Governing Board Decides to Sunset the NAEP Technology and Engineering Literacy Assessment
For immediate release
Contact: Stephaan Harris, (202) 357-7504
Stephaan.Harris@ed.gov
Governing Board Decides to Sunset the NAEP Technology and Engineering Literacy Assessment
August 4, 2023 — The National Assessment Governing Board voted unanimously to sunset the Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL) assessment from the schedule of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) – also known as The Nation’s Report Card. This action to remove the TEL assessment planned for 2028 is part of the Board’s mandate to update and extend the NAEP assessment schedule through the next decade.
TEL was administered in 2014 and 2018 with national-only results for grade 8. TEL assessed how students apply technology and engineering skills to real-life situations, using scenario-based tasks. As part of the Board’s responsibility to update the assessment schedule, the Board reviewed the policy, operational, and budget impacts of previous TEL administrations.
When TEL was first conceived in 2010 and first administered in 2014, it was a groundbreaking assessment that measured understandings and applications of technology principles important for all students at a time of rapid technological advancement. Over time, the multi-year processes to keep NAEP assessment frameworks and test items updated did not align to that exponential pace of change in technology. Additionally, operational constraints prevented reporting future data points on score trends for TEL, thus not allowing the ability to measure progress over time.
Given these limitations, the Board approved the action to end the TEL assessment and to take the lessons learned from TEL and apply them to future development efforts for NAEP. It is possible that some content from the TEL assessment may be included in the forthcoming updated NAEP Science Framework, which will guide the content for NAEP Science assessments beginning in 2028, and that other NAEP assessments may be informed by the innovative item and test design conducted for TEL.
“The Board must ensure all our assessments produce the most useful and relevant data possible for educators, policymakers, and families to inform and improve teaching and learning. When it launched in 2014, TEL was an historic leap forward for the Nation’s Report Card. But the fields of technology and engineering are continually and rapidly advancing, and nearly a decade after its launch, TEL no longer provides the same level of innovation and efficiency we need to plan for the future,” said Beverly Perdue, National Assessment Governing Board chair and former North Carolina governor.
Click here for more background on the assessment.
Download the PDF version of the release here.
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The National Assessment Governing Board is an independent, nonpartisan board whose members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives, and members of the general public. Congress created the 26-member Governing Board in 1988 to set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress. For more information, visit www.nagb.gov.