NAEP Releases The Nation’s Report Card
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has released The Nation’s Report Card results of the 2013 Trial Urban District Assessment, measuring the educational progress of fourth- and eighth-graders within 21 urban districts around the United States.
According to the report, significant progress has been made in closing gaps in achievement in urban districts:
- Black, Hispanic, and white students in Los Angeles scored higher in 2013 than in 2011 in math at grade 4.
- Black, Hispanic, and white students in the District of Columbia scored higher in 2013 than in 2011 in reading at grade 8.
- Students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches increased their average scores from 2011 to 2013 in at least one subject and grade combination in eight districts (Atlanta, Baltimore City, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, District of Columbia, Fresno, and Los Angeles).
In addition to providing detailed information about academic achievement, the NAEP offers valuable Resources for Researchers to assist with research activities and grant proposal preparation including the following:
- The NAEP Data Explorer helps build custom tables using years of available assessment data on students’ academic performance.
- A technical documentation section provides information about the technical procedures and methods of the NAEP organized by topic area from Instruments through Analysis and Scaling.
- Research support includes training, seminars, and conferences for users of NAEP information and data.
- The NAEP e-Library serves as a centralized archive of available reports, working papers, and assessment history, among other resources.
The NAEP conducts periodic assessments and publishes The Nation’s Report Card to inform the public about the academic achievement of elementary and secondary students in the United States. The NAEP is a congressionally authorized project of the National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education.
