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 participating states and from the District of Columbia and Department of Defense schools.

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

National and State

Grade 8

Student sample sizes and target populations in NAEP science at grade 8, by state/jurisdiction: 2011
State/jurisdiction	Sample size	Target population
Nation	124,200	3,821,000
Public	121,800	3,508,000
Private	800	306,000
BIE¹	100	2,000
Alabama	2,300	55,000
Alaska	2,100	8,000
Arizona	2,300	75,000
Arkansas	2,400	35,000
California	2,500	462,000
Colorado	1,900	55,000
Connecticut	2,200	40,000
Delaware	2,300	9,000
Florida	2,300	191,000
Georgia	2,400	112,000
Hawaii	2,400	12,000
Idaho	2,400	19,000
Illinois	3,600	147,000
Indiana	2,300	75,000
Iowa	2,200	33,000
Kansas	2,400	32,000
Kentucky	3,300	49,000
Louisiana	2,200	46,000
Maine	2,300	14,000
Maryland	2,300	61,000
Massachusetts	2,400	73,000
Michigan	2,300	114,000
Minnesota	2,500	59,000
Mississippi	2,200	35,000
Missouri	2,200	60,000
Montana	2,200	10,000
Nebraska	2,200	20,000
Nevada	2,300	32,000
New Hampshire	2,300	15,000
New Jersey	2,200	95,000
New Mexico	2,900	23,000
New York	3,500	208,000
North Carolina	2,600	103,000
North Dakota	2,000	7,000
Ohio	2,300	125,000
Oklahoma	2,100	41,000
Oregon	2,400	42,000
Pennsylvania	2,300	138,000
Rhode Island	2,300	11,000
South Carolina	2,400	51,000
South Dakota	2,600	9,000
Tennessee	2,400	68,000
Texas	2,800	341,000
Utah	2,500	38,000
Vermont	1,800	6,000
Virginia	2,400	86,000
Washington	2,700	78,000
West Virginia	2,400	19,000
Wisconsin	2,200	58,000
Wyoming	1,800	6,000
Other jurisdictions
District of Columbia	2,500	4,000
DoDEA²	1,400	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 Science Assessment.