School and Student Participation Rates

In order to ensure unbiased samples, NCES and NAGB established participation rate standards that states and jurisdictions were required to meet in order for their results to be reported. Participation rates for the original sample needed to be at least 85 percent for schools. In the 2005 science assessment, 44 states and all Department of Defense schools met participation rate standards at both grades 4 and 8. Student response rates at grade 12 fell below 85 percent for both public and private schools. A nonresponse bias analysis showed significant differences between responding and nonresponding public school students in terms of gender, race/ethnicity, age, and English language learner identification. Although the differences are quite small, it is unlikely that nonresponse  weighting adjustments completely accounted for these differences.

This table provides a summary of the 2005 national school and student participation rates for the science assessment sample. Participation rates are presented for the nation, and for public and private schools seperately. Four different rates are presented. The first rate is a student-centered, weighted percentage of schools participating in the assessment, before substitution of demographically similar schools. This rate is based only on the schools that were initially selected for the assessment. The numerator of this rate is the estimated number of students represented by the initially selected schools that participated in the assessment. The denominator is the estimated number of students represented by the initially selected schools that had eligible students enrolled.

The second school participation rate is a student-centered, weighted participation rate after substitution. The numerator of this rate is the estimated number of students represented by the participating schools, whether originally selected or selected as a substitute for a school that chose not to participate. The denominator is the estimated number of students represented by the initially selected schools that had eligible students enrolled (this is the same as that for the weighted participation rate for the sample of schools before substitution). Because of the common denominators, the weighted participation rate after substitution is at least as great as the weighted participation rate before substitution.

The third school participation rate is a school-centered, weighted percentage of schools participating in the assessment before substitution of demographically similar schools. This rate is based only on the schools that were initially selected for the assessment. The numerator of this rate is the estimated number of schools represented by the initially selected schools that participated in the assessment. The denominator is the estimated number of schools represented by the initially selected schools that had eligible students enrolled.

The fourth school participation rate is a school-centered, weighted participation rate after substitution. The numerator is the estimated number of schools represented by the participating schools, whether originally selected or selected as a substitute for a school that did not participate. The denominator is the estimated number of schools, represented by the initially selected schools that had eligible students enrolled.

The student-centered and school-centered school participation rates differ if school participation is associated with the size of the school. If the student-centered rate is higher than the school-centered rate, this indicates that larger schools participated at a higher rate than smaller schools. If the student-centered rate is lower, smaller schools participated at a higher rate than larger schools.

Also presented in this table are weighted student participation rates. Some students sampled for NAEP are not assessed because they cannot meaningfully participate (for example, students with severe impairment of cognitive functioning). The numerator of this rate is the estimated number of students who are represented by the students assessed (in either an initial session or a makeup session). The denominator of this rate is the estimated number of students represented by the eligible sampled students in participating schools.