What the NAEP results reveal

The annual release of scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is for educators what the World Series is for baseball . . . except it is a lot less fun and nobody gets to eat hot dogs and drink beer. Each year, students in all 50 states and two jurisdictions (the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense schools) take the NAEP assessment. How U.S. students score on the NAEP, often referred to as the nation’s report card, is seen as a key indicator of whether a state or district is educating its students to a high standard of learning.

Educators take the NAEP very seriously, and there is a very real sense of competition among states and districts about which will show the most progress. A state or district with higher-than-average NAEP scores will be showered with attention and be seen as a beacon of hope for others trying to improve student performance. That may not be on par with a World Series trophy or a parade through downtown Washington, but for underappreciated, often maligned educators, it can mean a great deal.

A particular state or district may outshine everyone for one year, but the real stories tend to come from looking at NAEP’s trend data.