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Staff and Administrators (Private and Other Nonpublic Schools)

The participation of private and other nonpublic schools (the Bureau of Indian Education, the Department of Defense, Puerto Rico, and other overseas institutions) in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is essential for examining the picture of K-12 education in the United States and informing future policy decisions.

Private schools represent about 23 percent of schools in the nation and educate about 9 percent of the students. In order to have a complete picture of the academic achievement and progress of the nation's students, selected students in public and nonpublic schools must participate in NAEP.

2026 Resources for NAEP Assessments

During the upcoming 2026 school year, the NAEP assessment program will include assessments in mathematics and reading for grades 4 and 8, and national-level assessments of civics and U.S. history at grade 8. NCES will administer these assessments between January 26 and March 20, 2026.

Additional resources regarding the 2026 assessments will be posted as they become available.

Measure Up: NAEP News for the Private School Community
performing

How Are Private Schools Performing?

Results are reported as a national average for Catholic schools and other private schools, but cannot be reported for states or trial urban districts, which are available for some assessments for public schools only.

NAEP also provides information about students’ learning experiences in and out of the classroom, which is collected from students, teachers, and school survey questionnaires. This data helps place achievement results into context and allows meaningful comparison between student groups. This information can be used to inform parents, the public, and education policymakers about our nation’s educational environment.

RECENT RESULTS Private School Quick Data Tool
Private schools dashboard screen. Overall performance results in students in grade 8.

Use the private school dashboard to see the latest national results in all NAEP subjects for students attending charter, private, and Catholic schools.

EXPLORE THE Private Schools Dashboard

Your Participation Matters

Your school has been selected to represent other private or nonpublic schools across the nation. Your participation in NAEP can help provide answers to important questions such as the following:

  • How has private school student performance in NAEP subjects changed over time?
  • How does the performance of students in private schools compare to the performance of public school students?
  • How do coursetaking patterns relate to student performance?
  • The participation of your private or nonpublic school enables The Nation's Report Card to provide a more inclusive picture of what our nation's private school students know and can do in key subject areas, and provides policymakers and educators with data to guide decisions in policy and educational practices in the classroom

For each NAEP assessment, a sample of schools is selected from the Private School Universe Survey (PSS), which collects and stores data on more than 33,000 nonpublic schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The number of private schools sampled for NAEP changes from year to year depending on the assessment.

An Introduction to NAEP Click to open pdf. Overview of NAEP Click to open pdf. Private School Universe Survey How Many Students Participate Private School Sampling Factsheet Click to open pdf.

What Questions Are on the Test

The NAEP frameworks define content areas and levels of complexity for questions on NAEP. Using the dashboard below, explore sample questions from recent assessments by subject, content area, and range of difficulty. Sample Questions are sourced from the NAEP Questions Tool, a database which houses over 3,000 assessment questions.

Last updated 30 May 2025 (DS)
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