About the NAEP Reading Assessment
NAEP Reading Assessment Administration
The 2024 NAEP reading assessments at grades 4 and 8 were administered on Microsoft Surface Pro tablets, and for the first time, on Chromebooks. Both device types were supplied by NCES. Students were able to interact with the Surface Pro tablets or Chromebooks via touchscreen, with an attached keyboard. Students using a Surface Pro also had access to a stylus provided by NCES. A bridge study was conducted to evaluate potential effects of changing the assessment device from Microsoft Surface Pro to Chromebook. Technical details about the device evaluation are available in 2024 NAEP Digital Device Bridge Study for Mathematics and Reading at Grades 4 and 8.
The digitally based reading assessment provided students with tools such as annotation via an on-screen pencil or highlighter, selection of color themes, and zoom-in. In addition, a text-to-speech capability was available on the Directions and Help screens (but not available for the reading passages or questions). At the beginning of the assessment session, students viewed an interactive tutorial that presented all the information needed to take the assessment on a tablet; for example, the tutorial explains how to progress through the reading passage and how to indicate or provide answers to questions, as well as how to use the tools. The interactive nature of the tutorial allowed students to familiarize themselves with the digital delivery system before beginning the actual assessment.
The 2024 reading assessment was designed to continue reporting trends in student performance dating back to 1992 while also keeping pace with the new generation of classroom environments in which digital technology has increasingly become a part of students' learning. In 2024, the reading assessments at grades 4 and 8 were administered digitally for the fourth time, having transitioned from paper-based assessment (PBA) to digitally based assessment (DBA) in 2017. Technical details about the NAEP transition to digitally based assessment are available in The 2017 NAEP Transition to Digitally Based Assessments in Mathematics and Reading at Grades 4 and 8: Mode Evaluation Study.
The 2024 reading assessment comprised both discrete sets of passages and questions as well as scenario-based tasks (SBTs). At grade 4, a total of 15 blocks of questions were administered, including 11 discrete sets and 4 scenario-based tasks. At grade 8, a total of 19 blocks of questions were administered, including 16 discrete sets and 3 scenario-based tasks. The majority of the content at grades 4 and 8 in 2024 was also used in the 2022 digitally based assessments.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a congressionally mandated project administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the U.S. Department of Education and is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what our nation's students know and can do in select subjects. The NAEP reading assessment uses literary and informational texts to measure students' reading comprehension skills. Students read grade-appropriate passages and answer questions based on what they have read. Results at grades 4 and 8 are reported for the nation overall, for states and jurisdictions, and for districts participating in the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA).