The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only nationwide assessment of student proficiency. The NAEP has been used since 1969 to assess a variety of subjects, including: reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography and the arts.
The NAEP is broken into two tests: the national NAEP and the state NAEP. The national version provides information for the nation and specific regions of the country by testing both public and non-public school students at the 4th- 8th- and 12th-grade levels. The state version of the NAEP provides assessment results from public school students for the states who participate in the test. The NAEP is voluntary for all states, but if Title 1 funds are received then the state must participate.
The NAEP test is designed to answer the often-asked question of how one state compares to another in educating its students. Sadly, several states have been found guilty of manipulating state test results to create a better picture of education achievement.
One striking issue in North Carolina has been the discrepancy between student results on North Carolina state assessments and the NAEP. The greater percentage of students deemed proficient on the state tests has led many people to question whether North Carolina is setting the bar too low. In March of 2006, the Hendersonville Times-News reported on the vast discrepancy between North Carolina state tests and the National Assessment of Educational Progress. “The performance gap was often enormous. In North Carolina, 88 percent of eighth-graders were proficient or better in reading on the state test. On the NAEP, which the President and Congress use to chart the nation’s progress, 27 percent were.”
Upon closer examination of how well North Carolina students were performing on the NAEP test, it was apparent that the discrepancy between state and federal testing applied to all curriculums that are tested. When comparing students’ mathematics performance on the most recent administrations of the state assessment and the NAEP: students were 82 percent proficient while the national test reported 32 percent were, and 72 percent were at the “basic” level.
The trend of higher state test proficiency levels compared to NAEP proficiency is not unique to North Carolina. Studies indicate that the “proficient” level on state tests can best be compared to the “basic” (one step below proficient) level on NAEP tests.