The NAEP Writing Achievement LevelsNAEP assessment results provide information about what students know and can do (see the NAEP writing scale). Additionally, NAEP provides information about what students should know and be able to do. This information comes from the NAEP achievement levels, which are intended to measure how well students' actual achievement matches the achievement desired of them in different subjects assessed by NAEP. The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), as directed by the NAEP legislation, has been developing achievement levels for NAEP since 1990. A broadly representative panel of teachers, education specialists, and members of the general public help define and review achievement levels. As provided by law, the achievement levels are to be used on a trial basis and should be interpreted and used with caution. However, both the Acting Commissioner and the Board believe these performance standards are useful for understanding trends in student achievement. There are three achievement levels for each grade assessed by NAEP (4, 8, and 12): Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. The following definitions apply to all subjects and all grades assessed by NAEP:
Explore how the achievement levels were used to describe writing performance at all three grades. Download a copy of the NAEP writing achievement level report (6450K PDF) with descriptions of the achievement levels, cut scores, and sample questions with illustrations of student knowledge and skills required within each achievement level.
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