Overreporting or Underreporting? Validating NAEP Self-Reported Mathematics and Science Course-Taking With High School Transcript Study Data

• In Event: Measurement Issues in NAEP and Implications for the Interpretation of Results

Abstract

The student background questions on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) twelfth-grade assessments ask students what high school courses they took related to the assessment subject. Comparing what courses students reported taking to their associated assessment scores could reveal significant findings, but are subject to potential inaccuracies of student-reported data. This paper examines the accuracy of student-reported mathematics and science coursetaking from the NAEP twelfth-grade assessments by comparing their responses to the mathematics and science courses listed on their high school transcripts, as collected by the NAEP High School Transcript Study (HSTS). This paper looks at how accurately graduates report the mathematics and science courses they took in high school, and whether this accuracy has changed over time.

Authors

• Janis D. Brown, U.S. Department of Education

• Robert Colby Perkins, Westat

• Stephen E. Roey, Westat

• Judy H. Tang, Westat