Mandated by Congress, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) surveys the educational accomplishments of U.S. students and monitors changes in those accomplishments. NAEP tracks the educational achievement of fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade students over time in selected content areas. Since 1969, NAEP has been collecting data to provide educators and policymakers with accurate and useful information. NAEP gives a comprehensive picture of how students are doing year after year. It has become widely known as "The Nation's Report Card." The goals of this publication are to provide readers with an overview of the project and to help them better understand the philosophical approach, procedures, analyses, and psychometric underpinnings of NAEP. The guide follows a question-and-answer format, presenting the most commonly asked questions and following them with succinct answers. A bibliography, a glossary and an index are included.