswerk

More Than 1 Hour V (2.4) 24 (2.2) 31 (2.4)

One Hour 30 (2.9) 29 (2.7) 24 (2.6)

Om Hoff Hour or Less 19 (1.6) 25 (2.3) .26 (2.6)

Assigned/Don't Usually Do 10 (1.6) II (1.3) 1 (13)

Not Usually Assigned 19 (3.1) 14 (1.9) 4 (1.3)

Discuss Studies et Helve

Do11V/Almost Doh 27 (2.3) 30 (3.2) 38 (2.6)

OnceAvice a Week 28 (2.8) 29 (2.7) 36 (2.7) .

Once/Iwice a Month 15 (1.7) 11 (2.Q 11 (1.3)

Never/Hardly Ever 30 (3.2) 25 (2.2) 15 (2.4)

Poses Read Erich Dry for School

rod HomworkMore Than 20 9 (1.5) 13 (1.6) . 26 (2.6)

16 to 20 8 (1.6) 12 (2.1) 15 (2.1)

11 to 15 12 (2.5) 16 (2.1) 16 (2.5)

6 to 10 27 (23) 23 (3.1) 19 (2.8) .

5 or Fewer 44 (2.9) 37 (2.1) 23 (3.2)

Differences beau the poups may I. psi* exidcieed hy odor factors Nc4 included in this tabh.

lhe standard errors If do eslimeled primulas epos le peredhesis. It co be mid with 9S-percent odd*/ int, fir soh pgulliies uf lima, ihe value kr the vita peril*. it wain lie et airstoe steadnal ems el the erode fer the owls. . _:. .. .. , . ,-. ., ,.., -, .12,Af44.0e0Y^ .!,':4-f! .:1

Perceeteass of *ions in the solgregsgey ad kid 100 dus te rounding. ,...

SOURCE lialienel Wet for Education Whirs, !SAW ksessment sf amnion! Progress (MRCP), 1944 Gserohylnisounot. . . ..,:?,,l," .: .-- ,

110

4.706

Item-Mapping Procedures

To map questions to particular points on the NAEPgeography subscales, a response probability conventionhad to be adopted that would divide those who had ahigher probability ofsuccess from those who had alower probability. Establishing a response probabilityconvention has an impact on the mapping of assessmentquestions onto the geography subscales. A lowerboundary convention maps the geography questions atlower points along the geography scales, and a higherboundary convention maps the same questions at higherpoints along the scales. The underlying distribution ofgeography skills in the population does not change, butthe choice of a response probability convention does havean impact on the proportion of the student populationthat is reported as "able to do" the questions on thegeography scales.

No point along the probability scale is clearlysuperior to any other point. If the convention were setwith a boundary at 50 percent, those above theboundary would be more likely to get a question rightthan to get: it wrong, while those below that boundarywould be more likely to get the question wrong thanright. While this convention has some intuitive appeal,it was rejected on the grounds that having a 50/50chance of getting the question right shows aninsufficient degree of mastery. If the convention were setwith a boundary at 80 percent, students above thecriterion would have a high probability of success with aquestion. However, many of the students below thiscriterion show some level of geography ability that sucha stringent criterion would ignore. In particular, thosein the range between 50 and 80 percent correct wouldbe more likely to get the question right than wrong, yetwould not be in the group described as "able to do" thequestion.

In a compromise between the 50-percent and the80-percent conventions, NAEP has adopted two relatedresponse probability conventions: (1) 74 percent formultiple-choice questions (to correct for the possibilityof ,.:.nswering correctly by guessing); and (2) 65 percentfor constructed-response questions (where guessing isnot a factor). These probability conventions were estab-lished, in part, based on an intuitive judgment that theywould provide the best picture of students' geographyknowledge and skills.

Some additional support for the dual conventionsadopted by NAEP was provided by Huynh (1994).' Heexamined the IRT information provided by questions,according to the IRT model used in scaling NAEPquestions. ("Information" is used here in a technicalsense. See the NAEP 1994 Technical Report for details.)Following Bock (1972),2 Huynh decomposed the iteminformation into that provided by a correct response[P (0) *I (0)] and that provided by an incorrect response[(1-P (0)) *I (9)]. Huynh showed.that the item informa-tion provided by a correct response to a constructed-response question is maximized at the point along thegeography scale at which two-thirds of the students getthe question correct (for multiple-choice questions,information is maximized at the point at which 74percent get the question correct). However, maximizingthe item information I (9), rather than the informationprovided by a correct response [P (0) *I (0)], wouldimply an item mapping criterion closer to 50 percent.

