Assesses and reports the educational progress of students at grades 4, 8 and 12. National results are provided that describe students' reading achievement at each grade and within various subgroups (race/ethnicity, gender, parents' education level, public and nonpublic schools, and cross-state proficiency findings) of the general population. In addition, results are reported for individual states that choose to participate. This assessment includes a state-by-state component at Grade 4, as well as the national component at all 3 grades. Charts and tables.

This report presents a first look at national and state-level findings of students' overall proficiency in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1994 reading assessment for grades 4, 8, and 12 and provides comparisons with the performance of their 1992 counterparts. The first chapter introduces the report, discussing topics such as the NAEP, the national sample, the trial state assessment program, the proficiency scale, achievement levels, and cautions in interpretations. The second and third chapters present a first look at the average reading proficiency and the attainment of achievement levels by America's students, discussing average national reading proficiency and average reading proficiency by region and by major reporting subgroups (race/ethnicity, gender, parents' educational level, public and nonpublic schools, and cross-state proficiency findings). Major findings include: (1) the average reading proficiency of twelfth-grade students declined significantly from 1992 to 1994; (2) across all three grade levels, female students continued to display higher reading achievement than male students; (3) reading proficiency was higher on average for students whose parents had more education; and (4) students attending nonpublic schools displayed higher average reading proficiency than their counterparts attending public schools. Appendixes present national and state sample descriptions, reporting subgroup(s) definitions, comparisons among states based on average proficiency, cross-state proficiency and achievement level tabular summaries, and state contextual background factors. Contains 7 figures and 12 tables of data. (RS)

This report describes students' reading achievements at grades 4, 8, and 12 and within various subgroups of the general population. State-level results are presented for individual states that chose to participate in the 1994 Trial State Assessment. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the 1994 NAEP reading assessment and sample questions and responses. Chapter 2 provides overall average proficiency results for the nation, regions, subgroups of students, and jurisdictions participating in the Trial State Assessment. Chapter 3 describes students' reading performance in terms of achievement levels. Chapter 4 focuses on cross-state comparisons of proficiency results from the state-by-state assessment at grade 4. Chapter 5 describes contextual factors related to students' reading achievement. Chapter 6 describes specific abilities demonstrated by students in the NAEP reading assessment and reports student performance when reading for different purposes. The "most striking" finding from the 1994 assessment is that the average reading proficiency of 12th-grade students declined significantly from 1992 to 1994. Other major findings include: (1) the decline in average proficiency among 12th-graders between 1992 and 1994 was concentrated among lower performing students; (2) reading proficiency at all three grade levels was higher on average for students whose parents had more education; (3) at all three grade levels, female students had higher average reading proficiencies than male students; and (4) students who reported having a greater array of literacy materials in their homes displayed higher average reading achievement. Contains 38 tables and 23 figures of data. Appendixes provide an overview of procedures used in the 1994 assessment and describe students' reading performance; cross-state proficiency and achievement level results; and sample texts and questions. (RS)