News Release: U.S. History 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) at Grades 4, 8, and 12

Eighth-Graders Make Progress in U.S. History Since 2006, But Percent Proficient Remains Low on Nation's Report Card

Most Subgroups and Low Performers Show Greatest Improvement Since 1994.

"Washington, D.C. — Eighth-graders earned the highest NAEP U.S. history scores to date. Still, only 17 percent scored at or above the Proficient level. In fact, on the seemingly easy question shown here [below, right], only 32 percent of all eighth-grade students who took the assessment provided a complete response. Among students who scored at the Proficient level, however, 72 percent answered the question correctly.

"Performance on the U.S. History 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) at Grades 4, 8, and 12 has shown some overall improvement since 1994. However, the only progress since 2006 was at grade eight, with significant improvement of Black and Hispanic eighth grade scores over these years. Performance by fourth and twelfth graders remained unchanged compared to 2006."

For the full text of today's news release from the National Assessment Governing Board go to this link. Visitors can also download the pdf-formatted version of the report on the same page.

To browse the 2010 report online go to this link.