The test known as the “nation’s report card” will soon assess students’ technological skill, in what federal officials say will be the first nationwide assessment of student achievement in that area.
The independent board that directs the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, earlier this month awarded a $1.86 million contract to WestEd, a San Francisco-based nonprofit test developer and research organization, to develop a framework, or basic blueprint, for the exam.
The panel, the National Assessment Governing Board, decided in May 2005 to have a NAEP test of students’ technological skill in place by 2012.
The board has not yet decided in what grades students will take that exam, which will “define and measure students’ knowledge and skills in understanding important technological tools.”
