WestEd, a nonprofit research organization based in San Francisco, has been hired to craft the new curriculum framework and specifications for the next version of the science test for the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
The organization was awarded a $1.3 million contract for the work, according to the National Assessment Governing Board, the panel that sets policy for the NAEP. WestEd’s subcontractor on the project will be the Council of Chief State School Officers, based in Washington. Three other groups will collaborate on the project: the Washington-based American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Council of State Science Supervisors, based in Beaverdam, Va., and the National Science Teachers Assocation, based in Arlington, Va.
The new science framework for the NAEP, sometimes referred to as “the nation’s report card,” is scheduled to take effect in 2009. The current framework has been in place since 1991, and will be used for the science assessment scheduled for the winter of 2005.
