"The Nation's Report Card describes student achievement in ways that inform policymakers and educators. It's a really valuable resource." |
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reports on student achievement, instructional experiences, and school environment factors across the nation. It is the only measure of how the nation's students are performing in various subject areas and informs us how student performance has changed over time. The NAEP results are reported as The Nation's Report Card.
It is important that all selected schools and students participate in NAEP. Full participation of all selected students and schools enables NAEP to provide the most accurate and representative picture of student academic performance. Elected officials, policymakers, and educators all use NAEP results to develop ways to improve education.
"As a teacher, my constant focus is to help students make progress in the classroom. NAEP helps with this mission by creating a common measure of student achievement across the country." |
Since NAEP is not designed to report results for individual students or schools, it is not necessary to assess every student in every school. Instead, an accurate picture of student performance is obtained by administering NAEP to a sample of students who represent the student population.
To ensure that a representative sample of students is assessed, NAEP is given in a sample of schools whose students reflect the varying demographics of a specific jurisdiction, be it the nation, a state, or a district. Within each selected school and grade to be assessed, students are chosen at random to participate in NAEP. Every student has the same chance of being chosen—regardless of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, status as an English language learner, grades, or any other factors.
"I was very impressed with NAEP's implementation. All the parents, teachers, and the children at the school felt very comfortable." |
During the 2012-2013 school year, students in grades 4, 8, and 12 will be assessed in mathematics and reading as part of the NAEP assessment. Results for the nation will be reported at each grade, but results for all states will be reported for grades 4 and 8. Thirteen states will receive state-level results for grade 12. Find out why NAEP tests students in these three grades.
In addition, some schools and students may be selected to participate in the NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in mathematics and reading, the technology and engineering literacy (TEL) pilot, or other special studies.
"NAEP makes state-to-state comparisons reliable. Right now every state has different state standards and different criteria for meeting those standards." |
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