National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2026 Amendment 1
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
08/04/2025
Requested
Previously Approved
36 Months From Approved
08/31/2027
796,937
786,113
456,764
449,560
0
0
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), is a federally authorized survey of student achievement at grades 4, 8, and 12 in various subject areas, such as mathematics, reading, writing, science, U.S. history, and civics. The National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (Pub. L. 107–279, title III, section 303) requires the assessment to collect data on specified student groups and characteristics, including information organized by race/ethnicity, sex, socio-economic status, disability, and limited English proficiency. It requires fair and accurate presentation of achievement data and permits the collection of background, noncognitive, or descriptive information that is related to academic achievement and aids in fair reporting of results. The intent of the law is to provide representative sample data on student achievement for the nation, the states, and subpopulations of students and to monitor progress over time. NAEP consists of two assessment programs: the NAEP long-term trend (LTT) assessment and the main NAEP assessment. The LTT assessments are given at the national level only and are administered to students at ages 9, 13, and 17 in a manner that is very different from that used for the main NAEP assessments. LTT reports mathematics and reading results that present trend data since the 1970s. In addition to the operational assessments, NAEP uses two other kinds of assessment activities: pilot assessments and special studies. Pilot assessments test items and procedures for future administrations of NAEP, while special studies (e.g., the Middle School Transcript Study (MSTS), and the High School Transcript Study (HSTS)) are opportunities for NAEP to investigate particular aspects of the assessment without impacting the reporting of the NAEP results.
This request is an Amendment to the initially approved NAEP 2026 Clearance Package (OMB# 1850-0928 v.36) to conduct NAEP in 2026, specifically: (1) Main NAEP operational assessments will include for grades 4 and 8 (first administration of the new frameworks for reading and mathematics), grade 8 (civics and U.S. history); in Puerto Rico, grades 4 and 8 mathematics will be the only subject assessed and will include the new framework; (2) Pilot testing in grades 4, 8, and 12 (reading and mathematics); in Puerto Rico, grades 4 and 8 mathematics will be the only subject assessed.
Some documents in this package will be updated in Amendment #2, which will be posted for a separate 30-day public comment period following the 30-day public comment period for Amendment #1. These packages will contain all final materials to be used for the data collection in early 2026.
As of April 2025, NCES’s assurances of confidentiality protections for NAEP 2026 have changed due to recent staffing changes at the Department of Education. NCES has removed the Foundations of Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, Title III, Part B, Confidential Information Protection (‘‘CIPSEA’’) as a confidentiality assurance. However, confidentiality assurances under the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA) remain in effect.
PL:
Pub.L. 107 - 279 303
Name of Law: National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act
This Amendment #1 reflects updates to the NAEP 2026 Clearance package burden and budget as a result of removing the Field Trial and NCES’ decision not to administer Pilot teacher and school administrator questionnaires for grade 8 mainland U.S. and grades 4 and 8 Puerto Rico. In addition, a discrepancy in the number of schools in the school device model was corrected. These changes resulted in a slight increase in burden hours from the initial Clearance package (449,560 hours) compared to Amendment #1 (456,764 hours).
In addition, the costs to the Federal Government have been reduced by $8,197,412 from the initial Clearance package.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that the collection of information encompassed by this request complies with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding the proposed collection of information, that the certification covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2026
NAEP 2026 Executive Summary for OMB_Amendment 1.docx
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2026