No Educator Left Behind is a series providing answers from the U.S. Department of Education to questions about the federal No Child Left Behind Act and how it will affect educators. If you have a question about No Child Left Behind, send an e-mail to Ellen Delisio, and we will submit your question to the Department of Education.

Question:

What is the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and when were states required to begin participating in it?

U.S. Department of Education:

NAEP is the only nationally representative, continuing assessment of what U.S. students know and can do in various subject areas. While most states participated in NAEP prior to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, NCLB required biennial state participation in NAEP reading and math assessments for fourth and eighth grade students, so long as the U.S. Department of Education pays the costs of administering those assessments.

NCLB explicitly bans anything resembling a national test for all students. Under NCLB, states design the tests all their students take, not the federal government.

Read previous questions and answers in our No Educator Left Behind archive.