National Assessment of Educational Progress (Project)
Published: 1981
Total Pages: 92
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The results of the 1979-80 reading and literature assessment conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are contained in this report. In addition to the national results, the report describes the performance of 9-, 13-, and 17-year-old students in various cohorts defined by geographic region, sex, race/ethnicity, parental education, and size and type of community. The primary focus of the report is upon the written responses of students to works of literature when they were asked to analyze them, defend their initial reactions to the works, evaluate works, or simply respond to them in any way they deemed appropriate. In addition, the report provides information about the students' reading habits and attitudes, as well as their knowledge of literary works, characters, and conventions. The findings presented in the report indicate (1) that most students lacked systematic strategies for examining what they read in order to understand it fully, and (2) that although students could make sound initial responses to works, they did not appear to know how to support or explain their responses in any but the most superficial ways. The report discusses the implications of the findings and suggests that school administrators and teachers take a variety of steps to address the problems raised by them. Primary type of information provided by report: Results (Selective) (Change). (FL)