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About the Assessment: Participation Rates

The schools and students participating in NAEP assessments are selected to be representative of all schools nationally and of public schools at the state level. Samples of schools and students are drawn from participating states and from the District of Columbia and Department of Defense schools. While results for students assessed in Alaska, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Nebraska, and Vermont contributed to the results for the nation at grades 4 and 8, sample sizes were not large enough to report results for these states/jurisdictions separately. The results from the assessed students are combined to provide accurate estimates of the overall performance of students in the nation and in individual states and other jurisdictions. Results are not collected at the state level for grade 12. Because each school that participated in the assessment, and each student assessed, represents a portion of the population of interest, the results are weighted to account for the disproportionate representation of the selected sample. Read more technical information about weighting adjustments made at the school and student level.

National participation

To ensure unbiased samples, NAEP requires that participation rates for original school samples be 70 percent or higher to report national results separately for public and private schools. In instances where participation rates meet the 70 percent criteria but fall below 85 percent, a nonresponse bias analysis is conducted to determine if the responding school sample is not representative of the population, thereby introducing the potential for nonresponse bias.

Before substituting new schools for originally sampled schools that declined to participate, the weighted national school participation rates for the 2009 science assessment were 97 percent for fourth grade (100 percent for public schools, 73 percent for private schools), 97 percent for eighth grade (100 percent for public schools and 72 percent for private schools), and 83 percent for twelfth grade (86 percent for public schools and 52 percent for private schools). Weighted student participation rates were 95 percent at fourth grade, 93 percent at eighth grade, and 80 percent at twelfth grade. The nonresponse bias analysis for private schools at grades 4 and 8 showed that, while the original responding school sample may not have been fully representative, the potential bias was reduced by including substitute schools and by adjusting the sampling weights to account for school nonresponse.

State and district participation

Standards established by the National Assessment Governing Board require that school participation rates for the original state samples need to be at least 85 percent for results to be reported. In 2009, there were 47 states and jurisdictions, along with 17 districts, participating in the science assessment at grades 4 and 8 that met this participation rate requirement.

The tables below provide participation rates before substitution.

Learn more about the sampling design.

National and State
District
School and student participation rates in NAEP science at grade 8, by state/jurisdiction: 2009
  School participation Student participation
State/jurisdiction Student-
weighted
percent
School-
weighted
percent
Number of
schools
participating
Student-
weighted
percent
Number of
students
assessed
     Nation 97 87 6,920 93 151,100
       Public 100 100 6,440 92 146,300
       Private 72 68 360 95 3,100
Alabama  100 100 110 93 2,700
Alaska —  —  —  —  — 
Arizona  100 100 130 93 2,900
Arkansas 100 100 120 93 2,600
California 100 100 230 93 7,200
Colorado 100 100 120 92 2,800
Connecticut  100 100 110 91 2,800
Delaware 100 100 50 91 2,800
Florida  100 100 160 91 4,300
Georgia  100 100 120 94 3,500
Hawaii 100 100 70 91 2,800
Idaho  100 100 110 94 2,900
Illinois 100 100 200 94 4,200
Indiana  100 100 110 93 2,700
Iowa 100 100 130 93 2,700
Kansas —  —  —  —  — 
Kentucky 100 100 130 94 3,700
Louisiana  100 100 120 92 2,600
Maine  100 100 130 91 2,600
Maryland 100 100 130 92 3,400
Massachusetts  100 100 140 92 3,700
Michigan 100 100 150 92 3,400
Minnesota 100 100 140 93 3,000
Mississippi  100 100 120 93 2,800
Missouri 100 100 130 93 2,700
Montana 100 98 180 92 2,600
Nebraska —  —  —  —  — 
Nevada 100 100 90 91 2,900
New Hampshire 96 96 90 89 2,500
New Jersey 100 100 110 93 2,800
New Mexico 100 100 100 89 2,500
New York 97 98 150 90 3,800
North Carolina 100 100 150 92 4,400
North Dakota 100 100 180 95 2,200
Ohio 100 100 190 93 3,500
Oklahoma 100 100 150 93 2,700
Oregon 100 100 130 92 2,800
Pennsylvania 100 100 150 92 3,600
Rhode Island 100 100 60 93 2,700
South Carolina 100 100 110 94 2,800
South Dakota 100 100 220 95 2,800
Tennessee  100 100 120 93 3,000
Texas  99 100 170 92 5,900
Utah 100 100 110 92 2,900
Vermont  —  —  —  —  — 
Virginia 100 100 110 93 2,800
Washington 100 100 130 92 2,800
West Virginia  100 100 120 93 2,900
Wisconsin 99 99 170 93 3,500
Wyoming  100 100 90 91 1,900
Other jurisdictions          
     BIE1 —  —  —  —  — 
     District of Columbia —  —  —  —  — 
     DoDEA2 99 97 60 93 1,600
— Not available.
1 Bureau of Indian Education.
2 Department of Defense Education Activity (overseas and domestic schools).
NOTE: The number of schools is rounded to the nearest ten. The number of students is rounded to the nearest hundred. The national totals for schools include Department of Defense Education Activity (overseas and domestic schools) and Bureau of Indian Education schools, which are not included in either the public or private totals. The national totals for students include students in these schools. Columns of percentages have different denominators. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009 Science Assessment.