American Indian students tend to lag behind their white and Asian-American peers on National Assessment of Educational Progress reading and mathematics tests in 4th and 8th grade, but they score higher on average than African-American students, according to a first-of-its-kind federal analysis. The U.S. Department of Education says the May 23 report from its National Center for Education Statistics is the first to analyze NAEP data specifically for the performance of American Indian and Alaska Native students. The study examined 2005 scores for students attending public and private schools, as well as those operated by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Defense. It was spurred by a 2004 executive order signed by President Bush that was intended to help Indian and Alaska Native students meet the academic standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act, in part by calling for a report on their academic progress. The report will serve as a baseline for measuring such students' gains in reading and math, said Cathie Carothers, the acting director of the Education Department's office of Indian education. She said the results show that Indian and Alaska Native students are performing "as well as or better than other minority groups."