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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 National and State
Grade 8 National and State
Grade 4 Trend
Grade 8 Trend
Percentage of fourth-grade public and nonpublic school students identified as students with disabilities (SD) and/or English language learners (ELL) excluded in NAEP reading, as a percentage of all students, by state/jurisdiction: Various years, 1992–2011
  Percentage of identified SD students
State/jurisdiction 19921 19941 1998 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
    Nation 61 43 42 40 34 35 34 28 22
      Nation (public) 60 44 42 40 34 36 34 29 23
Alabama 55 50 65 18 16 15 22 15 23
Alaska — — — — 14 18 22 17 8
Arizona 61 43 49 41 45 34 31 23 12
Arkansas 51 51 43 36 37 49 45 9 9
California 49 49 60 40 25 29 26 27 20
Colorado 59 52 26 — 20 24 27 24 11
Connecticut 39 43 51 29 29 23 18 24 10
Delaware 49 40 9 46 63 72 55 49 38
Florida 54 50 34 27 19 25 25 17 11
Georgia 59 49 40 30 24 40 58 36 44
Hawaii 42 52 35 35 25 19 24 13 13
Idaho 43 43 — 31 23 27 25 26 15
Illinois — — 36 30 33 37 35 18 9
Indiana 59 45 — 36 27 25 24 27 7
Iowa 42 41 34 49 45 36 30 28 6
Kansas — — 34 31 19 25 41 33 13
Kentucky 49 51 58 69 59 56 48 48 53
Louisiana 56 56 49 55 29 60 21 10 7
Maine 47 60 50 36 37 35 31 23 9
Maryland 47 48 45 49 46 40 51 63 59
Massachusetts 40 35 23 27 16 35 29 25 27
Michigan 70 62 60 62 57 48 33 28 25
Minnesota 47 34 22 28 20 18 24 15 10
Mississippi 77 63 60 62 59 34 23 15 10
Missouri 42 42 45 54 45 46 22 24 12
Montana — 32 25 40 33 38 36 30 35
Nebraska 31 25 — 26 24 27 29 23 20
Nevada — — 56 43 37 45 36 26 10
New Hampshire 37 38 22 — 20 18 21 18 15
New Jersey 51 47 — — 26 29 39 47 47
New Mexico 60 43 51 42 24 43 50 36 28
New York 55 58 42 45 37 28 29 24 10
North Carolina 34 36 45 62 38 18 15 14 14
North Dakota 20 20 — 31 25 36 56 44 40
Ohio 63 — — 62 46 60 50 44 38
Oklahoma 69 — 65 26 30 29 43 45 26
Oregon — — 31 33 39 31 28 20 16
Pennsylvania 44 54 — 30 23 27 30 19 15
Rhode Island 37 35 32 18 17 13 18 17 11
South Carolina 54 51 48 28 45 39 27 31 18
South Dakota — — — — 28 30 36 41 18
Tennessee 40 48 24 28 29 62 64 62 49
Texas 55 54 47 56 52 49 52 49 53
Utah 42 43 43 37 25 28 39 42 28
Vermont — — — 34 35 32 33 17 13
Virginia 53 52 42 59 57 64 47 27 18
Washington — 34 31 28 31 24 29 24 18
West Virginia 60 57 70 65 61 31 10 13 10
Wisconsin 63 61 53 43 32 31 31 24 12
Wyoming 37 37 24 17 11 10 23 11 11
Other jurisdictions  
    District of Columbia 82 79 59 50 39 44 74 68 17
    DoDEA2 — 53 43 26 23 30 33 35 42
— Not available. The state/jurisdiction did not participate or did not meet the minimum participation guidelines for reporting.
1 Accommodations not permitted.
2 Department of Defense Education Activity (overseas and domestic schools).
NOTE: The national results include both public and nonpublic school students. The national (public) and state/jurisdiction results include public school students only.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), various years, 1992–2011 Reading Assessments.