Overview of the Assessment
Reporting the Assessment—Scale Scores and Achievement Levels
Description of Economics Performance by Item Maps for Each Grade
Results Are Estimates
NAEP Reporting Groups
Exclusion Rates
Statistical Significance
Cautions in Interpretations
NAEP assessed student performance in economics for the first time in 2006 by administering assessments to samples that are representative of the nation's students at grade 12. The content of the NAEP economics assessment is determined by a framework developed with the help of researchers, policymakers, and the interested public, including those with expert perspectives about economics and its measurement. Read more about what the assessment measures, and how it was developed.
The 2006 economics results presented on the website are based on representative samples of students for the nation. Approximately 11,500 students from almost 600 schools participated in the NAEP economics assessment in 2006 at grade 12. Read more about who took the assessment.
The results of student performance on the NAEP economics assessment are presented as average scores on the NAEP economics scale, as the percentages of students attaining NAEP economics achievement levels, and as percentile scores. The average scale scores represent how students performed on the assessment. The achievement levels represent how that performance measured up against set expectations for achievement. Thus, the average scale scores represent what students know and can do, while the achievement-level results indicate the degree to which student performance meets expectations of what they should know and be able to do. Percentile scores provide a score location below which a specified percentage of the population falls.
Average economics scale score results are based on the NAEP economics scale, which ranges from 0 to 300. Average scale scores are computed for groups of students; NAEP does not produce individual student scores. The average scores are based on analyses of the percentages of students who answered each item successfully.
Achievement-level results are presented in terms of economics achievement levels adopted by the National Assessment Governing Board, and are intended to measure how well students' actual achievement matches the achievement desired of them. For each grade tested, the Governing Board has adopted three achievement levels: Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. For reporting purposes, the achievement-level cut scores are placed on the economics scales, resulting in four ranges: below Basic, Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. As provided by law, the achievement levels are to be used on a trial basis and should be interpreted and used with caution.
Item maps illustrate the knowledge and skills demonstrated by students performing at different scale points on the 2006 NAEP economics assessment. In order to provide additional context, the cut points for the three NAEP achievement levels are marked on the item maps. The map location for each question represents the probability that, for a given score point, 65 percent of the students for a constructed-response question and 74 percent of the students for a four-option multiple-choice question answered that question successfully. For constructed-response questions, responses may be completely or partially correct; therefore, different types of responses to the same question could map onto the scale at different score levels.
Approximately 20 to 30 economics questions per grade have been selected and placed on an item map for each grade.
The average scores and percentages presented on this website are estimates because they are based on representative samples of students rather than on the entire population of students. Moreover, the collection of subject-area questions used at each grade level is but a sample of the many questions that could have been asked. As such, NAEP results are subject to a measure of uncertainty, reflected in the standard error of the estimates. The standard errors for the estimated scale scores and percentages in the figures and tables presented on the website are available through the NAEP Data Explorer.
Results are provided for groups of students defined by shared characteristics—gender, race/ethnicity, eligibility for free/reduced-price school lunch, students with disabilities (SD), and students identified as English language learners (ELL). Based on participation rate criteria, results are reported for various student populations only when sufficient numbers of students and adequate school representation are present. The minimum requirement is at least 62 students in a particular group from at least five primary sampling units (PSUs). However, the data for all students, regardless of whether their group was reported separately, were included in computing overall results. Explanations of the reporting groups are presented below.
Results are reported separately for males and females.
In all NAEP assessments, data about student race/ethnicity is collected from two sources: school records and student self-reports. Before 2002, NAEP used students' self-reports of their race and ethnicity on a questionnaire as the source of race/ethnicity data. In 2002, it was decided to change the student race/ethnicity variable highlighted in NAEP reports. Starting in 2002, NAEP reports of students' race and ethnicity are based on the school records, with students' self-reports used only if school data are missing. Information based on student self-reported race/ethnicity will continue to be reported in the NAEP Data Explorer.
Parents' highest level of education is defined by the highest level reported by twelfth-graders for either parent. Students were asked to indicate their mother's and father's education level with one of the following categories: she/he did not finish high school; she/he graduated from high school; she/he had some education after high school; she/he graduated from college; or, I don't know.
Results are reported for students who were identified by school records as having a disability. A student with a disability may need specially designed instruction to meet his or her learning goals. A student with a disability will usually have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) which guides his or her special education instruction. Students with disabilities are often referred to as special education students and may be classified by their school as learning disabled (LD) or emotionally disturbed (ED).
Results are reported for students who were identified by school records as being English language learners. (Note that English language learners were previously referred to as limited English proficient (LEP).)
