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About the Assessment: Inclusion Rates

NAEP endeavors to include as many sampled students as possible in the assessment, including students with disabilities (SD) and English language learners (ELL), and has established specific inclusion goals: 95 percent of all sampled students and 85 percent of sampled students identified as SD or ELL. Inclusion rates were computed for each state/jurisdiction participating in the 2011 assessment and compared to NAEP inclusion goals. Specifically, Wilson confidence intervals were used in order to avoid having an upper bound greater than 1.

Three inclusion percentages were computed for each state/jurisdiction. An overall inclusion percentage represents included students as a percentage of all students sampled within the state/jurisdiction. In addition, separate percentages were computed to report included students as a percentage of the state/jurisdiction sample that was identified as SD or ELL.

Inclusion percentages are estimates based on a sample, and each estimate has a measure of uncertainty or margin of error. Confidence intervals quantify this uncertainty due to sampling, resulting in interval estimates of the inclusion percentages. Therefore, confidence intervals for inclusion percentages were used to determine upper and lower confidence bounds around the inclusion point estimates.

When determining whether each state/jurisdiction met the NAEP inclusion goals, the confidence intervals were used, rather than just the point estimates. In other words, if the inclusion goal, whether 95 percent or 85 percent, fell within the corresponding confidence interval, the state/jurisdiction was considered as having met the goal. Therefore, states/jurisdictions for which the upper bound of the confidence interval was less than 95 percent did not meet the overall inclusion goal.

In 2011, all states met the goal of including 95 percent of all students selected for the NAEP samples, and all but three states (Kentucky, Michigan, and North Dakota) met the goal of including 85 percent of those students identified as SD or ELL selected for the samples.

Read more about the NAEP inclusion policy, including exclusion rates from current and previous assessments in all subject areas.

 
National and State
Inclusion rate and standard error (SE) in NAEP science for eighth-grade public school students with disabilities (SD) and English language learners (ELL), as a percentage of identified SD or ELL students, by state/jurisdiction: 2011
State/jurisdiction SD S.E. ELL S.E.
       Nation (public) 87 1 0.5 94 1 0.5
Alabama 90 1 2.2 ‡ †
Alaska 92 1 1.4 97 1 1.1
Arizona 92 1 2.4 ‡ †
Arkansas 91 1 2.1 98 1 1.3
California 82 1 2.5 96 1 0.8
Colorado 90 1 2.1 98  1 1.0
Connecticut 88 1 2.1 93 1 2.9
Delaware 89 1 1.8 ‡ †
Florida 93 1 1.3 93 1 2.6
Georgia 85 1 2.9 ‡   †
Hawaii 91 1 1.9 89 1 1.9
Idaho 83 1 3.0 94 1 2.5
Illinois 93 1 1.3 94 1 2.3
Indiana 91 1 2.1 98 1 1.5
Iowa 94 1 1.7 98 1 2.3
Kansas 89 1 2.3 98  1 0.9
Kentucky 79 2.6 ‡ †
Louisiana 89 1 1.7 ‡ †
Maine 90 1 1.5 ‡ †
Maryland 85 1 2.7 ‡   †
Massachusetts 84 1 2.2 83 1 3.9
Michigan 80 2.7 ‡ †
Minnesota 86 1 2.4 95 1 2.3
Mississippi 89 1 2.3 ‡ †
Missouri 90 1 2.1 ‡ †
Montana 87 1 2.2 ‡   †
Nebraska 91 1 1.7 94 1 2.5
Nevada 89 1 2.4 96 1 1.4
New Hampshire 88 1 1.6 ‡ †
New Jersey 93 1 1.4 ‡   †
New Mexico 87 1 1.9 93 1 1.4
New York 93 1 1.4 92 1 2.5
North Carolina 88 1 2.1 95 1 1.9
North Dakota 76 2.6 ‡ †
Ohio 85 1 2.5 ‡ †
Oklahoma 83 1 2.6 ‡   †
Oregon 88 1 2.1 96 1 1.9
Pennsylvania 93 1 1.5 ‡ †
Rhode Island 97 1 0.8 92 1 3.1
South Carolina 90 1 2.1 99  1 1.0
South Dakota 90 1 1.7 ‡ †
Tennessee 87 1 2.9 ‡ †
Texas 80 1 3.0 91 1 2.5
Utah 83 1 2.2 95 1 1.8
Vermont 92 1 1.3 ‡ †
Virginia 85 1 2.6 83  1 5.5
Washington 85 1 2.4 96 1 2.4
West Virginia 88 1 1.9 ‡ †
Wisconsin 87 1 2.4 97 1 1.8
Wyoming 90 1 2.0 ‡   †
Other jurisdictions  
     District of Columbia 93 1 1.2 91 1 2.0
     DoDEA2 94 1 1.8 83  1 4.3
† Not applicable. Standard error estimate cannot be accurately determined.
‡ Reporting standards not met. Sample size insufficient to permit a reliable estimate.
1 The state/jurisdiction’s inclusion rate is higher than or not significantly different from the National Assessment Governing Board’s goal of 85 percent.
2 Department of Defense Education Activity (overseas and domestic schools).
NOTE: SD includes students identified as having an Individualized Education Program but excludes other students protected under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. S.E. = Standard error.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2011 Science Assessment.