National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2026
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
Approved with change
07/22/2025
05/15/2025
table that charts list comparision
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
08/31/2027
36 Months From Approved
08/31/2027
786,113
0
61,360
449,560
0
21,536
0
0
0
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), is a federally authorized survey of student achievement at grades 4, 8, and 12 in various subject areas, such as mathematics, reading, writing, science, U.S. history, civics, geography, economics, technology and engineering literacy (TEL), and the arts. The National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (Public Law 107-279 Title III, section 303) requires the assessment to collect data on specified student groups and characteristics, including information organized by race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, disability, and limited English proficiency. It requires fair and accurate presentation of achievement data and permits the collection of background, noncognitive, or descriptive information that is related to academic achievement and aids in fair reporting of results. The intent of the law is to provide representative sample data on student achievement for the nation, the states, and subpopulations of students and to monitor progress over time. NAEP consists of two assessment programs: the NAEP long-term trend (LTT) assessment and the main NAEP assessment. The LTT assessments are given at the national level only and are administered to students at ages 9, 13, and 17 in a manner that is very different from that used for the main NAEP assessments. LTT reports mathematics and reading results that present trend data since the 1970s. In addition to the operational assessments, NAEP uses two other kinds of assessment activities: pilot assessments and special studies. Pilot assessments test items and procedures for future administrations of NAEP, while special studies (including the National Indian Education Study (NIES), the Middle School Transcript Study (MSTS), and the High School Transcript Study (HSTS)) are opportunities for NAEP to investigate particular aspects of the assessment without impacting the reporting of the NAEP results.
This request is to conduct NAEP in 2026, specifically: (1) Main NAEP operational assessments will include for grades 4 and 8 (first administration of the new frameworks for reading and mathematics), grade 8 (civics and U.S. history); in Puerto Rico, grades 4 and 8 mathematics will be the only subject assessed and will include the new framework; (2) Pilot testing in grades 4, 8, and 12 (reading and mathematics); in Puerto Rico, grades 4 and 8 mathematics will be the only subject assessed; (3) Field Trial for grades 4, 8, and 12 in U.S. mainland and grades 4 and 8 in Puerto Rico; and (4) Special studies for grades 4, 8, and 12 for one or more focused topics such as Multi-stage Testing (MST) and accessibility.
Some documents in this package will be updated after the 60-day public comment period for inclusion in the 30-day public comment period, which is likely to begin in January 2025. Further, two additional 30-day packages will be submitted in March and June 2025 in order to update all materials in time for the data collection in early 2026.
PL:
Pub.L. 107 - 279 303
Name of Law: National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act
This burden estimate is lower than those previously published. The reduction has occurred because of the removal of planned Special Studies and because the original calculation did not reflect the correct split between School Device Model and NAEP Device Model schools. The latter error substantially inflated the estimated burden, and has since been corrected.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Appendix J-S: 2024 School Questionnaires Samples
NAEP 2026 Appendix G v.36_07.22.25.docx
6.16.25 NAEP Comment Letter Final.pdf
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2026