Fran Stancavage

Managing Researcher

After 45 years with AIR where she contributed immeasurably to our research in health, employment equity, and education, Fran passed away in November 2020 after a long illness.

Fran Stancavage is a managing research scientist at AIR, where her career spans over 40 years of work in education and health. Most recently her interests have centered on issues in educational assessment, particularly the utility and policy relevance of student assessment results and the valid and appropriate use of assessments for summative and formative purposes. A related area of focus is the use of cognitive labs to study assessment items, including studies examining item accessibility, usability, and construct validity.

Since 1995, Stancavage has directed the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Validity Studies project, which assists the National Center for Education Statistics in maintaining high standards of validity for the NAEP assessment.

Fran Stancavage
Expertise
Education
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
Teacher Preparation and Performance

M.A., Sociology, California State University, San Jose; B.A., Sociology, Vassar College

Related Work

Effects of Visual Representations and Associated Interactive Features on Student Performance on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Pilot Science Scenario-Based Tasks

02 Apr 2020
As part of the transition to an entirely digitally based assessment (DBA), new types of NAEP items have begun to be developed that leverage the DBA environment to measure a wider range of knowledge and skills, including science scenario-based tasks that are the focus of this report.

TIMSS, PISA, and NAEP: What to Know Before Digging into the Results

30 Nov 2016
In a rare occurrence, PISA, TIMSS, and NAEP assessments are releasing science and math results in the same year. Chances are the results from the various assessments won’t all tell the same story. So what do you need to know to make sense of this bumper crop of assessments? In ...
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Why Did NAEP Scores Drop?

01 Nov 2015
The recent release of the 2015 NAEP results by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics have been labeled “historic” by some because math scores at both Grades 4 and 8 and reading at Grade 8 have all declined, the first decline since NAEP's framework was put ...

Measuring Up in Mathematics: What’s the Right Measure?

18 Jun 2014
NAEP's own data shows different rates among college seniors who are proficient vs. those who are ready for college. Until achievement results for 12th grade students with a good dose of Common-Core-based education under their belts become available, says Fran Stancavage in this blog post, educators who set NAEP standards ...

Examining the Content and Context of the Common Core State Standards: A First Look at Implications for the National Assessment of Educational Progress

26 Aug 2013
AIR's NAEP Validity Studies Panel explores the relationship between NAEP and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and to considering how NAEP can work synergistically with the CCSS assessments to provide the nation with the most useful information about educational progress. This volume includes two substantial studies exploring ...

Validity Study of the NAEP Mathematics Assessment: Grades 4 and 8

01 Sep 2007
This 2007 report is the result of a request by the National Center for Education Statistics to the NVS panel to undertake a validity study of the current National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessment.

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