Assessments

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—a congressionally mandated large-scale assessment administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)—consists of print and digital assessments in various subject areas. Three of these subjects—mathematics, reading, and science—are assessed most frequently and reported at the state and select district level, usually for grades 4 and 8. The Nation’s Report Card provides results on student performance based on gender, race/ethnicity, public or nonpublic school, teacher experience, and hundreds of other factors.

Arts

Civics

Reading

Mathematics

Geography

Economics

Science

Technology and Engineering

US History

Writing

NAEP in the News

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The 74December 12, 202314 Charts that Changed the Way We Looked at America’s Schools in 2023 New York TimesOctober 10, 2023Who Runs the Best U.S. Schools? It May Be the Defense Department.Education WeekSeptember 11, 2023Q & A: Top NAEP Official Talks About the Future of Nation’s Report Card and More K-12 DiveSeptember 06, 2023Higher chronic absenteeism rates linked to NAEP score declines ChalkbeatJuly 18, 2023Mississippi made big test score gains. Here’s what to make of them.The HillJuly 13, 2023Reading for fun plunges to ‘crisis’ level for US students K-12 DiveMay 03, 2023More NAEP declines: Scores drop for 8th graders on US history, civics tests CNNMay 01, 2023One group of students saw unexpected gains on the ‘Nation’s Report Card’ during the pandemic The New York TimesNovember 14, 2022The Nation's 'Report Card' on Remote Learning Education WeekOctober 24, 2022Explaining That Steep Drop in Math Scores on NAEP: 5 Takeaways Education WeekOctober 24, 20225 Things to Know About the Slide in Reading Achievement on NAEP

NAEP data are discussed and cited frequently in education news, as shown in the above articles. Please note that NCES is not affiliated with and does not endorse any media outlets or publications.

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.

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Intended Meaning of NAEP

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. Consult this useful statement to learn more about the intended meaning of NAEP results.

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specialSpecial 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.