Reading and Mathematics prioritized, with additional state and district data in Science, Technology and Engineering, U.S. History and Civics

For Immediate Release: July 24, 2019 at 12 p.m. ET
Contact: Stephaan Harris | (202) 357-7504 | stephaan.harris@ed.gov

WASHINGTON—The National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for The Nation’s Report Card, today released an updated schedule of what subjects the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) will assess and when.

The revised schedule retains the focus on its flagship national assessments of Reading and Mathematics, which are mandated by Congress, and prioritizes the information needs of the nation that NAEP is uniquely positioned to provide.

In updating the NAEP schedule, the Governing Board set priorities establishing long-term goals for the assessment program. These were frequency—administering NAEP at least every four years; efficiency—finding cost-effective ways to administer NAEP; and utility—including more state and urban district data to create more actionable information.

"Our decision reflects a thoughtful approach. We are ensuring that our students are assessed on the knowledge and skills they need to become successful citizens," said Gov. Beverly Perdue, the chair of the Governing Board. "We must be wise stewards of taxpayers' money with choices that hold fast to our core mission of maintaining NAEP as the gold standard in assessment."

To address cost savings, NAEP will increase efficiency and reduce the overall time commitment for schools and students through adjustments to the assessment administration. To address utility, the updated schedule now includes more state- and district-level data through additional voluntary assessments at the state and Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) level in various subjects. Writing assessments will be offered at the national, state, and TUDA levels in 2029 corresponding with the introduction of a new assessment framework.

The revised assessment schedule prioritizes updates to the frameworks that drive the assessment content—critical investments to ensure the program keeps pace with changing expectations for students. Revisions to the NAEP Reading and Mathematics frameworks will go into effect for the 2025 assessments.

To adhere to the Board’s priorities and the program’s budget, the updated schedule removes four assessments, including three assessments that provided results only at the national level and were not administered frequently—Arts, Economics, and Geography. Foreign language had been scheduled, but never actually assessed. The Board sought breadth in the assessment schedule to the extent that assessments can be regularly administered and provide useful information to stakeholders.

"The value of a particular subject should not and does not depend on whether NAEP measures it," said Lesley Muldoon, the executive director of the Governing Board. "Historically, NAEP has balanced its twin pillars of innovation and continuity with practical considerations that face all assessment programs. The Governing Board’s decisions about NAEP were guided by a commitment to maintain NAEP’s unique and indispensable role in measuring U.S. educational progress."

The Nation’s Report Card website will continue to provide data for academic subjects that are not assessed by NAEP, including survey results from administrators, teachers, and students to shine a light on opportunity gaps within and outside of schools which may be correlated with achievement.

Major changes to the assessment schedule include:

• Introducing new assessment frameworks for:
  • Reading in 2025
  • Mathematics in 2025
  • Science in 2027
  • Writing in 2029
  • U.S. History in 2029
  • Civics in 2029
• Adding state-level results for voluntary assessments in:
  • Reading for grade 12 in 2027
  • Mathematics for grade 12 in 2027
  • Science for grades 4 and 8 in 2027 (previously scheduled for 2023)
  • Technology and Engineering Literacy for grade 8 in 2027
  • Civics for grade 8 in 2029
  • Writing in grades 4, 8, and 12 in 2029
• Adding Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) results for voluntary assessments in:
  • Science in grades 4 and 8 in 2027 (previously scheduled for 2023)
  • Writing in grades 4 and 8 in 2029
• Next conducting Writing in 2029 to correspond with the introduction of a new framework (eliminating the planned 2021 administration)
• Moving the next assessments of Civics and U.S. History from 2022 to 2021, and postponing grade 12 until 2029
• Moving the next assessment of Technology and Engineering Literacy from 2022 to 2023, and indefinitely postponing plans to expand to grade 12
• Conducting national assessments in grades 4, 8 and 12 for Writing, U.S. History, and Civics in 2029
• Eliminating arts, geography, economics, and foreign language (which was scheduled but never assessed)

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The National Assessment Governing Board is an independent, nonpartisan board whose members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives, and members of the general public. Congress created the 26-member Governing Board in 1988 to set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress. For more information about the Governing Board, visit www.nagb.gov.

The NAEP program is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics, the statistical center of the U.S. Department of Education and the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. NCES fulfills a Congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete statistics on the condition of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally.

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