TO:DAC Fname DAC Lname

MEMMORANDUM

TO:DAC FName DAC LName

District County School District

FROM:Michele Sonnenfeld, NAEP State Coordinator

DATE:July 9, 2015

SUBJECT:NAEP 2016

Enclosed with this memo is a list of the schools in your district selected for NAEP 2016, their assessment date, and type of assessment. For those districts with schools participating in PISA and/or PIRLS I have also included those schools in the list. Your superintendent has received a list of just the NAEP schools. I request that you review the dates in order to identify any that may conflict with your district calendar (scheduled school events, early release days, teacher work days, district testing dates, or school holidays).

The administration of 2016 NAEP will take place between Monday, January 25 and Friday, March 4, 2016, and will include the following:

Grade 4 Schools

Session type 1: Reading or Mathematics using a Westat supplied tablet

Sample size = 2 sequential sessions, 25 students each

Grade 8 Schools

Session type 1: Reading, Mathematics, or Writing using a Westat supplied tablet. Sample size = 2 sequential sessions, 25 students each
Session type 2: Music or Visual Arts

Sample size = 35 - 40 students

Grade 12 Schools (students eligible to earn 2 hours of community service time)

Session type 1: Writing using a Westat supplied tablet

Sample size = one session, 25 students

The assessment will take approximately 120 minutes, and each student will be assessed in only one subject area. In addition to subject area questions, students will be asked background questions such as how often they use a computer and in what types of classes they are enrolled. NAEP staff will assist the schools in preparing for the assessment and will be responsible foradministering the assessment.

2016 NAEP

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July 9, 2015

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Principal Notification Letter and School Folders

In September, four Principal Notification Letterwill be posted at Florida’s NAEP website, in downloadable MS Word format. Based on the type of assessment assigned to the school, you will need to determine which of the four letters each school should receive. Theoptions will include:

Grade 4 Mathematics and Reading
Grade 8 Mathematics, Reading, and Writing
Grade 8 Music and Visual Arts
Grade 12 Writing

The lettersare to be included in the school folders that I will provide in September.

The first task for the school principal to perform will be to appoint a school NAEP coordinator. The coordinator will be responsible for:

Registering online using their MyNAEP ID number.
Completing several tasks on MyNAEP in December, as well as uploading a current roster of students in early January.
Distributing a Parent/Guardian notification letter at least two weeks prior to the assessment date.
Ensuring that at least 90% of the sampled students participate in the assessment.
Including at least 85% of the SD and ELL sampled students.
Working with their NAEP contact to ensure that the NAEP administration is a smooth and successful experience for the school.
Motivating teachers to complete their online Teacher Questionnaires.

Inclusion and Accommodation Guidelines

In recent years, the public’s confidence in NAEP has been threatened by continuing, substantial variations in exclusion rates for students with disabilities (SD) and English language learners (ELL). On March 6, 2010, the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) accepted policy guidelines intended to maximize student participation, minimize potential for bias, promote fair comparisons, and maintain trends. The two most important policy principles are as follows:

The proportion of all students excluded from a NAEP sample should not exceed 5%.
Among students classified as ELL and/or SD, the inclusion goal is 85%.

Accommodation Guidelines for school NAEP coordinators to use when determining whether or not SD and ELL students can be included in NAEP will be posted online by the end of October in downloadable MS Word format on Florida’s NAEP website and on MyNAEP. School

coordinators will use the guidelines to indicate on MyNAEP whether or not students identified as

SD and/or ELL need accommodations that NAEP does not offer and would therefore be

2016 NAEP

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excluded from the sample. The one accommodation that NAEP does not offer but the FSA does is the use of a heritage language-English dictionary on the reading assessment. Even if a student’s ELL plan calls for the use of a dictionary on the reading assessment, it is critical that school coordinators use their discretion and include as many of the ELL students as possible. The goal is to minimize exclusions and maximize inclusions.

Parent/Guardian Notification Letters

Parent/Guardian Notification Letters must be distributed to every selected student at least two weeks prior to the assessment. In October, templates of the letters in English, Spanish, Haitian-Creole, and Vietnamese will be posted online in downloadable MS Word format onFlorida’s NAEP website and on MyNAEP. The letters provide parents with the opportunity to exempt their child(ren) from the assessment if that is their preference; however, all refusals must be in writing. Schools must indicate on MyNAEP that parents have been notified and provide a copy of the Parent/Guardian Notification Letter to NAEP field staff on assessment day.

I encourage you to visit both the Federal NAEP website, Florida’s NAEP website, for complete information about the 2016 NAEP assessment, sample questions, previous NAEP results, and other NAEP publications. Examples of NAEP background questions that might be included in the assessment can be found at

If you have any questions, please contact me, Florida’s NAEP State Coordinator, by email at or by telephone at (850) 245-0787.

We greatly appreciate your continued support of, and participation in, the NAEP program.

Enclosures