The United States is becoming more racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse, yet the educational attainment of various student groups has been very uneven. For decades, educators and policymakers have been focused on minimal competencies rather than advanced achievement. Specifically, federal and state education policies have focused on…

This third report of the National Assessment Planning Project concentrates on the consensus planning process used in the project. The project is an outgrowth of National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) program expansion, whose original task was to produce state-by-state comparisons of student achievement. The report is organized in four…