For more than four decades the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has tracked the achievement of U.S. students in major academic subjects. This national resource is the only assessment that states and now many urban districts can look to as an objective yardstick of their performance over time, relative to national benchmarks, and…

This report uses NAEP background data to track time and learning since the mid-1990s in three areas: student absenteeism; classroom instructional time in mathematics, reading, music and the visual arts; and homework time expected by teachers. Key report findings are: (1) Students with higher rates of "monthly absenteeism" score disproportionately…

This report examines what the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) can tell us about charter school enrollment and student performance compared to that of regular public schools. The study uses NAEP reading and mathematics data from 2011 and the earlier years when charter school data first became available (2003 for grade 4; 2005 for…

A history of the achievement levels for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) could be documented in different ways. A chronological history might be the obvious approach, but in the author's view, that could miss the most salient aspects of setting student performance standards on an assessment like NAEP. Further, new initiatives…

As the National Assessment Governing Board marks its 20th anniversary, it looks back at its stewardship of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) with understandable pride. NAEP existed for 20 years before the Board was established to provide an independent governance structure for the assessment. During its first two decades, NAEP…

National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) frameworks describe the content and skills measured on NAEP assessments as well as the design of the assessment. They provide both the "what" and the "how" for national assessment. Representing the best thinking of thousands of educators, experts, parents, and policymakers, NAEP frameworks…

This paper addresses the possible content and organization of a National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) "Mega Report" based on the most populous five states and the largest metropolitan areas in each of them, namely California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Texas. It is not a "design" but is much more than an outline, since it discusses the…

The Technical Panel on 12th Grade Preparedness Research, convened by the Governing Board, consists of seven members with expertise in a variety of measurement and policy areas related to preparedness. The purpose of the Panel was to assist the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) in planning research and validity studies that will enable the…

An assessment framework is like a blueprint, laying out the basic design of the assessment by describing the mathematics content that should be tested and the types of assessment questions that should be included. It also describes how the various design factors should be balanced across the assessment. This is an assessment framework, not a…

To gauge the civic knowledge and skills of the nation's 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-grade students, an assessment has been scheduled for 2006 by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). This assessment will enable NAEP to report on trends in civics achievement from 1998 to 2006. The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), NAEP's…

The task of the Ad Hoc Committee on Planning for the the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 12th Grade Assessments in 2009 addresses three policy areas: (1) Conducting assessment at the state level in 12th grade; (2) Reporting on 12th grade student preparedness for college-credit coursework, training for employment and entrance…