National Assessment of Educational Progress. NAEP, known as "the nation's report card," is a national testing program administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education. Since 1969, NAEP tests have been conducted periodically in reading, math, science, writing, history, and geography. The NAEP main assessment allows for regional and state-by-state comparisons of the educational attainment of 4th, 8th and 12th grade students.