Abstract
The initial aim of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was to develop and then to employ procedures for monitoring achievement in the nation. Here, a history of NAEP is presented, with a special focus on procedural changes from 1969 to date. Then some questions are posed about future shifts in the purposes of NAEP. In offering answers to the questions, I argue that NAEP should continue to monitor achievement trends in the nation and in the participating states and that, because those objectives are not compatible with NAEP as a high-stakes accountability assessment program, NAEP should avoid serving this added purpose.
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