The National Assessment of Educational Progress, otherwise known as the Nation’s Report Card, was first given in 1969 with the purpose of measuring the educational achievement and progress of the nation's students at established grades and ages in relation to the content of NAEP frameworks. Every two years, a sampling of schools across the nation are selected for testing: students are chosen at random to participate in NAEP. Every student has the same chance of being chosen—regardless of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, status as an English learner, or any other factors. (Beginning in 1990, these tests were made voluntary, and parents can opt their student(s) out if they do not want them to participate.) Historically, all 50 states, and the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education Activity, parti ...