The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a federally funded, nationwide survey of educational achievement in 10 academic fields. The program is examined to determine whether viable alternatives exist to measure educational achievement. The information produced by NAEP concerns the educational achievement of 9-year-olds; 13-year-olds; 17-year-olds; and young adults, ages 26 to 35. The program is helping to develop a consensus on educational objectives and is making important contributions to the ability to measure educational achievement. The ultimate purpose of NAEP is to improve the educational achievement of school age children. The major achievements of the program thus far include a list of educational objectives, a large body of reliable national data on educational achievement in terms of these objectives, and several contributions to the improvement of the methodology of measuring educational achievement. The achievement testing programs that have been established since NAEP was begun do not provide comparable data. NAEP data are unique because they are national, cover 10 academic fields, and are domain-referenced. The author believes the program should be expanded to realize its potential. Recommendations for expansion and improvement are discussed. (DWH)