What National Assessment Governing Board does

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) is an independent, nonpartisan federal board established by Congress in 1988 to set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly referred to as the Nation's Report Card. NAGB defines the framework for standardized assessments administered to U.S. students in grades 4, 8, and 12 across mathematics, reading, science, civics, U.S. history, writing, and technology and engineering literacy. The assessment portfolio includes the Long-Term Trend (LTT) assessment tracking 9- and 13-year-olds since the 1970s and the Trends in Urban Districts Assessment (TUDA) for participating urban districts. NAGB sets policy while the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) handles operational implementation, data collection, analysis, and reporting.

The organization consists of 26 board members designated to represent specific expertise and perspectives and a small staff of 11–50 employees headquartered at 400 Maryland Ave. SW, Washington, D.C. NAGB is funded entirely through federal appropriations and generates no commercial revenue; all NAEP data, reports, interactive tools, and publications are provided free of charge. The 'Next Gen NAEP' initiative is underway to modernize assessment frameworks, and the 2024 Nation's Report Card introduced interactive tools for exploring pandemic-era score changes between 2019, 2022, and 2024.

Primary stakeholders include federal and state education agencies, school districts (including urban districts participating in TUDA), education researchers, policymakers, and the general public. Distribution occurs through the nagb.gov website, quarterly public board meetings, press releases, a monthly newsletter, and social media channels on Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Name

National Assessment Governing Board

Legal name

National Assessment Governing Board

Website

https://nagb.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The National Assessment Governing Board is a federally mandated, nonpartisan board that sets policy for NAEP, the U.S. national standardized assessment of student achievement across multiple subjects at grades 4, 8, and 12.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Assessment Services

NAICS

Public Administration (92)

akta.pro primary industry

Assessment, Testing & Analytics Platforms (Formative/Summative) (EDAJAMAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Classroom Assessment & Grading (Formative/Summative) (EDAJAFAC), Standards Alignment & Curriculum Mapping (State/National) (EDAJAFAD), Curriculum, Standards & Assessment Policy Research (EDADADAH)

Keywords

• Educational assessment services
• National student testing
• Education benchmarking data
• Government education policy
• Student achievement measurement

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: As an independent government board, NAGB is funded through federal appropriations. The organization does not generate commercial revenue but operates as a policy-setting body for NAEP, which is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) under the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) sets policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as the Nation's Report Card. NAEP is a portfolio of standardized assessments covering mathematics, reading, science, civics, U.S. history, writing, and technology and engineering literacy, administered to students in grades 4, 8, and 12. The assessments are administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and include the Long-Term Trend (LTT) assessment tracking 9- and 13-year-olds since the 1970s and the TUDA assessment focused on urban districts.

Product overview

The National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) operates a unified national assessment system called NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress), commonly known as The Nation's Report Card. The NAEP system consists of a portfolio of subject-specific assessments covering Mathematics, Reading, Science, Civics, U.S. History, Writing, and Technology and Engineering Literacy. These assessments are administered at grades 4, 8, and 12 and provide the only common yardstick for measuring U.S. student achievement nationally, by state, and in participating districts. The system includes the Long-Term Trend (LTT) assessment tracking math and reading for 9- and 13-year-olds since the 1970s, the TUDA assessment for urban districts, and Survey Data providing contextual background. An interactive tool enables exploration of pandemic-era score changes. NAGB sets policy for these assessments while they are administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress): The Nation's Report Card - the gold standard for measuring what U.S. students know and can do in math, reading, science, U.S. history, and civics.
• The Nation's Report Card

Products and services

• NAEP Mathematics Assessment Standardized assessment measuring what U.S. students in grades 4, 8, and 12 know and can do in mathematics, providing national, state, and district-level results for education policymakers and agencies.
• NAEP Reading Assessment Standardized assessment measuring U.S. students' reading comprehension and literacy skills across grade levels, tracking national educational outcomes.
• NAEP Science Assessment Assessment evaluating U.S. students' science knowledge and abilities in grades 4, 8, and 12, providing benchmark data on scientific literacy.
• NAEP Civics Assessment Assessment measuring students' knowledge of civics, government, and democratic principles to gauge understanding of civic responsibility.
• NAEP U.S. History Assessment Assessment evaluating students' knowledge of American history and historical events across assessed grade levels.
• NAEP Writing Assessment Assessment measuring students' written communication skills, including argumentative, informative, and narrative writing abilities.
• NAEP Long-Term Trend (LTT) Assessment Core tracking assessment measuring student achievement in math and reading for 9- and 13-year-olds since the 1970s, providing the longest-running national trend data on student academic progress.
• NAEP Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL) Assessment Assessment measuring students' understanding of technology principles and engineering concepts at the middle school level.
• NAEP Survey Data Collection of contextual questionnaires administered alongside assessments, gathering information about school conditions, home environments, and student backgrounds that relate to academic performance.
• NAEP Trends in Urban Districts Assessment (TUDA) Sub-national assessment focusing specifically on student performance in urban school districts, enabling comparison of urban education outcomes.
• 2024 Nation's Report Card Comprehensive assessment report providing national, state, and district-level pandemic-era score changes between 2019, 2022, and 2024, the only common yardstick for measuring U.S. educational outcomes.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2024 Nation's Report Card showed pandemic-era score changes for national, state, and district levels
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerNCES, part of the Institute of Education Sciences within the U.S. Department of Education, administers NAEP assessments. NAGB sets policy for NAEP while NCES handles the operational implementation of the assessment program, including data collection, analysis, and reporting.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• WestEd: WestEd is a non-profit research and assessment organization that conducts large-scale K-12 evaluation work and supports state assessment systems, overlapping with NAEP's evidence-generation role.
• Educational Testing Service (ETS): ETS is the largest U.S. private assessment organization (TOEFL, GRE, Praxis) and the long-time operational contractor for NAEP administration, making it the most direct functional peer in large-scale standardized assessment delivery.

Others

• Achieve: Achieve is a non-profit that helps states set academic standards and assessments, positioning it as an adjacent policy peer to NAGB's standards-setting role for NAEP.
• Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO): CCSSO coordinates state education leaders who consume NAEP data and shape standards, making it an adjacent policy peer in the U.S. assessment ecosystem.
• National Center for Education Statistics (NCES): NCES is NAGB's operational partner — it administers NAEP on behalf of the board — making it a closely linked peer in the same U.S. education-statistics ecosystem.
• RAND Corporation: RAND produces education policy research and analysis frequently cited alongside NAEP results, making it a comparable research-oriented peer for evidence-based education measurement.

Direct peers

• NWEA: NWEA's MAP Growth is widely adopted for district-level benchmarking and growth measurement, making it a leading adaptive alternative to NAEP for the same state and district buyers.
• ACT, Inc. ACT administers a national K-12 and college-readiness assessment comparable in scope and ambition to NAEP, with state-level benchmarking and longitudinal data offerings.
• College Board: College Board operates SAT and AP, the dominant national K-12 and college-readiness assessments, and serves overlapping audiences (states, districts, policymakers) with comparable national benchmarking data.

Emerging players

• Renaissance Learning: Renaissance's iReady diagnostic is a widely used K-12 assessment that competes for district benchmarking and instructional-decisioning budgets alongside NAEP's role as the national benchmark.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/govboard
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/governingboard
• Facebookfacebook.com/thegoverningboard
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nagb

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Assessment Governing Board