Exclusion rates in writing by district

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.

Within any assessment year, exclusion and accommodation rates may vary across jurisdictions. In addition, exclusion and accommodation rates may increase or decrease between assessment administrations, making it difficult to interpret comparisons over time within jurisdictions. Since students with disabilities and English language learners tend to score below average on assessments, exclusion of students from these groups may result in a higher average score than if those students had taken the assessment. Providing appropriate testing accommodations (e.g., providing extended time for some SD or ELL students to take the assessment), on the other hand, removes barriers that would otherwise prevent them from demonstrating their knowledge and skills. Read more about the relation of exclusion and accommodation rates to results.