NAEP Technical DocumentationNonresponse Bias Analyses for the 2013 Assessment

NCES statistical standards call for a nonresponse bias analysis to be conducted for a sample with a response rate below 85 percent at any stage of sampling. Weighted school response rates for the 2013 assessment indicated a need for school nonresponse bias analyses for private school samples in grades 4, 8, and 12 (operational subjects). Student nonresponse bias analyses were necessary for the grade 12 public school student sample overall and in specific states, for both reading and mathematics: Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and West Virginia. Additionally, a student nonresponse bias analysis was required for the grade 12 public school student sample in Illinois based on the weighted response rate for reading, while such an analysis was required for grade 12 public school student sample in New Jersey based on the weighted response rate for mathematics. Thus, three separate school-level analyses and nine separate student-level analyses were conducted.

The procedures and results from these analyses are summarized briefly below. The analyses conducted consider only certain characteristics of schools and students. They do not directly consider the effects of the nonresponse on student achievement, the primary focus of NAEP. Thus, these analyses cannot be conclusive of either the existence or absence of nonresponse bias for student achievement. For more details, please see the NAEP 2013 NRBA report (657.56 KB).

Each school-level analysis was conducted in three parts. The first part of the analysis looked for potential nonresponse bias that was introduced through school nonresponse. The second part of the analysis examined the remaining potential for nonresponse bias after accounting for the mitigating effects of substitution. The third part of the analysis examined the remaining potential for nonresponse bias after accounting for the mitigating effects of both school substitution and school-level nonresponse weight adjustments. The characteristics examined were Census region, reporting subgroup (private school type), urban-centric locale, size of school (categorical), and race/ethnicity percentages (mean).

Based on the school characteristics available, for the private school samples at grade 4, there does not appear to be evidence of substantial potential bias resulting from school substitution or school nonresponse. However, the analyses suggest that a potential for nonresponse bias remains for the grade 8 and 12 private school samples. For grade 8, this result is evidently related to the fact that, among non-Catholic schools, larger schools were less likely to respond. Thus, when making adjustments to address the underrepresentation of non-Catholic schools among the respondents, the result is to over represent smaller schools at the expense of larger ones. The limited school sample sizes involved means that it is not possible to make adjustments that account fully for all school characteristics. For grade 12, the analyses suggested potential bias for percentage Asian and percentage Two or more races. Please see the full report for more details.

Each student-level analysis was conducted in two parts. The first part of the analysis examined the potential for nonresponse bias that was introduced through student nonresponse. The second part of the analysis examined the potential for bias after accounting for the effects of nonresponse weight adjustments. The characteristics examined were gender, race/ethnicity, relative age, National School Lunch Program eligibility, student disability (SD) status, and English language learner (ELL) status.

Based on the student characteristics available, there does not appear to be evidence of substantial potential bias resulting from student nonresponse. Please see the full report for more details.

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