Report by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), the only nationally representative & continuing assessment of what America's students know & can do in various subject areas. This guide provides an overview of the NAEP project & acquaints readers with NAEP's informational resources, demonstrates how NAEP's design matches its role as an indicator of national educational achievements, & describes some of the methods used in the 1997 & 1998 assessments. The guide follows a Question & Answer format, presenting the most commonly asked questions & following them with succinct answers. Each answer includes additional background information.