This document presents the Reading Framework for the 1992, 1994, 1998, and 2000 National Assessments of Educational Progress (NAEP), adopted by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB). The Framework contains the rationale for the aspects of reading assessed and criteria for development of the assessment. The NAEP in Reading uses a variety of assessment approaches, both conventional and innovative. Developed through a national consensus process as part of an effort to move assessment forward, the new NAEP in Reading is more consistent with contemporary knowledge about reading and more relevant to the needs of educational decisionmakers than earlier assessments were. The new reading assessment has the following characteristics:

• It examines students' abilities to construct, extend, and examine the meaning of what they read through the use of items that elicit a variety of responses to both multiple-choice and open-ended tasks.

• It assesses student performance in different reading situations -- reading for literary experience, reading to be informed, and reading to perform a task -- by using authentic, "real-life" texts. Students in grades 8 and 12 are permitted to choose from among different short stories.

• It includes special studies to examine other aspects of reading, including the reading fluency of students and their reading habits and practices.