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Sample questions in reading
Grade 4
Grade 8

Test Yourself...then see how the students responded to the same questions on NAEP. The following grade 4 short constructed-response question asks students to explain the motivation for a character's actions in a story. See the full text of the grade 4 reading passage.

Student responses were scored according to a 3-level scale as "Full comprehension," Partial or surface comprehension," or "Little or no comprehension." The sample response below is an example of a "Full comprehension" response.

Overall, 54 percent of students were scored as having a "Full comprehension" response. When only the students in the Proficient category are considered, 69 percent scored "Full comprehension."

Grade 4 Short Constructed-Response question. National percentage

See more about this question in the NAEP Questions Tool.

View this question, at score 158, on a map of NAEP reading items.

Learn more about what the reading assessment measures.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2007 Reading Assessment.

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National Assessment of Educational Progress, National Center for Education Statistics
National Assessment Governing Board
Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education