The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP): An Overview

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as The Nation’s Report Card, serves as a crucial barometer of student achievement across the United States. As a congressionally mandated and ongoing project administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the United States Department of Education, NAEP provides valuable insights into what students know and can do in various subjects. Since 1969, NAEP has been instrumental in informing education policy and practice.

What is NAEP?

NAEP is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in reading, mathematics, and many other academic subjects. It measures student achievement in core subject areas, including mathematics, reading, writing, science, history, geography, civics, economics, technology and engineering literacy, and the arts.

NAEP reports results for different demographic groups, including gender, socioeconomic status, students with disabilities, and English language learners. However, there are no results for individual students, classrooms, or schools.

Purpose and Intended Meaning

NAEP results are designed to provide group-level data on student achievement in various subjects, and are released as The Nation's Report Card. NAEP results describe educational achievement for groups of students at a single point in time, progress in K-12 education for groups of students over time, and differential educational achievement and progress among jurisdictions and subpopulations.

Teachers, principals, parents, policymakers, and researchers all use NAEP results to assess student progress across the country and develop ways to improve education in the United States.

Subjects Assessed

NAEP assessments cover a wide range of subjects, providing a comprehensive view of student knowledge and skills. These subjects include:

Mathematics: Assessing students' mathematical knowledge and problem-solving abilities.
Reading: Evaluating students' reading comprehension and critical analysis skills.
Science: Measuring students' understanding of scientific concepts and their ability to apply scientific reasoning.
Writing: Demonstrating how well students can write persuasive, explanatory, and narrative essays.
U.S. History: Assessing students' knowledge of history in the context of democracy, culture, technological and economic changes. History varies by year.
Geography: Demonstrating their knowledge of world geography (space and place, environment and society, and spatial dynamics and connections).
Civics: Assessing students on their knowledge and skills critical to the responsibilities of citizenship in the constitutional democracy of the United States.
Economics: Assessing students on their understanding of how economies and markets work, the benefits and costs of economics interaction and interdependence, and the choices people make regarding limited resources.
Arts: Students are asked to observe, describe, analyze, evaluate works of music and visual art and to create original works of visual art.
Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL): Students apply their technology and engineering skills to real-life situations.

Assessments are given most frequently in mathematics, reading, science and writing.

Assessment Frameworks

Each NAEP assessment is based on an organizing framework, similar to a blueprint, that is developed by education and assessment experts. Frameworks provide information about the content to be assessed in each subject and what knowledge and skills are appropriate for students being assessed in those subjects. The frameworks also offer insights about how to measure skills and student achievement in innovative ways.

Types of NAEP Assessments

There are two main types of NAEP assessments:

Main NAEP

Main NAEP assessments are conducted in a range of subjects with fourth-, eighth- and twelfth-graders across the country. National NAEP reports statistical information about student performance and factors related to educational performance for the nation and for specific demographic groups in the population (e.g., race/ethnicity, gender). State NAEP results are available in some subjects for grades 4 and 8. This allows participating states to monitor their own progress over time in mathematics, reading, science, and writing. The assessments given in the states are exactly the same as those given nationally.

Read also: Eligibility for National Awards

Long-Term Trend NAEP

Long-term trend NAEP is administered to 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds periodically at the national level. Although long-term trend and main NAEP both assess mathematics and reading, there are several differences between them. In particular, the assessments differ in the content assessed, how often the assessment is administered, and how the results are reported.

NAEP Administration

By law, NCES is responsible for carrying out the operational components of NAEP. NAEP is conducted in partnership with states.

Frequency and Timing

Assessments are given most frequently in mathematics, reading, science, and writing. Traditionally, state NAEP was assessed only at grades 4 and 8.

Main NAEP assessments are typically administered over approximately six weeks between the end of January and the beginning of March of every year. Long-term trend assessments are typically administered every four years by age group between October and May.

Transition to Digital-Based Assessments (DBAs)

While most NAEP assessments are administered in a paper-and-pencil based format, NAEP is evolving to address the changing educational landscape through its transition to digitally-based assessments. NAEP is using the latest technology available to deliver assessments to students, and as technology evolves, so will the nature of delivery of the DBAs. The goal is for all NAEP assessments to be paperless by the end of the decade.

In 2011, NAEP transitioned its writing assessment (at grades 8 and 12) from paper and pencil to a computer-based administration in order to measure students' ability to write using a computer. The assessment takes advantage of many features of current digital technology and the tasks are delivered in multimedia formats, such as short videos and audio. Additionally, in an effort to include as many students as possible, the writing computer-based assessment system has embedded within it several universal design features such as text-to-speech, adjustable font size, and electronic spell check.

NAEP and Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners

Data is also provided on students with disabilities and English language learners. In an effort to include as many students as possible, NAEP provides allowable accommodations for students with disabilities.

