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About the Assessment: Exclusion Rates

NAEP has always endeavored to assess all students selected as a part of its sampling process, including students who are classified by their schools as students with disabilities (SD) and/or as English language learners (ELL). The decision to exclude any of these students is made by school personnel. School personnel are encouraged to use inclusion criteria provided by NAEP and may discuss their inclusion decisions with NAEP field staff. Some students may participate with testing accommodations. Read more about the NAEP inclusion policy, including exclusion rates from current and previous assessments in all subject areas.

The tables below show the percentage of students identified as SD and/or ELL, and provide the rate of students excluded and accommodated in two ways: as a percentage of all students in the NAEP sample, or as a percentage of students identified as SD and/or ELL. Tables that provide percentages of SD students include those identified under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (Title 29 U.S.C. 794 Section 504), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of handicap in federally assisted programs and activities.

Grade 4 District
Grade 8 District
Grade 4 District Trend
Grade 8 District Trend
Percentage of eighth-grade public school students with disabilities (SD) excluded in NAEP reading, as a percentage of identified SD students, by jurisdiction: Various years, 2002–2011
  Percentage of identified SD students
Jurisdiction 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
    Nation 36 31 32 34 28 24
      Large city1  32 31 29 32 29 21
Albuquerque 29
Atlanta 28 29 33 63 26 28
Austin 54 31 43 51
Baltimore City 68 83
Boston 23 29 30 38 27
Charlotte 26 14 21 19 15
Chicago 18 32 19 23 21 10
Cleveland 60 68 74 61 20
Dallas 50
Detroit 30 44
District of Columbia (DCPS) 36 40 38 67 74 13
Fresno 23 20
Hillsborough County (FL) 8
Houston 32 39 38 49 46 43
Jefferson County (KY) 51 45
Los Angeles 21 23 27 22 22 16
Miami-Dade 18 13
Milwaukee 29 15
New York City 41 14 16 10 19 8
Philadelphia 32 17
San Diego 13 31 28 20 9
— Not available. The jurisdiction did not participate or did not meet the minimum participation guidelines for reporting.
1 Large city includes students from all cities in the nation with populations of 250,000 or more including the participating districts.
NOTE: Beginning in 2009, results for charter schools are excluded from the TUDA results if they are not included in the school district’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report to the U.S. Department of Education.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), various years, 2002–2011 Reading Assessments.
Percentage of eighth-grade public school English language learners (ELL) excluded in NAEP reading, as a percentage of identified ELL students, by jurisdiction: Various years, 2002–2011
  Percentage of identified ELL students
Jurisdiction 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
    Nation 28 24 21 23 17 14
      Large city1  22 24 18 20 17 12
Albuquerque 33
Atlanta
Austin 40 21 26 23
Baltimore City
Boston 48 32 36 71 30
Charlotte 21 16 33 31 13
Chicago 49 43 42 45 25 12
Cleveland 82 43 8
Dallas 14
Detroit 29 7
District of Columbia (DCPS) 38 38 51 45 22
Fresno 4 3
Hillsborough County (FL) 7
Houston 25 39 30 34 34 17
Jefferson County (KY)
Los Angeles 15 9 9 10 8 7
Miami-Dade 58 28
Milwaukee 44 6
New York City 38 37 38 33 36 14
Philadelphia 14 22
San Diego 11 22 7 5 3
— Not available. The jurisdiction did not participate or did not meet the minimum participation guidelines for reporting.
‡ Reporting standards not met. Sample size insufficient to permit a reliable estimate.
1 Large city includes students from all cities in the nation with populations of 250,000 or more including the participating districts.
NOTE: Beginning in 2009, results for charter schools are excluded from the TUDA results if they are not included in the school district’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report to the U.S. Department of Education. DCPS = District of Columbia Public Schools.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), various years, 2002–2011 Reading Assessments.