This is an interesting study that analyzes the achievement gap between white and minority eighth grade students in Texas. The study used the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), the Texas NAEP, and the national NAEP mathematics test results to determine if this gap had narrowed between 1996 and 2000 and to look at how the results from the two tests compared.
"The results of this study have implications beyond the TAAS and the State of Texas. The national emphasis on high standards and the use of high stakes criterion-referenced tests to measure progress toward those standards have become commonplace in public education...The use of comparative data such as the NAEP are vital to ensure that the test data used by state and national decision-makers presents an accurate picture of the educational achievement of their students."
