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8 Things You Show Know

What is NAEP?

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Assessments are conducted periodically in mathematics, reading, science, writing, the arts, civics, economics, geography, and U.S. history. Since NAEP assessments are administered uniformly using the same sets of test booklets across the nation, NAEP results serve as a common metric for all states and selected urban districts.

How is NAEP different?

Most state tests measure student performance on the state's own curriculum standards, but state tests do not provide comparisons of results with other states or the nation. NAEP is the only assessment that allows comparison of results from one state with another, or with results for the rest of the nation.

How was my child selected?

NAEP assesses a representative cross-section of students in each state – only a small number of students participate and they complete only a portion of the assessment.  Each participating student represents hundreds of other similar students. These students characterize the geographic, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity that is America’s student body.

Are students with disabilities included?

The decision to include students with disabilities in NAEP assessments is made on a case-by-case basis by school personnel, who decide whether students can meaningfully be assessed with or without accommodations based on information in a student's Individualized Education Program (IEP). Generally, children who are included in the state or local testing program are included in NAEP, if selected. See more about the NAEP inclusion policy.

Are the data confidential?

Federal law dictates complete privacy for all test takers and their families. Under the National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (Public Law 107-279 III, section 303), the Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is charged with ensuring that NAEP tests do not question test-takers about personal or family beliefs or make information about their personal identity publicly available.

Can I see the results?

Yes. The links on the left side of the page will take you to the overall results for each subject area listed. If you'd like to explore the results in more detail, check out the wide variety of NAEP data tools that allow you to view the NAEP results from many different angles. NAEP does not provide scores for individual students or schools, although results are available for the nation by student groups, by states, and by selected large urban districts.

How does my state measure up?

You can find out how your state performed by clicking on your state in the NAEP State Profiles. Also, you can use the
state comparisons tool to see how your state’s performance compares to other states by several different demographic factors.

How can I see sample questions?

Booklets containing sample test questions and all questions about student educational experience in school or at home are available on the NAEP website. In addition, more than 2,000 released NAEP questions are available online in the easy-to-use NAEP Questions Tool.

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