1970-2012 Trends (Long-Term Trend Assessment)

Unlike the main NAEP assessments, which develop assessment instruments that reflect current educational content and assessment methodology, measuring trends in student achievement over time requires that LTT assessments remain consistent.

However, in 2004, changes were made to the LTT assessment design, and a study was conducted to ensure that results under the new design were comparable to the 1971–1999 results.

The LTT assessment measures students’ knowledge in mathematics and reading. Survey questionnaires, administered to students, teachers, and school administrators, who participate in an LTT assessment, are used to collect and report contextual information about the students’ learning experience in and out of the classroom.

• LTT Reading Content Areas

  Learn about the content of the LTT reading assessment and how it measures student performance.
  

• LTT Mathematics Content Areas

  Learn about the content of the LTT mathematics assessment and how it measures student performance.
  

• Reading Sample Questions

  See questions from the reading assessment, scorer comments, and the percentages of students nationwide who answered each question correctly.
  

• Mathematics Sample Questions

  See questions from the mathematics assessment, scorer comments, and the percentages of students nationwide who answered each question correctly.
  

• Development

  See how the LTT was created.
  

• Survey Questionnaires

  See the questionnaires that are given to students, teachers, and school administrators to gather information about student experiences in and out of the classroom.
  

Student performance on the NAEP LTT assessment is presented in two ways: scale scores and performance levels

• Scale scores represent the average performance of students who took the LTT assessment in mathematics and reading. Scores are aggregated and reported for the nation and groups of students based on gender, race/ethnicity, etc. 
• Performance levels are reported as the percentages of students attaining specific levels of performance corresponding to five points on the NAEP long-term trend reading and mathematics scales (150, 200, 250, 300, and 350).

• Mathematics Scale Scores

  Read about the mathematics scale
  

• Reading Scale Scores

  Read about the reading scale

• Performance Levels

  Performance levels are reported as the percentages of students attaining specific levels of performance corresponding to five points on the NAEP long-term trend reading and mathematics scales (150, 200, 250, 300, and 350).