Department of Education
Kevin Huffman, Commissioner

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) provides important information on what America’s students know and can do in various subject areas. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires that all states receiving Title I grants participate in the NAEP assessments. More than 7,000 NAEP staff will administer the assessment to over 1,000,000 students in more than 19,000 public and private schools across each state and the nation.

The NAEP 2009 assessment will be given in mathematics, reading, and science in grades 4, 8, and 12 from January 26 to March 6, 2009. A subset of high schools will be selected to participate in the High School Transcript Study. In schools selected for this study, transcripts will be collected in the spring and summer of 2009, after the administration of NAEP. In addition, various special studies may occur in a few schools. Results from the math assessment will be reported in the fall of 2009 in The Nation’s Report Card. Results from the reading and science assessment will be reported at a later date. Because NAEP is given to a sample of students within each state, no district, school, or individual student reports are generated. The sampling is constructed to ensure that the statewide results are a valid indicator of how Tennessee students perform relative to other states and the nation.

From January 25 through March 5, 2010, NAEP will administer national assessments in civics (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/civics/), geography (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/geography/ ), and U.S. history ( http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ushistory/ ) at grades 4, 8, and 12. Concurrently, a national pilot test in writing will also be administered at grades 4, 8, and 12. The grade 4 writing pilot will be paper-pencil and the grade 8 and 12 writing pilot will be computer-based. NAEP will also conduct a special study in mathematics at grades 4 and 8. Because these assessments and studies will be conducted at the national level only, no state results will be reported. National results for the civics, geography, and U.S. history assessments will be available in 2011.

From January 24 through March 4, 2011, NAEP will be administered in mathematics and reading at grades 4 and 8, science at grade 8, and writing at grades 8 and 12. The writing assessment at grades 8 and 12 will be computer-based and national results only will be reported. Concurrently, a national pilot test in economics will be conducted at grade 12. Since NAEP and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) are both administered in 2011, a NAEP-TIMSS Linking Study will be conducted at grade 8. This study provides states an exciting opportunity to receive a projected international benchmark to over 50 countries in mathematics and science. It is very important for schools and students to participate and do their best to achieve a valid link between the NAEP and TIMSS assessments. Results from the 2011 NAEP assessments will be released in late 2011 or early 2012.

Tennessee has always shown strong participation in the NAEP assessments, and we look forward to another successful year. We thank our participating schools for their commitment and support, and we stand behind our students as they show dedication and excellence during this important assessment.