National Assessment of Educational Progress

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known in the U.S. as "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas, according to the NAEP Web site. Since 1969, assessments have been conducted periodically in the areas of reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and the arts.

NAEP does not provide scores for individual students or schools. The test provides results in the areas of subject-matter achievement, instructional experiences, and school environment for different populations of U.S. students, such as fourth-graders, and groups within those populations, such as female students or Hispanic students.

The commissioner of education statistics, who is in charge of the National Center for Educational Statistics within the U.S. Department of Education, oversees the administration of the NAEP.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FROM EDUCATION WORLD:

• No Educator Left Behind: NAEP
• No Educator Left Behind: Uniform Student Proficiency

OTHER RESOURCES:

• National Center for Educational Progress: The Nation's Report Card
  An overview of NAEP, as well as NAEP questions, data, and state profiles.
• Council of Chief States School Officers: National Assessment of Educational Progress
  A look at the council's involvement with NAEP.
• North Central Regional Educational Laboratory: What is the National Assessment of Educational Progress?
  Information about how NAEP is executed, what information is obtained, and how the data is used.

Article by Ellen R. Delisio
Education World®
Copyright © 2005 Education World