The Nation's Report Card

In the coming weeks, some of your classmates could be receiving hall passes that get them out of class. Now you might be wondering: Where are they going? What are they doing? What are those hall passes for? As it turns out, these select students have been chosen to take part in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as NAEP. And they really have an important job to do.

Have you ever heard of “The Nation’s Report”? Well that’s exactly what the NAEP is! It is completely different from state assessments, the ACT and the SAT. In fact, it represents ALL high students across the United States, not just those who plan to head onto college. The assessment results are released as the “report card” for the US and help the President, Congress, and our educators make decisions about improving the education system. Overall, the NAEP will provide a national snapshot of what students learned in school. It is crucial that the students take it seriously, try their best, and answer as many questions as they possibly can.

The test itself takes place on Thursday, February 5th and will last about 90 minutes total. During that time, the students will be tested on mathematics, reading, and science. They will also be asked questions regarding their educational experiences that may be related to performance, such as homework and reading/study habits. The scores will be anonymous and not affect grades or academic records in any way. Instead, the scores will be combined with the scores of the other students taking the test, to produce the results that reflect student capabilities nationwide. So no worries!

If you would like to see sample questions, past results, or learn more about the NAEP and its importance, be sure to check out NAEP on Twitter or Facebook or visit http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/students . Good luck to those of you taking the test on February 5th!