NAEP Is a School Accountability Essential (Opinion)

To the Editor:

While cutting rising costs of the National Assessment of Educational Progress may be justified, the Trump administration’s cancellation of the Long-Term Trend NAEP for 17-year-olds (“Trump Admin. Abruptly Cancels National Exam for High Schoolers,” Feb. 21, 2025) and agency personnel furloughs (“NAEP Chief Peggy Carr Put on Leave by Trump Administration,” Feb. 25, 2025) mustn’t blind the executive branch to the importance of “the nation’s report card” when it comes to education reform.

The academically rigorous national tests are critical to understanding what does and doesn’t work in public schools. This year’s scores clearly highlight that our public schools are failing America’s students.

Yet, amid falling national scores, NAEP shows that some jurisdictions are succeeding. Students in District of Columbia public schools improved their proficiency in reading and writing between 2005 to 2024, raising the district’s rank among other major cities.

I believe D.C. charter schools played a role in the improvement of NAEP scores for public school students in the district. Competition from charters’ growing student enrollment—today enrolling nearly half of D.C. public school students—helped motivate the city to introduce mayoral control of traditional public schools, improving school system accountability and student outcomes. D.C. charter networks are especially successful compared with traditional D.C. public schools, according to 2023 research from Stanford University.

Without NAEP scores, how would schools know where students stand? The administration must preserve NAEP and use its highly respected exams to guide education policy toward more public school choice, accountability, and effective reforms.

Terry Eakin
Board Member
DC Prep Public Charter School
Washington, D.C.