About the Assessment: Target Population and Sample Size

The schools and students participating in NAEP assessments are selected to be representative of all schools nationally and of public schools at the state level. Samples of schools and students are drawn from each state and from the District of Columbia and Department of Defense schools. The results from the assessed students are combined to provide accurate estimates of the overall performance of students in the nation and in individual states and other jurisdictions.

While national results reflect the performance of students in both public schools and nonpublic schools (i.e., private schools, Bureau of Indian Education schools, and Department of Defense schools), state-level results reflect the performance of public school students only. Results are also reported separately for Department of Defense schools in state tables and maps. More information on sampling can be found in NAEP Technical Documentation.

The sample of students in the participating Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) school districts is an extension of the sample of students who would usually be selected by NAEP as part of state and national samples. Results for students in the TUDA samples are also included in state and national samples with appropriate weighting.

Some charter schools that operate within the geographic boundaries of a school district are independent of the district and are not included in the districts' Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report to the U.S. Department of Education under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Beginning in 2009, charter schools of this type are no longer included in the results for TUDA districts as they had been in past NAEP assessments.

School districts vary in whether the charter schools within their boundaries are independent of the districts. Prior to 2009, charter schools were included in the TUDA district results if they were listed as part of the district’s Local Education Agency in the NCES Common Core of Data. Beginning in 2009, charter schools were included in TUDA district results if they contributed to the district’s AYP results as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Student sample sizes and target populations in NAEP reading at grade 8, by state/jurisdiction: 2011
State/jurisdiction	Sample size	Target population
Nation	174,700	3,835,000
Public	164,100	3,508,000
Private	8,100	319,000
Alabama	2,700	55,000
Alaska	2,500	8,000
Arizona	2,700	75,000
Arkansas	2,700	35,000
California	7,200	462,000
Colorado	2,700	55,000
Connecticut	2,700	40,000
Delaware	2,800	9,000
Florida	6,100	191,000
Georgia	4,000	112,000
Hawaii	2,900	12,000
Idaho	2,900	19,000
Illinois	4,200	147,000
Indiana	2,700	75,000
Iowa	2,600	33,000
Kansas	2,700	32,000
Kentucky	4,000	49,000
Louisiana	2,600	46,000
Maine	2,700	14,000
Maryland	3,700	61,000
Massachusetts	3,900	73,000
Michigan	4,100	114,000
Minnesota	3,000	59,000
Mississippi	2,500	35,000
Missouri	2,500	60,000
Montana	2,600	10,000
Nebraska	2,600	20,000
Nevada	2,800	32,000
New Hampshire	2,700	15,000
New Jersey	2,700	95,000
New Mexico	3,400	23,000
New York	4,100	208,000
North Carolina	4,300	103,000
North Dakota	2,300	7,000
Ohio	3,700	125,000
Oklahoma	2,500	41,000
Oregon	2,900	42,000
Pennsylvania	3,800	138,000
Rhode Island	2,700	11,000
South Carolina	2,800	51,000
South Dakota	3,000	9,000
Tennessee	2,800	68,000
Texas	7,700	341,000
Utah	2,900	38,000
Vermont	2,100	6,000
Virginia	2,700	86,000
Washington	3,100	78,000
West Virginia	2,700	19,000
Wisconsin	3,600	58,000
Wyoming	2,100	6,000
Other jurisdictions
BIE¹	900	2,000
District of Columbia	2,500	4,000
DoDEA²	1,600	5,000
¹ Bureau of Indian Education. ² Department of Defense Education Activity (overseas and domestic schools). NOTE: The sample size is rounded to the nearest hundred. The target population is rounded to the nearest thousand. Data for BIE and DoDEA schools are counted in the overall nation total, but not in the nation (public) total. Data for the District of Columbia public schools are counted, along with the states, in nation (public). Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2011 Reading Assessment.