# National Assessment of Educational Progress > [!note] Stub > This is a short entry that hasn't been fully written yet. The national test, administered by the [[National Center for Education Statistics]] under the direction of an independent governing board, that measures what American students know in reading, mathematics and other subjects. It is the only instrument that puts every state's results on one scale, which is why it is the number cited whenever anyone argues about whether schools are getting better or worse. Its long-term trend assessments are the part that cannot be replaced. They repeat the same questions on the same scale going back decades, so a cancelled administration is a permanent hole in the series rather than a delayed release: the comparison that was supposed to be made cannot be made later. Several assessments were cut in 2025. The 2024–25 long-term trend assessment for 17-year-olds was cancelled in February 2025, and the April 2025 reductions narrowed the subjects and data points collected; the governing board later restored one of the cut exams while other reductions stood. ## See also - [[National Center for Education Statistics]] — the agency that runs it - [[How a Statistical Agency Is Defunded or Discontinued]] — the routes by which a federal statistic stops being produced - [[Institute of Education Sciences]] — the parent research arm whose 2025 staff and contract cuts reached NAEP - [[Federal Statistical System Tree]] — the thirteen principal statistical agencies