Endnotes

1. Huynh, H. (1994, October). Some technical aspectsof standard setting. Paper presented at the JointConference on Standard Setting for Large-ScaleAssessment, Washington, DC.

2. Bock, R. D. (1972). "Estimating item parameters andlatent ability when responses are scored in two ormore latent categories." Psychometrika, 37, 29-51.

111

,

I

Sample Questionsfrom the NAEP 1994Geography AssessmentThis appendix presents additional sample questions andstudent responses selected for each grade to exemplifythe range of exercises included in the NAEP 1994geography assessment. (A different set of samplequestions and student responses are presented inChapter 1, and entire sample blocks of questions canbe found in the NAEP 1994 Geography: A First Lookreport, pages 27 to 67.) For each question, thegeography content area being addressed is indicated.

.:Stot

For multiple-choice questions, the correct answer ismarked (O.). For constructed-response questions, anabbreviated scoring rubic is provided. The samplestudent responses have been reproduced fromassessment booklets and represent typical studentperformance.

The table accompanying each sample questionpresents two types of percentages: (1) the overall per-centage of students within a grade who answered thequestion successfully and (2) the percentages of stu-dents within each of the achievement level intervalsBasic, Proficient, and Advanced who answered thequestion successfully. For grades 4 and 12, the percentages for students within the Advanced achievement ley,interval are not presented, however, because of the smasample sizes. The table also includes the percentages ofstudents below Basic who successfully answered thequestions. (Sample size criteria for reporting results ar.

described in Appendix A.)

, 2 y.. .s -3151411..

Wind---"Ne3vernent

What would be the best title for this picture?

A The Tides

IkbB The Water Cycle

C The Seasons

D Ocean Currents


Grade 4

Owl. Punster,- Caned

Paustage Coned MinMarteawit loul htervals

Below Bask

186 mg bthwekik

187-239*&adrift240-275*

Aimed276 and sisve

79 (1.4) 52 (3.0) 86 (1.7) 9$ (1.4) ..

len me* composite scale row ' San*** insuffident to pm* I reliable estimste (so Apo& A).

Ss Omani errors of tiw estimated pecsidages moor prond. ft an be saW with 95-percent certainty that, for ark

peereldis si West, the vim for tlw whdo peptides is Wes et Miusts seandatti errors of the animate for the se*.

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r4/17,.' VAAttost.! nzraceis.n.aol.g.

Describe two important effects that a major oil spill in an ocean can have on theenvironment or on people's lives.


Grads 4

Ovorol hrcoodsgotomplote

Porcostogo Correct WiddsAd:inane Level briorvds

lakw task186 oad below*

Bask187-239*

handset240-275*

Monad276 OW above

13 (1.0) 3 (1.4) 12 (1.7) 28 (3.3) .4.:

IAEP ponrophy compraiie scale mop. So* size Waded% wok a reliable esliade.The *Mord errors of the estimoied perreotages sprat it porestbeds. It can be sold Oh 95-porreed certainty that, for each

make of hissed, the who folio Mh ±kvNhI pies or minus toe stoodord suers sf the estimate for the sem*

Sample Response (Score of 3):

Describe two important effects that a major oil spill in an ocean can have on theenvironment or on people's lives.

,, 14 an:olds 64 to cieam up-aba

A Complete response (score of 3) describes two effects of an oil spill in a distant place. Effectsdescribed may be environmental (for example, pollutes beaches, pollutes air, kills livingorganisms), economic (for example, ruini fishing industry, ruins tourist industry), or political(for example, causes disputes over who is responsible for cleanup).

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1- - ,

MAJOR HIGHWEfill

Fithway macmotif exprinompi

Cft

The map shows that one part of the country has more major highways than the

other part of the country. Why is this?

*A There are more people and cities in the eastern part of the country.

B It is easier to build highways in the eastern part of the country.

C Cars are not an important form of transportation in the western part of the country.

D States are larger in the western part of the country.

Geography Content Area: Spatial Dynamics and Connections

,

4 .,

, Psusidege Owed WWIMiaow lava Womb

Or'sna Water, Ea law task task Proftdost Aimed.:':-.::f... Come ''::'::!: 166 Ind Wow" 1117-239* 240-275* 276 sad above'

,

.,,.41 (3.0) 62 (1.9) ... 77 (3.0) ***

..

'

IALP pep* ammo* Ka MOW ." Soule stu *Num to punk smill& astir* (um Iwo& A).In slumlord ours si the Whoa worm mom lo prelmhi&. It am lie soil Isidt 95-psruld Maly htpalls oi blond, iho sae for **Aim puolodom is mi ohs or rim tom Molded unts al Ile fu wok

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103 115

,O,ATSRAt rriVS'

1) In the box below, draw a map of an island.

