Resources for Researchers

Explore the many technical aspects of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and learn about available resources for conducting education research with NAEP data such as: data available to the public, web-based tools, restricted-use datasets, statistical software packages, working papers and publications, trainings, and more.

Highlights

Conducting Research Using Process Data from NAEP NCES expects to release the 2017 fourth grade NAEP mathematics assessment process data under a restricted-use data license in Summer 2023. The National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER) encourages researchers to propose exploration studies using these data under the FY2023 Special Education Research Grants Program (84.324A). LEARN MORE

NAEP Events and Conferences The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) regularly hosts and attends events to provide vital information about student achievement and experiences across the United States. See what upcoming conferences and events NAEP is hosting and attending. LEARN MORE

National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA): June 24-26, 2024 Join us in Seattle, WA to discuss how meaningful assessment systems can drive student learning. LEARN MORE

Students stepping off a school bus going to school.

New NCES Tool Explores How Differential Learning Opportunities May Influence Achievement Gaps NCES has launched a new tool to explore how score gaps between student groups change when considering select factors related to learning. LEARN MORE

NAEP in the News

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The 74December 12, 202314 Charts that Changed the Way We Looked at America’s Schools in 2023 New York TimesOctober 10, 2023Who Runs the Best U.S. Schools? It May Be the Defense Department.Education WeekSeptember 11, 2023Q & A: Top NAEP Official Talks About the Future of Nation’s Report Card and More K-12 DiveSeptember 06, 2023Higher chronic absenteeism rates linked to NAEP score declines ChalkbeatJuly 18, 2023Mississippi made big test score gains. Here’s what to make of them.The HillJuly 13, 2023Reading for fun plunges to ‘crisis’ level for US students K-12 DiveMay 03, 2023More NAEP declines: Scores drop for 8th graders on US history, civics tests CNNMay 01, 2023One group of students saw unexpected gains on the ‘Nation’s Report Card’ during the pandemic The New York TimesNovember 14, 2022The Nation's 'Report Card' on Remote Learning Education WeekOctober 24, 2022Explaining That Steep Drop in Math Scores on NAEP: 5 Takeaways Education WeekOctober 24, 20225 Things to Know About the Slide in Reading Achievement on NAEP

NAEP data are discussed and cited frequently in education news, as shown in the above articles. Please note that NCES is not affiliated with and does not endorse any media outlets or publications.

Data Available for Secondary Analysis & Data Tools

Are You An Educator?From its assessment frameworks to assessment questions to data-rich results, NAEP data provides educators a way to evaluate student achievement. Teachers, principals, and other educators can also use the NAEP data tools to analyze and improve educational outcomes.

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Are You A Researcher? Become familiar with NAEP procedures, and learn how to use web-based tools to analyze NAEP data and conduct preliminary explorations of hypotheses before obtaining a license to access restricted-use datasets.

Data Available Data Tools

Statistical Software

Analyzing the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) restricted-use datasets requires special statistical methods due to their scope and complexity. The following analysis software for NAEP restricted-use datasets can assist you in conducting analyses for your education research:

EdSurvey R Package,
AM Statistical Software, and
the NAEP Data Toolkit.

Learn More

NAEP Research & Development Program

The NAEP Research and Development (NAEP R&D) Team conducts studies that contribute to new methodologies for analyzing and operationalizing large -scale assessments. In addition, NAEP R&D promotes the access to and dissemination of this line of research through trainings, internships and a cooperative agreement program. All of these efforts support NAEP in maintaining its reputation as the “gold standard of student assessment.

EXPLORE FEATURED WORK TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES NAEP RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

The R&D Hub is a community center for the NAEP R&D program. In this blog we share updates on the innovative secondary research conducted using NAEP data by R&D program participants as well as provide information on other opportunities to connect with NAEP R&D.

EXPLORE NAEP RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT HUB

Library

Research LibraryExplore this centralized resource to access working papers, documentation, reports, journals, and articles that examine NAEP analytic methods, survey design, survey procedures, and data quality issues. Learn More

Methods and Procedures Handbook The Technical Documentation on the Web (TDW) section of the NAEP website contains information about the technical procedures and methods of NAEP: how the assessment is designed and conducted, and how data are analyzed. Learn More

Last updated 03 April 2024 (DS)