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About the Assessment: Participation Rates

National participation

To ensure unbiased samples, NAEP requires that participation rates for original school samples be 70 percent or higher to report national results separately for public and private schools. In instances where participation rates meet the 70 percent criteria but fall below 85 percent, a nonresponse bias analysis is conducted.

Before substituting new schools for originally sampled schools that declined to participate, the weighted national school participation rates for the 2009 mathematics assessment were 97 percent for grade 4 (100 percent for public schools and 73 percent for private schools) and 97 percent for grade 8 (100 percent for public schools and 72 percent for private schools). Weighted student participation rates were 95 percent at grade 4 and 93 percent at grade 8. The nonresponse bias analysis for private schools at grades 4 and 8 showed that substitution and weight adjustments reduced the potential bias.

State and district participation

Standards established by the National Assessment Governing Board require that school participation rates for the original state samples need to be at least 85 percent for results to be reported. In 2009, all 52 states and jurisdictions, along with all 18 districts participating in the mathematics assessment at grades 4 and 8 met this participation rate requirement.

The tables below provide participation rates before substitution.

Learn more about the sampling design.
National and State
District
School and student participation rates in NAEP mathematics at grade 4, by state/jurisdiction: 2009
  School participation Student participation
State/jurisdiction Student-
weighted
percent		 School-
weighted
percent		 Number of
schools
participating		 Student-
weighted
percent		 Number of
students
assessed
     Nation 97 91 9,510 95 168,800
       Public 100 100 8,920 95 163,000
       Private 73 68 370 96 2,800
Alabama  100 100 130 98 2,700
Alaska 96 89 160 98 2,600
Arizona  100 100 140 98 3,100
Arkansas 100 100 140 98 2,800
California 100 100 310 98 7,400
Colorado 100 100 150 98 2,700
Connecticut  100 100 130 98 2,700
Delaware 100 100 100 98 2,800
Florida  100 100 180 94 4,700
Georgia  100 100 170 95 4,000
Hawaii 100 100 140 94 2,800
Idaho  100 100 160 96 3,100
Illinois 100 100 230 95 4,100
Indiana  100 100 140 95 2,800
Iowa 100 100 180 95 2,800
Kansas 100 100 150 96 3,000
Kentucky 100 100 190 95 3,800
Louisiana  100 100 150 95 2,900
Maine  100 100 200 93 2,700
Maryland 99 99 200 95 3,400
Massachusetts  97 99 210 94 3,700
Michigan 100 100 190 94 3,400
Minnesota 100 99 170 95 3,300
Mississippi  100 100 130 96 2,900
Missouri 100 100 160 95 2,600
Montana 100 98 240 94 2,700
Nebraska 100 100 170 96 3,000
Nevada 100 100 130 95 3,000
New Hampshire 99 99 160 94 2,700
New Jersey 100 100 140 94 2,900
New Mexico 100 100 160 94 2,800
New York 100 100 180 94 4,100
North Carolina 100 100 190 95 4,400
North Dakota 100 100 250 96 2,000
Ohio 100 100 210 94 3,400
Oklahoma 100 100 180 96 2,900
Oregon 100 100 170 93 2,800
Pennsylvania 100 100 190 95 3,600
Rhode Island 100 100 150 94 2,500
South Carolina 100 100 130 94 2,900
South Dakota 100 100 290 96 2,700
Tennessee  100 100 140 94 2,900
Texas  100 100 270 95 6,300
Utah 100 100 150 95 3,300
Vermont  100 100 220 95 2,700
Virginia 100 100 130 95 2,900
Washington 100 100 160 94 3,200
West Virginia  100 100 190 95 2,800
Wisconsin 99 99 240 95 3,800
Wyoming  100 100 160 94 2,000
Other jurisdictions          
     BIE1 88 87 114 92 1,000
     District of Columbia 100 100 120 95 1,800
     DoDEA2 99 98 110 92 2,000
1 Bureau of Indian Education.
2 Department of Defense Education Activity (overseas and domestic schools).
NOTE: The number of schools is rounded to the nearest ten. The number of students is rounded to the nearest hundred. The national totals for schools include Department of Defense Education Activity (overseas and domestic schools) and Bureau of Indian Education schools, which are not included in either the public or private totals. The national totals for students include students in these schools. Columns of percentages have different denominators. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009 Mathematics Assessment.