With the National Assessment Governing Board’s latest announcement, there’s a lot happening in the world of NAEP—the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the Nation’s Report Card. We sat down with Lesley Muldoon, Executive Director of the Governing Board, to unpack what these updates mean for the field.
Q: Let’s start with the big news. When can we expect the next NAEP results?
Lesley: The next results will be released bright and early on September 9, 2025 at 12:01 AM ET. This release will include 8th grade science and 12th grade math and reading—the first time we’ve had national-level results in these subjects and grades since 2019. As always, everything will be available at www.nationsreportcard.gov.
Q: Why are these results important and why now?
Lesley: These assessments offer the only nationally representative measure of student achievement over time, and 8th grade science and 12th grade math and reading are especially important for understanding trends in STEM readiness and high school outcomes. After years of pandemic-related disruption, we’re eager to provide new data points to help inform policy and practice.
Q: With so many changes this year, how can we be certain that results will be released on time?
Lesley: We are confident that we will meet the timeline for the NAEP release. The Board has reviewed the results and the report cards themselves, which follow the content and organization of prior report card releases.
Q: We also saw a vote about shifting the NAEP schedule. Can you tell us more?
Lesley: Yes! The Board voted unanimously to ask Congress to move the 2028 assessment to 2029, returning NAEP to its traditional odd-year schedule. That might sound technical, but it’s meaningful: NAEP was designed to be administered in odd years to avoid timing synced with federal election cycles. We got off-cycle during the pandemic, when we could not get into schools to conduct testing in 2021; we had a waiver from Congress to postpone it to 2022. It’s in the long-term interest of the program to stay outside of the partisan fray, so the Board first asked Congress in 2023 to make this change. Unfortunately, they were not able to include it in legislation. We renewed the request because this is really important to NAEP’s objectivity and credibility.
Q: Does that mean the 2026 assessment is changing, too?
Lesley: Not at all—2026 is staying exactly as planned. The resolution only affects the 2028 assessment, so be assured that 2026 assessment and results timelines are still on track. This summer NAEP is working with states to help schools and districts start preparations and the assessments will be administered in late January through late March 2026.
The 2026 NAEP assessments include a few new features–it’s the first time that students will be able to take the test on their schools’ devices rather than equipment that NAEP leases and brings into schools; this will allow students to take NAEP on the devices with which they’re most familiar, and it will streamline operations for NAEP. We piloted this in 2024, and it was really successful. The 2026 NAEP will also reflect updated assessment content frameworks in reading and mathematics, so the questions students take will be updated and aligned to today’s expectations in those content areas. We’re excited about these upgrades, but it does mean results will take a little longer to come out–likely early spring 2027 instead of fall 2026. That extra time allows us to analyze students’ scores on both the old and new formats of the test to make sure changes in scores are due to changes in student achievement and not changes to the assessment.
Q: One final bit of news: Martin West was reappointed as Vice Chair. What should readers know about him?
Lesley: West brings deep policy expertise and a strong commitment to safeguarding NAEP’s independence and utility. He has a wealth of experience from his time on the Senate HELP committee, as a political scientist, and as a member of the Massachusetts State Board of Education. He’s served on the Board since 2019 and will now continue as Vice Chair for a second year. We’re lucky to have his leadership as we navigate this important moment for the Nation’s Report Card.
Q: Most folks don’t know how members end up on the Governing Board? How does that work?
Lesley: It’s a great question—and one we get a lot! The Governing Board is a bipartisan, independent body whose members are appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education to positions prescribed by Congress. What makes the Board unique is its composition of state and local leaders—we have governors, state legislators, local and state education officials, educators, researchers, and members of the general public. The makeup of the board helps ensure that NAEP reflects a wide range of perspectives and remains a trusted resource across the field. This fall, we’ll be recruiting nominees for the next vacancies–a curriculum specialist, eighth-grade teacher, fourth-grade teacher, parent leader, and secondary school principal. If you know excellent candidates, please send them our way!
Q: Anything else you’d like to share or what you’re optimistic about for the future?
Lesley: Although there has been near-constant news at the federal level in education, it is critically important that NAEP continues to provide data to stakeholders across the country who rely on the invaluable resource that is the Nation’s Report Card. I’m thankful that the focus and commitment to NAEP remain.