The national results are based on a representative sample of students in both public schools and nonpublic schools. Nonpublic schools include private schools, Bureau of Indian Affairs schools, and Department of Defense schools. Private schools include Catholic, Conservative Christian, Lutheran, and other private schools.
Results are reported for four mutually exclusive categories of school location based on standard definitions established by the Federal Office of Management and Budget using population and geographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau. Large city: A large city is a principal city of a Metropolitan Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA), with the city having a population of 250,000 or greater. Mid-size city: A mid-size city is a principal city of a Metropolitan CBSA, with the city having a population of less than 250,000. Urban fringe/large town: Urban fringe is a place or other area within a Metropolitan CBSA of a large or mid-size city that is defined as urban by the Census Bureau. A large town is a place with a population of 25,000 or greater and located outside a Metropolitan CBSA or inside a Micropolitan CBSA. Small town/rural: A small town is a place with a population of at least 2,500 but less than 25,000 and located outside a Metropolitan CBSA or inside a Micropolitan CBSA. A rural area is a place or other area not within a Metropolitan CBSA or within a Micropolitan CBSA, or a place or area within a Metropolitan CBSA that is defined as rural by the Census Bureau.
Prior to 2003, NAEP results were reported for four NAEP-defined regions of the nation: Northeast, Southeast, Central, and West. As of 2003, to align NAEP with other federal data collections, NAEP analysis and reports have used the U.S. Census Bureau's definition of "region." The four regions defined by the U.S. Census Bureau are Northeast, South, Midwest, and West. The Central region used by NAEP before 2003 contained the same states as the Midwest region defined by the U.S. Census. The former Southeast region consisted of the states in the Census-defined South minus Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Oklahoma, Texas, and the section of Virginia in the District of Columbia metropolitan area. The former West region consisted of Oklahoma, Texas, and the states in the Census-defined West. The former Northeast region consisted of the states in the Census-defined Northeast plus Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, and the section of Virginia in the District of Columbia metropolitan area. Therefore trend data by region are not provided for the 2006 economics assessment. The table below shows how states are subdivided into these Census regions. All 50 states and the District of Columbia are listed. Other jurisdictions, including the Department of Defense Educational Activity schools, are not assigned to any region.
In 2006, the participation rate of twelfth-graders in the West region fell below the reporting requirement of 70 percent. Therefore, the results by region are not reported for the 2006 economics assessment.
Northeast |
South |
Midwest |
West |
|---|---|---|---|
Connecticut |
Alabama |
Illinois |
Alaska |
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration. |
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NAEP has established policies and procedures to maximize the inclusion of all students in the assessment. Every effort is made to ensure that all selected students who are capable of participating meaningfully in the assessment are assessed. While some students with disabilities (SD) and/or English language learners (ELL) can be assessed without any special procedures, others require accommodations to participate in NAEP. Still other SD and/or ELL students selected by NAEP may not be able to participate. Local school authorities determine whether SD/ELL students require accommodations or should be excluded because they cannot be assessed. The percentage of SD and/or ELL students who are excluded from NAEP assessments varies from one jurisdiction to another and within a jurisdiction over time.
See additional information about the percentages of special-needs students
See the types of accommodations permitted for students with disabilities and/or English language learners at the national and state levels.
Differences between scale scores and between percentages that are discussed in the results take into account the standard errors associated with the estimates. Comparisons are based on statistical tests that consider both the magnitude of the difference between the group average scores or percentages and the standard errors of those statistics. Throughout the results, differences between scores or between percentages are discussed only when they are significant from a statistical perspective.
All differences reported are significant at the 0.05 level with appropriate adjustments for multiple comparisons. The term "significant" is not intended to imply a judgment about the absolute magnitude or the educational relevance of the differences. It is intended to identify statistically dependable population differences to help inform dialogue among policymakers, educators, and the public.
Users of this website are cautioned against interpreting NAEP results as implying causal relations. Inferences related to student group performance or to the effectiveness of public and nonpublic schools, for example, should take into consideration the many socioeconomic and educational factors that may also have an impact on performance.
The NAEP economics scale makes it possible to examine relationships between students' performance and various factors measured by NAEP. However, a relationship that exists between achievement and another variable does not reveal its underlying cause, which may be influenced by a number of other variables. Similarly, the assessments do not reflect the influence of unmeasured variables. The results are most useful when they are considered in combination with other knowledge about the student population and the educational system, such as trends in instruction, changes in the school-age population, and societal demands and expectations.
See more economics subject information.
