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About the Assessment: Exclusion Rates

NAEP has always endeavored to assess all students selected as a part of its sampling process, including students who are classified by their schools as students with disabilities (SD) and/or as English language learners (ELL). The decision to exclude any of these students is made by school personnel. School personnel are encouraged to use inclusion criteria provided by NAEP and may discuss their inclusion decisions with NAEP field staff. Some students may participate with testing accommodations. Read more about the NAEP inclusion policy, including exclusion rates from current and previous assessments in all subject areas.

The tables below show the percentage of students identified as SD and/or ELL, and provide the rate of students excluded and accommodated in two ways: as a percentage of all students in the NAEP sample, or as a percentage of students identified as SD and/or ELL. Tables that provide percentages of SD students include those identified under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Title 29 U.S.C. 794 Section 504), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of handicap in federally assisted programs and activities.

Grade 4 District
Grade 8 District
Grade 4 District Trend
Grade 8 District Trend
Percentage of fourth-grade public school students with disabilities (SD) excluded in NAEP reading, as a percentage of identified SD students, by jurisdiction: Various years, 2002–2011
  Percentage of identified SD students
Jurisdiction 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
    Nation 40 34 36 34 29 23
      Large city1  41 37 39 36 33 22
Albuquerque 27
Atlanta 25 21 31 55 16 36
Austin 59 56 57 62
Baltimore City 74 82
Boston 22 36 31 31 27
Charlotte 22 23 22 15 13
Chicago 27 37 38 34 24 10
Cleveland 71 73 83 74 21
Dallas 55
Detroit 35 44
District of Columbia (DCPS) 50 39 44 74 72 19
Fresno 42 24
Hillsborough County (FL) 12
Houston 36 52 62 54 58 45
Jefferson County (KY) 35 43
Los Angeles 31 28 28 21 16 16
Miami-Dade 18 16
Milwaukee 37 12
New York City 34 14 19 18 23 7
Philadelphia 31 19
San Diego 23 21 23 27 30
— Not available. The jurisdiction did not participate or did not meet the minimum participation guidelines for reporting.
1 Large city includes students from all cities in the nation with populations of 250,000 or more including the participating districts.
NOTE: Beginning in 2009, results for charter schools are excluded from the TUDA results if they are not included in the school district’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report to the U.S. Department of Education.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), various years, 2002–2011 Reading Assessments.
Percentage of fourth-grade public school English language learners (ELL) excluded in NAEP reading, as a percentage of identified ELL students, by jurisdiction: Various years, 2002–2011
  Percentage of identified ELL students
Jurisdiction 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
    Nation 26 24 22 20 16 11
      Large city1  24 24 20 16 17 12
Albuquerque 12
Atlanta
Austin 53 46 40 30
Baltimore City
Boston 32 27 14 19 12
Charlotte 28 23 16 18 5
Chicago 38 29 25 20 21 8
Cleveland 45 51 59 17
Dallas 31
Detroit 6 6
District of Columbia (DCPS) 41 18 26 48 28 12
Fresno 5 2
Hillsborough County (FL) 5
Houston 43 59 52 36 42 32
Jefferson County (KY) 68 72
Los Angeles 14 10 8 4 3 3
Miami-Dade 52 14
Milwaukee 22 2
New York City 49 47 37 19 18 10
Philadelphia 24 6
San Diego 11 10 6 6 4
— Not available. The jurisdiction did not participate or did not meet the minimum participation guidelines for reporting.
‡ Reporting standards not met. Sample size insufficient to permit a reliable estimate.
1 Large city includes students from all cities in the nation with populations of 250,000 or more including the participating districts.
NOTE: Beginning in 2009, results for charter schools are excluded from the TUDA results if they are not included in the school district’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report to the U.S. Department of Education. DCPS = District of Columbia Public Schools.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), various years, 2002–2011 Reading Assessments.