Written and maintained by CASRAI Editorial Board
Last updated
Who this is for: education researchers and data managers deciding which NAEP data product they can use today and which needs a license. Short answer: the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also called The Nation’s Report Card, is the congressionally required assessment of what U.S. students know and can do. Results are explored through the NAEP Data Explorer without a license; respondent-level data require a restricted-use license from NCES.
What NAEP is
NAEP is described by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) as the nation’s trusted source for information about student achievement and learning experiences across the United States. It has informed policy since 1969 and is required by Congress.
Who runs NAEP and what it covers
NAEP is carried out by NCES, part of the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education (see our guide to the National Center for Education Statistics). Policy for the program is set by the National Assessment Governing Board, which NCES describes as independent and bipartisan.
Subjects assessed include reading, mathematics, science, writing, the arts, civics, geography, economics, U.S. history, and technology and engineering literacy. Reporting level differs by subject:
- Reading and mathematics: national, state and district results.
- Science: national and state results, varying by year.
- Writing, arts, economics, and technology and engineering literacy: national results only.
- Civics, geography and U.S. history: national results.
How are students selected for NAEP?
Students are sampled from a roster of individual names, not from a list of classrooms, in a sample of public and private schools. NCES selects the school sample so students represent a district, a state or the nation. According to the NAEP technical documentation (read 2026-11-07):
- Public schools are drawn from the Common Core of Data, stratified by location, minority enrollment, state achievement and area median income. A jurisdiction averages about 100 grade-eligible public schools (more in Trial Urban District Assessment districts), with about 50 students per school.
- Private schools are drawn from the Private School Universe Survey, averaging about 700 schools.
- In years with national-only samples, 50 to 100 geographic primary sampling units are selected from about 1,000.
This is a multistage design; see multistage sampling for the general method.
How to find and use NAEP data
NCES lists four NAEP data tools: the NAEP Data Explorer, restricted-use datasets, statistical software, and the NAEP API. A practical order for researchers:
- Open the NAEP Data Explorer from the NCES NAEP Data Tools page. It covers national and state data from 1990 to date and needs no license.
- Use the NAEP Questions Tool, Item Maps, State Profiles and District Profiles to see items and context.
- Download the variable lists by year and subject (Excel or CSV) to check whether the variables you need exist. No license is required for these.
- If you need respondent-level data with weights (1990 onward), your organization must apply for and receive a restricted-use data license from NCES, through the "License to Analyze Restricted-Use Data" page.
- For analysis, NCES lists the EdSurvey R package, AM Statistical Software and the NAEP Data Toolkit.
NCES advises using the web tools for preliminary exploration of hypotheses before obtaining a license. Record the license and storage obligations in your data management plan, and consider privacy rules for student-level records such as FERPA.
NAEP data access routes compared
| Route | License needed | Level and years (per NCES) |
|---|---|---|
| NAEP Data Explorer | No | National and state, 1990 to date |
| Questions Tool, Item Maps, State and District Profiles | No | Items and profiles, via NCES research center |
| Variable lists (Excel/CSV) | No | By year and subject |
| Restricted-use datasets | Yes, NCES restricted-use license | Respondent-level with weights, 1990 onward |
| ICPSR archive | Per ICPSR terms | Some 1970-1980 NAEP data and the 1987 High School Transcript Study |
ICPSR is a social-science data archive.
Strengths and limits
Strengths: congressional mandate, independent governance, sampling of individual students from rosters, coverage from 1990 in the Data Explorer, and free public tools.
Limits (editorial interpretation): results are reported at national, state or, for some subjects, district level; several subjects report only national results; and respondent-level work requires a license.
Is NAEP legit?
NAEP is a federal program run by NCES, required by Congress, with policy set by the independent, bipartisan National Assessment Governing Board, according to NCES. Those governance facts are what can be verified from the operator; CASRAI gives no rating beyond them.
How are the 50 states ranked in education?
NAEP reports state results in reading and mathematics (and science in some years). It measures achievement in assessed subjects and is not an overall education ranking. When comparing states, use the State Profiles or the NAEP Data Explorer and the subject, grade and year you actually need, rather than a single ordered list.
FAQ
Where do I find NAEP scores by state?
Use the State Profiles or the NAEP Data Explorer on the NCES NAEP pages; both are listed as public tools.
Do I need a license for NAEP data?
Not for the Data Explorer or the variable lists. A restricted-use license from NCES is required for respondent-level data.
Can I see NAEP questions?
The NAEP Questions Tool is listed among the NCES research-center data tools.
Sources
- NCES, About NAEP (read 2026-11-07)
- NCES, NAEP Data Tools (read 2026-11-07)
- NCES, NAEP Technical Documentation: Sample Design (read 2026-11-07)