Historical Context

NAEP began in 1964, with a grant from the Carnegie Corporation to set up the Exploratory Committee for the Assessment of Progress in Education (ESCAPE). The first national assessments were held in 1969. Through 1988, NAEP reported only on the academic achievement of the nation as a whole and for demographic groups within the population.

Voluntary assessments for the states began in 1990 on a trial basis and in 1996 were made a permanent feature of NAEP to be administered every two years. Congress passed legislation in 1988 authorizing a voluntary Trial State Assessment. Separate representative samples of students were selected from each state or jurisdiction that agreed to participate in state NAEP. Trial state assessments were conducted in 1990, 1992, and 1994.

A significant change to state NAEP occurred in 2001 with the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also referred to as "No Child Left Behind" legislation. This legislation requires that states which receive Title I funding must participate in state NAEP assessments in mathematics and reading at grades 4 and 8 every two years.

Special Studies and Reports

NCES conducts secondary analyses of NAEP results. These studies focus on unique populations of students, including students of different racial/ethnic groups, ages, grades, and those in different types of schools and geographic regions. To gain a clearer picture of these unique populations, secondary analyses may involve additional data collection. NCES also conducts a number of special NAEP studies that involve the evaluation of technical procedures, statistical models for comparison-based analyses, and other methodologies.

Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA)

The Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) is a project developed to determine the feasibility of using NAEP to report on the performance of public school students at the district level.

High School Transcript Study (HSTS)

The HSTS explores the relationship between grade 12 NAEP achievement and high school academic careers by surveying the curricula being followed in our nation's high schools and the course-taking patterns of high school students through a collection of transcripts.

NAEP-TIMSS Linking Study

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international assessment by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) that measures student learning in mathematics and science. NCES initiated the NAEP-TIMSS linking study so that states and selected districts can compare their own students' performance against international benchmarks. The linking study was conducted in 2011 at grade 8 in mathematics and science.

National Indian Education Study (NIES)

The NIES is a two-part study designed to describe the condition of education for American Indian/Alaska Native students in the United States. The first part of the study consists of assessment results in mathematics and reading at grades 4 and 8. The second part presents the results of a survey given to American Indian/Alaska Native students, their teachers and their school administrators.

NAEP and State Standards

Under the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, states develop their own assessments and set their own proficiency standards to measure student achievement. Each state controls its own assessment programs, including developing its own standards, resulting in great variation among the states in statewide student assessment practices. Since 2003, NCES has supported research that compares the proficiency standards of NAEP with those of individual states. State assessments are placed onto a common scale defined by NAEP scores, which allows states' proficiency standards to be compared not only to NAEP, but also to each other.

Other Studies

Over the years, NCES has conducted a number of other studies related to different aspects of the NAEP program. The Oral Reading Study was undertaken to discover how well the nation's fourth-graders can read aloud a typical grade 4 story. America's Charter Schools was a pilot study conducted as a part of the 2003 NAEP assessments in mathematics and reading at the fourth-grade level. Private Schools educate about 10 percent of the nation's students. In the first report, assessment results for all private schools and for the largest private school categories-Catholic, Lutheran, and Conservative Christian-were compared with those for public schools (when applicable).

Special Studies in Technology

In 2009, ICTs were administered as part of the paper-and-pencil science assessment. The computer delivery affords measurement of science knowledge, processes, and skills not able to be assessed in other modes. This special study in multi-stage testing, implemented in 2011, investigated the use of adaptive testing principles in the NAEP context. A sample of students were given an online mathematics assessment which adapts to their ability level. The TEL assessment framework describes technology and engineering literacy as the capacity to use, understand, and evaluate technology as well as to understand technological principles and strategies needed to develop solutions and achieve goals. Eighth-grade students throughout the nation took the assessment in winter of 2014.

Achievement Levels

The Governing Board adopts achievement levels that represent what students should know and be able to do in each subject and grade that NAEP tests. The achievement levels capture informed judgments of “how good is good enough” and help explain assessment results beyond scale scores. To set the levels for each subject, preliminary descriptions are adopted after wide public consultation. Broadly representative panels - composed of classroom teachers, other educators, and knowledgeable members of the public - are then convened to make final recommendations to the Governing Board.

NAEP Proficient - Represents solid academic performance.

Criticism

NAEP's heavy use of statistical hypothesis testing has drawn some criticism related to interpretation of results. NAEP's choice of which answers to mark right or wrong has also been criticized. NAEP's claim to measure critical thinking has also been criticized.

The Future of NAEP

NAEP 2026 includes operational assessments in mathematics and reading at grades 4 and 8, with pilot assessments at grades 4, 8, and 12. history will be assessed nationally at grade 8. The assessment window is January 26 to March 20, 2026.

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