The Report Card and The Nation’s Report Card

by Kathy Belcher
STEM Cluster Specialist

School is out and the results are in!  By now, teachers, students, and parents across Texas have seen “The Report Card” for 2010-2011.  Did your students’ knowledge, skills, and performance improve? Do you know how your students’ achievement compared to others at your school, other high schools in your school district, across Texas, or the nation? How did your CTE students do in comparison to students in other programs?

At a time when local, state, and federal budget cuts are a reality, knowing how your CTE students’ rank in comparison to other students, can make a case for continued CTE funding. It is important to know that we are preparing our students with the knowledge and skills to become both college-ready and career-ready for the workforce.  According to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, “CTE has an enormous, if often overlooked impact on students, school systems, and our ability to prosper as a nation.”  If we want to be able to make better decisions to improve our education system in America, it is necessary to know how prepared our students are for the future challenges of this globally-competitive and knowledge-based economy.  

The National Assessment of Educational Process (NAEP), referred to as “The Nation’s Report Card,” provides results on the performance of students in public schools in various states and urban districts. The National Assessment Governing Board sets policy for NAEP and is responsible for developing the framework and test specifications that serve as the blueprint for the assessments. The 26-member Governing Board, created by Congress in 1988, is an independent, bipartisan group whose members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives, and members of the general public.

Because of the importance of technology and engineering, the National Assessment Governing Board decided that an assessment of technological literacy would be important, and created the first ever national assessment Technology and Engineering Literacy Framework for the 2014 NAEP.  “The framework focuses on ‘literacy’ as the level of knowledge and competencies needed by all students and citizens. People who are literate about technology and engineering are not expected to ‘do’ engineering or produce technology in the professional sense.”  It is becoming common knowledge that engineering and technology literacy benefits ALL students and society.

The 2014 NAEP is designed to measure performance of a representative sample of the American students in grades 4, 8, and 12 and is organized around three interconnected areas of technology and engineering literacy:

·         Technology and Society

o   Interaction of Technology and Humans

o   Effects of Technology on the Natural World

o   Effects of Technology on the World of Information and Knowledge

o   Ethics, Equity, and Responsibility

·         Design and Systems

o   Nature of Technology

o   Engineering Design

o   Systems Thinking

o   Maintenance and Troubleshooting

·         Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

o   Construction and Exchange of Ideas and Solutions

o   Information Research

o   Investigation of Problems

o   Acknowledgement of Ideas and Information

o   Selection and Use of Digital Tools

Many of the essential knowledge and skills that will be assessed in The 2014 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are apparent in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Career and Technical Education.  Looking to 2014 - How will “The Report Card” for our CTE students compare to “The Nation’s Report Card”?

For information about The 2014 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), visit the National Assessment Governing Board Web site: http://www.nagb.org/ and click on “Interactive Framework for NAEP Technology and Engineering Literacy Poster”.

References:

Rigor, Relevance, and the Future of Career and Technical Education. Remarks of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (April 19, 2011)Retrieved April 26, 2011 from U.S. Department of Education Web site:http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/rigor-relevance-and-future-career-and-technical-education

Technology and Engineering Literacy Framework for the 2014 NAEP. Retrieved April 26, 2011 from the National Assessment Governing Board Web site:http://www.nagb.org/publications/frameworks/tech2014-framework/ch_toc/index.html