​​​​​​NAEP Technical DocumentationNAEP 2020 Sample Design

			Selection of Primary Sampling Units 2020 Public School Long-Term Trend Assessment 2020 Private School Long-Term Trend Assessment School and Student Participation Results

Unlike most NAEP assessments, the 2020 assessments target students based on age rather than grade. These assessments are known as long-term trend assessments. The age populations for NAEP 2020 are as follows (note that assessments at age 17 were not conducted due to the COVID-19 pandemic):

• age 9 population: all students born in 2010 (i.e., all students who were nine years old on December 31, 2019); and
•  age 13 population: all students born in 2006 (i.e., all students who were thirteen years old on December 31, 2019).

The NAEP 2020 sample design consisted of a nationally representative sample of students for the following assessments:

• reading at ages 9 and 13; and
• mathematics at ages 9 and 13.

This was accomplished by designing separate sample components for public and private schools. The selected samples were based on a three-stage sample design:

• selection of primary sampling units (PSUs);
  
• selection of schools within strata; and
• selection of students within schools.

The samples of schools were selected with probability proportional to a measure of size based on the estimated enrollment in the schools at ages 9 and 13.

The target population included all students in public and private schools, including Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) and Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools, who were age 9 or age 13, respectively, according to the age definitions described above.

The figure below illustrates the various sample types and subjects. All assessments in 2020 were paper-based (PBA).

The sample design for the operational assessments is described in more detail in subsequent pages.

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