2) On the island, put in the following details:

Mountains along the west coast

A lake in the north

Houses along the east coast

Forests in the south

Be sure to use the symbols shown in the key below.

Use your colored pencils to help you draw the map.

.N? WAN t:*.

Geography Content Area: Space and Place

, Percentage "bseatkr w "Comp Me" OlinQuit 4 Adievenwnt Level Monis

%Ira Parcestsge blow task Bask hofkkat AimedEsssalW w Campleto 186 aad below* 187-239' 240-275* 276 and above*

70 (1.5) 37 (3.0) 76 (2.0) 93 (2.1) ....,

.

IAD per* csopesile sails mg& "4 Sample sin insufficient to wait st Ago slime% (sae Ape& A).Tie amid saws el On estimated peccoaeps Ppm iN WI1011. It all Sid with 95-pwcant whiny thd, fwpeptielien el Inlet* la vas fee vAnie pepulitise is ein phs ea minus two slendeed ernes of the est.* ke the smolt

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116


Am

Key:

Mountains tA14, Forests

CZ) LakeOtt, Houses

An Essential response (score of 3) correctly indicates three or four of the elements.


Key:

"PeA/A\ Mountains

CZ) Lake

OttHouses

A Complete response (score of 4) correctly indicates all the elements.

1 Os

117

1 I 1 # 1 II

sk

urias....-tcuuk.,.slisamiimLiae.a.a.a.o.-

If you wanted to find out which page In the atlas had a map that showed the city

of Dakar, where would you look?

A The World Map Projections pages

IB The Index

C The World Facts page

D The Earth Notes page


Greif 8

hneetage Coned Witida

Mimeo Wel Mends

%end Parma ea Mow Bask Bask Profickrt AimedCorrect 241 awl Wow* 242-281* 282-314* 315 ad alm*

90 (8.7) 78 (2.1) 95 (1.0) 97 (1.2) ...

1AIT pow* =posh sail rape.' SomOe sits imuffkiset to permit s reiMble estimate (see Amok A).

The steaderd IfrOIS el the Wormed pen:omegas wpm is postale& It us be soid sith 9S-percest certainty that, far each

papelmIca of Matt, the value he the wink popasice is isi& pks et minus me stanchni errors of the minute for the sample.

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107

118

r. .nktolic,11 '.f.,:%f,71! -',1"7.(AM' "..",:tivtio. WS'

Kara SeaLaptev Sea Barents

Sea

ARCTIC OCEAN

SP° 7 °Greenland

Bering Sea, SeaBe

qb

NORTHPACIFICOCEAN

BeaufortSea

,44.r 40,

BaffinBay

I.

411P

NORTHATLANTIC

OCEAN

1 itt1 ? 900 "*"

Latitude on this map is represented by

10.A. orcles

B shaded areas

C straight lines

D convergent lines


'Tv.Gni, 8

Nogg* Gaut WNWMieveeseat Level Werra

Oven II Nadel, Now Bask Bask Proficient AhmedConed 241 ood below* 242-281* 282-314* 315 sod above*

43 (1.4) 35 (2.7) 44 (2.0) 65 (2.7) ssii

1108 pop* amps* KA folco. Semple size Window to pwook rolWio wiles (we Appomlix A).Th *Word wort of le ostiontal penootops opow io imimifoM. It au ho mid with 15-ponoot watt ihw, fw mitwhim of hand, tio who for the whole poled., plus w mimes too siondord wron of the estimote ho the wool&

mit 1 9

People from many different countries live in New York City. Children speakingmany different languages attend its public schools. This is mainly because NewYork City

A has an efficient transportation system

B has a higher wage rate than other United States cities

iC is a port of entry for people from other parts of the world

D is the site of the United Nations headquarters

Geography Content Area: Spacial Dynamics and Connections

Nader Coned WhileGrade 8 Ad lowest level Memo

Overall Parcestego Below BaskCorrect 241 aid below'

task fronded` Advaaaal242-281' 282-314* 315 end above*

70 (1.4) 46 (2.6) 74 (2.9) 87 (3.2) 99 (1.4)

1Aff geography composite scale range.

The goad Iff GIS of the estimated percemopes meet i prseit. It all be said with 95-pmceat oddity tisk for nthmulatise adenst, the value for the whole population is wOW pias or aim two samderd emits of the estimate for the sem*.

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AAA_ AL -tAlagYVVP!'.- 4.14i 'Mr9rAVV,10

Mountains

1-H4-H- Railroad Routes

0 501

Miles

Look at the map above, which shows three possible routes for a railroad linethat will be built to connect Red City with Bluetown.

