NAEP Technical DocumentationState Assessments

State assessments involve much larger school and student sample sizes than national assessments so that results can be reported for each participating state or other jurisdiction. The assessments administered in the states are exactly the same as those administered nationally. The assessments follow the subject area frameworks developed by the National Assessment Governing Board and use the latest advances in assessment methodology.

State assessments are administered biennially in odd-numbered years. (However, from 1990 through 2002, they were administered in even-numbered years.) State assessment data are collected for the following subject areas at grades 4 and 8:

• mathematics,
• reading,
• science, and
• writing.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires public schools in jurisdictions that receive federal Title I funds to participate in state reading and mathematics assessments at grades 4 and 8. All other state assessments are voluntary.

In 2009, eleven states volunteered to participate in a grade 12 state pilot program, a small-scale implementation of grade 12 state assessments in mathematics and reading. In 2013, thirteen states volunteered to participate in this pilot program.

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