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Introduction
Reading is the most important, fundamental ability taught in the nation's schools. It is vital to society and to the people within it. It is the door to knowledge and a capability that can liberate people both intellectually and personally. For 30 years the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has been reporting the reading achievement of students in the United States. Known in recent years as The Nation's Report Card, NAEP reports provide descriptive information about student strengths and weaknesses in reading and a number of other subjects. The reports provide data that compare groups of students by race and ethnicity, gender, type of community, and region, as well as data that chart trends in achievement over time. Relationships between student achievement and school-related experiences such as homework and instruction are also reported. A significant change occurred in 1990 in how and for whom NAEP results are reported. The 1990 NAEP mathematics assessment collected information on a trial basis to provide "state report cards" that allow state-to-nation and state-to-state comparisons. In 1992 the NAEP reading assessment included state-level reporting of fourth-grade results on a trial basis. Reading was assessed again in 1994 at the national level, and at the state level in grade four. In 1998 NAEP assessed reading in grades four and eight at the state level. The decision to undertake state-by-state reporting of assessment data had its beginnings in 1984 when a majority of chief state school officers supported the development of an assessment system that would provide state-level information. In the following year, that group supported the expansion of NAEP as the most feasible vehicle for such an assessment system. In 1986 Georgia and Wyoming contracted with NAEP to conduct in-state assessments concurrently with the national assessment and to provide them with state-to-nation comparison data. In 1986 and 1987, several groups of southern states contracted with NAEP to conduct state-level assessments in mathematics. This effort was coordinated by the Southern Regional Education Board. During this period, the governors of various other states expressed a desire to obtain information from NAEP on the educational achievement of students in their states. In 1987 a national study group chaired by Lamar Alexander, then governor of Tennessee, made a series of recommendations about the future of NAEP. One of the most significant was that the assessment be expanded to provide state-by-state reporting. In 1988 Congress passed the Hawkins-Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments (P.L. 100-297), which added a new dimension to NAEP: a voluntary trial state assessment in 1990 and 1992. The first trial was conducted in spring 1990, with 40 states and territories participating in a mathematics assessment at grade eight. The trial continued in 1992 with mathematics assessments at grades four and eight and a reading assessment at grade four. In 1994 NAEP state-level assessments were given in reading at grade four. NAEP conducted a state-level reading assessment in grades four and eight in 1998. The decision to undertake state-by-state reporting is not without its critics, especially among reading educators. Some fear that state-by-state comparisons will be used to draw inappropriate inferences or to make unsupported cause-and-effect relationships. Others are concerned that the assessment design will not reflect appropriate educational goals. Still others fear that the various NAEP assessments will foster, and ultimately outline, a national curriculum. Reading educators in particular were apprehensive that the reading assessment would be insensitive to many theoretical and instructional developments in the field and that it might oversimplify the complex set of behaviors that are integral to reading. The first report card related to America's national education goals was released in fall 1991. It contained many gaps, especially at the state level. Reading information was limited to what could be inferred from Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. There is clearly a need for an assessment that will allow states to determine the success with which they have met the goals established by the President and the nation's governors. The NAEP in Reading fills a critical gap in this area.
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