Which route would be the least expensive to construct?. .

Give two reasons why the route you chose would be the least expensive.

2


Geode S

Ovoid PercentageCamp iste

Percentage 'Complete Wft binAddevonteat Level Worth

Mow Bak241 Gad below*

Sisk242281*

Profkkat282-314*

Alward315 and above

36 (1.5) 10 (1.6) 36 (2.3) 62 (3.3) 80 (7.9)

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Look at the map above, which shows three possible routes for a railroad line thatwill be built to connect Red City with Eluetown.

Which route would be the least expensive to consuuct ?

Give two reasons why the route you chose would be the least expensive.

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2-fpt...10. .i._L)..o.L..teJ LA. rt-AAcyy\.m

A Complete response (score of 3) indicates that C is the least expensive route to construct. Itgives two reasons why that may relate to A and B.

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After we anchored our ships in the ocean and went ashore to explore, we marchedwest. The forest was so thick we could only travel three miles in the first twodays. Then we came to the mountains and climbed to the top. A rushing riverRowed west out of the mountains. We continued to march two miles west andcame down out of the mountains. 'INvo miles further we came to the coast. Itwas obvious that the area we were exploring was an isthmus.

In the box below, draw a map of the region described above. Be sure to includeall of the geographical elements mentioned in the description. Include a scaleto indicate distances.


.,..... ,

ahrceatsgs 'Esseetiar or 1Ceectsts' Mils

Adarnawd Level Marva

'0Priiiii istais law Bask ;ask Prefidwt Advertedw 241 sei kW' 242-2111° 282-314* 315 ea owe

,.-'.'-i: 41 (1.3) 9 (2.0) 39 (2.4) 78 (3.4) 92 (4.8)

IARmike comb ohfop.Ths dead saws el the *WNW *wisps ppm le pneOlsobit co be sid %leased Maly that, for soch

von he *rebels Nolen leW pies or einem goad ems gibe same ler the sample.

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An Essential response (score of 3) includes a map in which three elements are correctly placed.The response may be a peninsula or an island.


A Complete response (score of 4) includes an accurate map in which at least four elements arecorrectly placed. The response must be an isthmus and have direction of travel and river correctlyindicated.

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S.

4.1attWeIllt.i!..6.1.4i0: .."-sin!..

1200 1800 120° 600

Between 1961 and 1967, the area that had the most earthquakes was the

A Mediterranean basin

B mid-Atlantic Ocean

C Caribbean Sea

D Pacific Ocean rim


Grade 12

Overall PoundageConed

Porantago tarred WitliaAdiovassat Levi bora*

Below Bask269 ad below*

Bask270-304*

Profident305-3341*

Advastual339 and above

91 (0.9) 78 (2.7) 95 (1.0) 99 (0.5)

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Environmental issues are viewed differently by people in different circumstances.Explain how the artist makes this point in the cartoon.

CeUgraphii Content Ai= Environment and Society,

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Own 1 *while ,,issiiii orcaphie

Balm task269 old Wow*

Bask

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40 (2.4) 71 (3.6)4., ..,

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Environmental issues are viewed differently by people in differentcircumstances. Explain how the artist makes this point in the cartoon.

ht m e tn thop A6 +re e

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A Complete response (score of 3) mentions two different views (developed versus developing)

and refers to trees and car pollution. An appreciation of tension may or may not be present.

Or, the response implies or states the hypocrisy that exists andhlks about the tree or the car.


Environmental issues are viewed differently by people in differentcircumstances. Explain how the artist makes this point in the

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I.1

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An Essential response (score of 4) discusses the environmental issues, tension (implied or

stated between the two worlds), hypocrisy (not absolutely necessary if tension is clearly

discussed), and two different viewpoints (developed versus developing). The discussion must

be at the national level.

11...( 4' 44 NAA.V. FAA '1!to7. r. .1 " V' '-'1 ,

Which of the following countries has the largest volume and value of trade withthe United States?

A Japan

B Great Britain

C CanadaD Germany


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Correct

Porcootogo Correct WM&Achisromost Wel Month

Mow Bask269 and below*

Bask T-210404*

Profidot305438*

Advaind339 ad above

10 (1.0) 11 (1.7) 9 (1.6) 9 (2.3) ft*

'MEP pocraphy composite sale range. *** Sample size istrifitient I. permit a reliable deo (sm Appel& A).lie *Ward arm of the esiimatod percansges spew I weash. it am be said with 95-wirteat arkidy that, ftc sackmobilo el Aderest, the value fat the wisols pspulatios pies et wins two slamixd ones of the estimate for the wools.

