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NAEP Technical DocumentationState Assessments

State assessments are conducted using national main assessment materials and involve much larger school and student sample sizes per state (or other jurisdictional unit), so that results can be reported for each participating state and jurisdiction.

State assessments are administered biennially in odd-numbered years. (However, from 1990 through 2002, they were administered in even-numbered years.) State assessment data are collected for the following subject areas at grades 4 and 8:

• mathematics,
• reading,
• science, and
• writing.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires public schools in jurisdictions that receive federal Title I funds to participate in state reading and mathematics assessments at grades 4 and 8. All other state assessments are voluntary.

In 2009, several states volunteered to participate in a small-scale implementation of grade 12 state assessments in mathematics and reading.

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