NAEP Overview
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also
known as "The
Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative
and continuing assessment of what America's students know
and can do in various subject areas. Since 1969, assessments
have been conducted periodically in reading, mathematics,
science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and the
arts.
NAEP does not provide scores for individual students or schools;
instead, it offers results regarding subject-matter achievement,
instructional experiences, and school environment for populations
of students (e.g., fourth-graders) and subgroups of those
populations (e.g., female students, Hispanic students). NAEP
results are based on a sample
of student populations of interest.
National NAEP
National NAEP reports information for the nation and specific
geographic regions of the country. It includes students drawn
from both public and nonpublic schools and reports results
for student achievement at grades 4, 8, and 12.
These assessments follow the Frameworks
developed by the National Assessment
Governing Board (NAGB), and use the latest advances in
assessment methodology. For example, NAEP assessments include
a large percentage of constructed-response questions and questions
that require the use of calculators and other materials. Innovative
types of questions have been used in assessments such as the
arts (theatre, music, and visual arts) and science to measure
students' ability to perform hands-on tasks.
State NAEP
Since 1990, NAEP assessments have also been conducted on
the state level. Participating states receive assessment results
that report on the performance of students in that state.
In its content, the state assessment is identical to the assessment
conducted nationally. However, because the national NAEP samples
were not, and are not currently designed to support the reporting
of accurate and representative state-level results, separate
representative samples of students are selected for each participating
jurisdiction/state.
In 1998, state NAEP assessed reading at grades 4 and 8 and
writing at grade 8. In state NAEP, 44 jurisdictions participated
for reading at grade 4, 41 jurisdictions for reading at grade
8, and 40 jurisdictions for writing at grade 8.
The 2000 assessments in mathematics and science also had
a state component at grades 4 and 8. Overall, 41 states and
six jurisdictions participated.
Click here
to view the history of NAEP participation in Illinois.
Long-Term Trend
NAEP long-term trend assessments are designed to give information
on the changes in the basic achievement of America's youth.
They are administered nationally and report student performance
at ages 9, 13, and 17 in mathematics, science, reading and
grades 4, 8, and 11 in writing. Measuring trends of student
achievement or change over time requires the precise replication
of past procedures. Therefore, the long-term trend instrument
does not evolve based on changes in curricula or in educational
practices.
Special Studies
In addition to the assessments, NAEP coordinates a number
of special educational studies related to assessment. Ongoing
projects include the High School Transcript Study and a Technology-Based
Assessment project designed to explore the use of technology,
especially the use of the computer as a tool to enhance the
quality and efficiency of educational assessments. In 2002,
NAEP began a new study of fourth-graders, the Oral Reading
Study.
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