128

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. .' . ''

...,...,.A.,5s.s..wadsacammaiwobahmtgaWZCMSTAINAlkatin,

AVERAGE ANNUAL PRECIPITATION FOR LAKESIDE

SOMA Average Inches Percent of Total

Spring 5.0 25Summer 7.0 35Fall 4.0 20Winter 4.0 20

lbtal 20.0 100

Use the information in the table above to construct a pie chart on the figurebelow. Be sure to label all information. You may use your ruler to draw thechart.


.. - . ..Pommels Correa WIWI. .. ,

Adkvoswat Level Month .... .

Nord Porta* lekw Bask Bask Profidaat 1 Aivaarai. Gaud ,.. - 269 ard below* 210-304* 3054311* 339 fed Ewe

,..66, (IA) ,,',, 32 (2.9) 69 (2.0) 119 (1.9) ....

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Use the information in the table above to construct a pie chart on the figurebelow. Be sure to label all information. You may use your ruler to draw thechart.

A Complete response (score of 3) correctly charts the percentage of rainfall of the four seasonson the circle and correctly labels the segments (the minimum correct labels are the fourseasons).

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130

120

The NAEP 1994 geography assessment was acollaborative effort among staff from the NationalCenter for Education Statistics (NCES), the NationalAssessment Governing Board (NAGB), EducationalTesting Service (ETS), Westat, and National ComputerSystems (NCS). The program benefited from thecontributions of hundreds of individuals at the state andlocal levels governors, chief state school officers,state and district test directors, state coordinators, anddistrict administrators who tirelessly provided theirwisdom, experience, and hard work. Most importantly,NAEP is grateful to students and school staff who madethe assessment possible.

The assessment was funded through NCES, in theOffice of Educational Research and Improvement ofthe U.S. Department of Education. The NCES staffparticularly Jeanne Griffith, Gary Phillips, SteveGorman, Susan Ahmed, Peggy Carr, Sharif Shakrani,Arnold Go..istein, Sahar Akhtar, and Maureen Treacyworked closely and collegially with ETS, Westat, andNCS staff and played a crucial role in all aspects of theprogram. The NAEP 1994 assessments and reports alsobenefitted from the consistent support and guidance ofEmerson Elliott, past commissioner of NCES. Themembers of the National Assessment Governing Board(NAGB) and the NAGB staff provided invaluable adviceand guidance throughout. NAEP also owes a debt ofgratitude to the numerous panelists and consultantswho provided their expertise and worked soconscientiously on developing the assessment.

9

The NAEP project at ETS is directed by PaulWilliams and resides in the Center for the Assessment ofEducational Progress (CAEP), managed by ArchieLapointe and Paul Williams. Steve Lazer managed testdevelopment activities, and Hilary Persky worked withthe Geography Item Development committee to developthe assessment instruments. Jules Goodison managedthe operational aspects together with John Olson, andsampling and data collection activities were carried outby Westat under the direction of Rene Slobasky, NancyCaldwell, and Keith Rust. Printing, distribution.scoring, and processing activities were conducted byNCS, under the supervision of Judy Moyer, Brad Thayer,Mathilde Kennel, Linda Reynolds, and Barbara Price.

Statistical and psychometric activities for theassessments were led by Frank Jenkins under thedirection of Eugene Johnson, John Mazzeo, and JimCarlson. Edward Kulick performed the geographyanalyses. Karen Miller and John Mazzeo contributedsubstantially to report design activities. Mary Michaelsand Sharon Davis-Johnson oversaw the productionaspects, and Loretta Casalaina, James Rura, andRoderick Rudder provided further design andcomposition assistance.

Many thanks are due to the numerous reviewers,both internal and external to ETS and NCES. Thecomments and critical feedback provided by thefollowing reviewers are reflected in the final version ofthis report: Roger Downs, Robert Duly, James Marran,Mary Lyn Bourque, Larry Feinberg, Mary Frase, GaryPhillips, Sharif Shakrani, Shi-Chang Wu, AndrewKolstad, Susan Ahmed, Edward Kulick, Karen Miller,Nada Ballator, Steve Lazer, and John Mazzeo. BeverlyCisney and Alice Kass provided the excellent desktoppublishing skills essential to the project.

SBN 0 16 048680 7

7801 60 486807

31

9 0 0 0 0

UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

WASHINGTON, DC 20208-5653

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE, $300

A-

Postage and Fees PaidU.S. Department of Education

Permit No. G-17

Fourth Class SpecialSpecial Handling

NCES 96-087

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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 398 145 SO 026 763 · 2014. 6. 30. · DOCUMENT RESUME ED 398 145 SO 026 763...

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