Chapter: 1 Science & Engineering Indicators 93

Student Motivation and NAEP Achievement

Because the NAEP tests are "low-stakes tests," some researchers have argued that the results do not yield an accurate picture of students' academic achievement. The 1992 NAEP mathematics assessment added a section of followup questions to try to determine student motivation for doing well on the test. (See figure 1-1 and appendix tables 1-1, and 1-2.) In general, the data collected indicate that the scores of older students should be viewed with some caution, but overall the impact of any lack of motivation of NAEP test scores remains unknown.

Nearly half (45 percent) of grade 12 students and 20 percent of grade 8 students reported that they did not try as hard on the math NAEP test as they did on other math tests taken in school that year. In contrast, only 10 percent of grade 4 students reported not trying as hard. Similarly, 31 percent of grade 12 students and 13 percent of grade 8 students reported that it was not very important for them to perform well on the test, while only 4 percent of grade 4 students felt the same way.

Thus, a significant number of older students may not be motivated to do well on tests like NAEP, and their scores may reflect this lack of motivation. However, those 12th grade students who reported that they did not try as hard on the NAEP math test as they did on other math tests actually scored an average of 27 points higher than students who reported that they tried much harder and 21 points higher than students who reported that they tried harder than on other tests.

Although large numbers of older students reported a reduced effort, 55 percent of grade 12 students, 79 percent of grade 8 students, and 90 percent of grade 4 students reported that they tried at least as hard or harder on the NAEP math test compared with other math tests taken in school. Thus, while some students probably could have tried harder and scored higher, the majority of students reported making a reasonable effort.

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