--- Shona Willis <[log in to unmask]> wrote: Writing Friends, Thought you might be interested in this NAEP update. Hope all is well. Shona Willis Shona Willis, Language Arts Director Standards and Curriculum Oklahoma State Department of Education 2500 North Lincoln Blvd., Suite 315 Oklahoma City, OK. 73105 (405) 522-3522, Fax (405) 521-2971 [log in to unmask] Development of a New Design for the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Writing The National Assessment of Educational Progress, widely known as “the Nation’s Report Card,” is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America’s students know and can do in various academic subjects in grades 4, 8, and 12. NAEP does not report individual student scores but reports results for large representative student samples. NAEP has been assessing student achievement since 1969 so it is able to report not only on current student achievement but also on how achievement has changed over time. The current framework (or “blueprint”) for the NAEP in Writing was developed in the early 1990’s. The primary goal of the new framework is to reflect best practice in writing instruction and assessment, and it will be used to start a new trend line in 2011. The new framework will likely be the basis for the assessment until the early 2020’s. In addition to assessing what students are expected to achieve while in school at grades 4, 8, and 12, the new assessment will be designed to assess students’ readiness for expectations in college, the workplace, and the military. ACT, the contractor charged with facilitating development of the new writing assessment, is seeking commentary on initial recommendations for the content and design of the new framework at conference sessions and on a website which will be available between April 1 and May 15. Commentary will be collated and used to guide the development of the framework. The website address is [ http://www.act.org/naepwriting/ ]http://www.act.org/naepwriting/. Cherry M. Boyles Kentucky Department of Education Language Arts Branch Manager 500 Mero St., #1812 CPT Frankfort, KY 40601 (502) 564-2106 ---