The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nation’s Report Card, is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what our nation’s students know and can do in various subjects.  All states that receive Title I funding are required by federal law to participate in NAEP and assess students in mathematics and reading at grades 4 and 8.  By participating, states gain data to monitor their own assessments, make cross-state comparisons in student performance, and develop ways to improve educational policy.

Rather than testing every student in a state, NAEP selects a sample of schools and then selects a random sample of students within those sampled schools to represent a state.  Therefore, not all, but most schools in Rhode Island participate in the NAEP reading and mathematics assessments, which are administered in every odd-numbered calendar year (e.g., 2009, 2011).  Other tested subjects, such as science or writing, are generally administered on an alternating schedule.  Participation in these subjects, however, is voluntary for states.

• Rhode Island was one of only four states/jurisdictions in the nation to increase average scale scores in both 4th and 8th grade mathematics from the previous NAEP administration year of 2009 to 2011.
• In 2011, 43 percent of Rhode Island 4th graders performed at or above NAEP Proficient in mathematics which was greater than the national average of 40 percent. This is a 15 percentage point increase from 2003 when 28 percent of the state’s 4th graders were at or above Proficient.
• In 2011, 34 percent of Rhode Island 8th graders performed at or above NAEP Proficient in mathematics. This is a 10 percentage point increase from 2003 when 24 percent of the state’s 8th graders were at or above Proficient.
• In 2011, 16 percent of Rhode Island 4th graders were below NAEP Basic in mathematics. This is a 12 percentage point decrease from 2003 when 28 percent of the state’s 4th graders were below Basic.
• In 2011, 27 percent of Rhode Island 8th graders were below NAEP Basic in mathematics. This is a 10 percentage point decrease from 2003 when 37 percent of the state’s 8th graders were below Basic.

• Rhode Island was one of 10 states in the nation to increase its average scale score in 8th grade reading from the previous NAEP administration year of 2009 to 2011. Furthermore, Rhode Island’s average reading score of 265 was higher than that of the nation’s public schools (264). This is a turnaround since 2009 when the state’s score (260) was lower than that of the nation’s public schools (262).
• In 2011, 35 percent of Rhode Island 4th graders performed at or above NAEP Proficient in reading which was greater than the national average of 32 percent. This is also 6 percentage point increase from 2003 when 29 percent of the state’s 4th graders were at or above Proficient.
• In 2011, 33 percent of Rhode Island 8th graders performed at or above NAEP Proficient in reading, a 3 percentage point increase from 2003 when 30 percent of the state’s 8th graders were at or above Proficient.
• In 2011, 30 percent of Rhode Island 4th graders were below NAEP Basic in reading. This is an 8 percentage point decrease from 2003 when 38 percent of the state’s 4th graders were below Basic.
• In 2011, 24 percent of Rhode Island 8th graders were below NAEP Basic in reading. This is a 5 percentage point decrease from 2003 when 29 percent of the state’s 8th graders were below Basic.

Nation's Report Card                Results from Past Years