About the Assessment: Target Population and Sample Size

The schools and students participating in NAEP assessments are selected to be representative of all schools nationally and of public schools at the state level. Samples of schools and students are drawn from each state and from the District of Columbia and Department of Defense schools. The results from the assessed students are combined to provide accurate estimates of the overall performance of students in the nation and in individual states and other jurisdictions.

While national results reflect the performance of students in both public schools and nonpublic schools (i.e., private schools, Bureau of Indian Education schools, and Department of Defense schools), state-level results reflect the performance of public school students only. Results are also reported separately for Department of Defense schools in state tables and maps. More information on sampling can be found in NAEP Technical Documentation.

Some charter schools that operate within the geographic boundaries of a school district are independent of the district and are not included in the districts' Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report to the U.S. Department of Education under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Beginning in 2009, charter schools of this type are no longer included in the results for TUDA districts as they had been in past NAEP assessments.

The sample of students in the participating Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) school districts is an extension of the sample of students who would usually be selected by NAEP as part of state and national samples. Results for students in the TUDA samples are also included in state and national samples with appropriate weighting.

Student sample sizes and target populations in NAEP mathematics at grade 4, by state/jurisdiction: 2011
State/jurisdiction	Sample size	Target population
Nation	214,200	3,945,000
Public	204,000	3,614,000
Private	6,000	321,000
Alabama	3,000	54,000
Alaska	2,800	9,000
Arizona	3,700	80,000
Arkansas	3,500	37,000
California	9,300	438,000
Colorado	3,500	61,000
Connecticut	3,100	41,000
Delaware	3,500	10,000
Florida	7,300	195,000
Georgia	5,400	129,000
Hawaii	3,400	13,000
Idaho	3,600	21,000
Illinois	5,100	157,000
Indiana	3,500	80,000
Iowa	3,400	36,000
Kansas	3,200	35,000
Kentucky	5,000	51,000
Louisiana	3,300	56,000
Maine	3,200	14,000
Maryland	4,700	60,000
Massachusetts	5,200	76,000
Michigan	4,200	113,000
Minnesota	3,700	62,000
Mississippi	3,000	35,000
Missouri	3,500	68,000
Montana	3,200	11,000
Nebraska	3,200	22,000
Nevada	3,900	34,000
New Hampshire	3,300	14,000
New Jersey	3,400	99,000
New Mexico	4,200	25,000
New York	4,800	197,000
North Carolina	5,400	112,000
North Dakota	3,100	7,000
Ohio	4,400	125,000
Oklahoma	3,200	45,000
Oregon	3,700	45,000
Pennsylvania	4,700	130,000
Rhode Island	3,200	11,000
South Carolina	3,400	52,000
South Dakota	3,300	9,000
Tennessee	3,500	75,000
Texas	10,000	359,000
Utah	4,100	43,000
Vermont	2,800	6,000
Virginia	3,700	96,000
Washington	4,000	77,000
West Virginia	3,100	20,000
Wisconsin	4,600	62,000
Wyoming	2,900	7,000
Other jurisdictions
BIE¹	1,000	3,000
District of Columbia	2,100	5,000
DoDEA²	3,200	7,000
¹ Bureau of Indian Education. ² Department of Defense Education Activity (overseas and domestic schools). NOTE: The sample size is rounded to the nearest hundred. The target population is rounded to the nearest thousand. Data for BIE and DoDEA schools are counted in the overall nation total, but not in the nation (public) total. Data for the District of Columbia public schools are counted, along with the states, in nation (public). 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), 2011 Mathematics Assessment.

Learn more about the sampling design.