National Assessment Governing Board Calls on Congress to Move The 2028 Nation’s Report Card to 2029
Contact: Stephaan Harris, stephaan.harris@ed.gov, 202-357-7504
National Assessment Governing Board Calls on Congress to Move
The 2028 Nation’s Report Card to 2029
2026 Nation’s Report Card in math and reading for grades 4 and 8; and U.S. history and civics in grade 8 to be administered in 2026
August 1, 2025 (Washington, DC) — The National Assessment Governing Board (Governing Board) today voted unanimously to approve a resolution requesting that Congress move the 2028 Nation’s Report Card to 2029, restoring an assessment schedule that is off-cycle from federal elections.
The 2026 Nation’s Report Card will be administered in 2026 and is not affected by this resolution. Those assessments will cover math and reading for the nation, states, and participating large urban school districts in 4th and 8th grades; and U.S. history and civics for the nation in 8th grade.
“The pandemic upended so much in our lives, including the longstanding practice of releasing The Nation’s Report Card results ‘off-cycle’ from federal elections. Since 2023, the Board has had productive conversations with Congress on restoring NAEP to odd years and we look forward to continuing to work with our legislative partners to get this done,” said Beverly Perdue, National Assessment Governing Board chair and former North Carolina governor.
The Governing Board passed an identical resolution in May 2023, to restore The Nation's Report Card (also called the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP) to its longstanding practice of odd-year administration, which was disrupted due to the global pandemic.
The 2028 NAEP will assess math and reading for the nation, states, and participating large urban school districts in 4th and 8th grades; math and reading for the nation in 12th grade; science for the nation and participating states in 8th grade; and the High School Transcript Study.
2024 Nation’s Report Card release date announced
At its quarterly board meeting, the Board also announced that the 2024 Nation’s Report Card for science in 8th grade and math and reading in 12th grade will be released to the public on September 9, 2025 at 12:01 a.m. ET at nationsreportcard.gov.
Martin West reappointed Governing Board vice chair
The Board also reappointed Martin West as vice chair of the Governing Board. West is a member of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and serves as an academic dean and professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Download the PDF version of the release here.
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The National Assessment Governing Board (Governing Board) sets policy for The Nation’s Report Card, also called the National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAEP. Created by Congress in 1988, the Governing Board is an independent, nonpartisan board whose 26 members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives, and members of the general public. For more information about the Governing Board, visit www.nagb.gov.