The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) permits the Secretary of Education to use NAEP achievement level scores, in concert with other data, to confirm state testing results. The U.S. Department of Education has not yet published a guidance document describing how NAEP might be used appropriately. A review of the literature from the Department and other sources, however, identified information regarding definitions and methodology sufficient to inform interested researchers about the valid use of NAEP for confirming state test results. The NCLB definition of proficiency that states must implement in their testing programs centers on grade-level expectations, but the NAEP definition requires the mastery of challenging content that may include some above-grade-level content. In conducting a valid analysis (1) NAEP "Basic" should be used, not NAEP "Proficient." (2) point-by-point comparisons should be avoided, (3) differences between NAEP and the state testing program should be documented, and (4) the investigation of state vs. NAEP trends is useful. The researchers and authors of the reports that claimed to find large differences between state and NAEP "proficiency" scores from 2005 were either unaware of or chose to ignore guidance that was available in the literature. The explanation resides in faulty research methodology that ended up with highly questionable, if not out-and-out wrong findings. (Contains 1 table, 3 figures, and 1 Power Point handout.)