Comparison of National Main and State Sample Designs

The national main and state assessments' sample designs differ in target population, assessment
subjects, and number of required sampling stages. The national main assessment generally targets and
samples from a larger student population than the state assessment. More sampling stages occur in the
national main assessment than in the state assessment.

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Target Populations

2000 National Main Assessment:

• Public and nonpublic school students enrolled in fourth and twelfth grades
• Public school students enrolled in eighth grade
• Sample represents all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and domestic Department of Defense
Education Activity (DoDEA) schools.

2000 State Assessment:

• Public school students enrolled in fourth or eighth grade

• Sample represents participating states/jurisdictions, including:
o Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools comprised of two separate
jurisdictions: domestic (DoDEA/DDESS) and international (DoDEA/DoDDS),
o American Samoa,
o Guam, and
o Virgin Islands

Sources of school data for the assessments include:

• Quality Education Data, Inc. (QED) National Education Database;

• National Center for Education Statistics' Common Core of Data (CCD);
• National Center for Education Statistics' Private School Survey (PSS); and
• 1990 Census median household income database created by Donnelley Marketing.

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Assessment Subjects

Each NAEP assessment tests students on a variety of academic subjects. For the 2000 assessments,
subject tests included mathematics, reading, and science.

2000 National Main Assessment:

• Mathematics - grades 4, 8, and 12

• Reading - grade 4 only
• Science - grades 4, 8, and 12

2000 State Assessment:

• Mathematics - grades 4 and 8

• Science - grades 4 and 8

Sample designs for both assessments ensure that school and student samples for each subject represent
their respective target populations.

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Sampling Stages

2000 National Main Assessment

• Fourth- and twelfth-grade students

o Selected geographic primary sampling units
o Selected schools from primary sampling units
o Assigned sessions to schools
o Selected students from schools
• Eighth-grade students
o Selected schools within the integrated national and state samples
o Assigned sessions to schools
o Selected students from schools

2000 State Assessment

• Sampling began within a participating state/jurisdiction

• Selected schools from jurisdiction
• Assigned sessions to schools
• Selected students from schools

The integrated approach of the 2000 national main and state assessment for eighth-grade school
samples combined the national and state samples after data collection. This approach produced a larger
sample that yielded more precise estimates. Because the state assessment focused on public schools,
no private school students appeared in the 2000 national main assessment eighth grade.

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