The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has guided U.S. education for decades. This article from ETS CEO Amit Sevak outlines five innovations to make NAEP faster, more relevant, and better at measuring real-world readiness — helping students, educators, and communities prepare for success in learning, work, and citizenship.

For more than half a century, America has measured learning with rigor and consistency. That commitment has created one of the most trusted assessment systems in the world, providing a picture of how every child, in every community, is progressing. But as the world around us evolves, so must the details of that picture we provide.

American education is at a turning point.

Parents, teachers and state leaders are raising the alarm on one hard truth: students are leaving high school without the skills they need for real life.

Power is shifting closer to families and communities.

State and local leaders are taking the reins, and the expectations are rising for transparency, faster insights, and real-world relevance.

The children entering kindergarten this fall are the first full cohort of the Covid generation—students whose earliest experiences of school were shaped by disruption, isolation and uncertainty.

It’s no longer enough to know if students are proficient in reading or math, alone.

We need to know: are they ready? Ready for the future of learning, the demands of work and the responsibilities of citizenship. This is not a disruption. It is the next chapter.

As an assessment leader, I see this moment clearly. 

Measurement must remain a cornerstone of progress — not as a compliance exercise, but as a catalyst for action. When done right, measurement empowers. It gives teachers insight, supports families, and helps communities focus on what’s working. It drives decisions that prepare students for life beyond the classroom. Educational assessments can and should be a tool for progress.

We believe that the foundation of NAEP is strong. Our nation’s long-standing assessment system remains a benchmark of quality and consistency. However, with new technology, new governance models, and new priorities, we have the opportunity to make measurement faster, more relevant and more actionable.

Future-readiness must guide us. The next generation of assessments must help our children, and those who support them to prepare for success in learning, work and life.

That level of innovation begins not with another pilot, but with a reinvention of what already exists at scale: the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

Below I’m listing five ideas for NAEP that offer a path forward. These are clear, actionable ideas to make our education system faster and more fit for the future.

1. Imagine if test results are delivered at the speed of need, keeping pace with evolving tech.

Currently, the lag between test taking and scored results and insight delivery takes around 5 – 6 months. What if tools available like AI-assisted scoring, natural language processing, and automation – could help deliver actionable results across the country before the end of the school year? Faster turnaround means NAEP can act as an early warning system-not just a retrospective audit- helping states and districts respond to trends as they emerge.

2. Imagine if the nation’s report card truly reflected the full landscape of learning Many kids today learn in different ways – at home, online or in private schools.

NAEP’s current design excludes many students learning outside of traditional public schools. Imagine a way to make the nation’s report card nationally representative, achieved through the adoption of sampling models to include virtual academies, homeschoolers, and hybrid programs. Considering the growth in states with expanding voucher programs, the need to strengthen private school participation to reflect how education is actually being delivered in 2025 is ripe with opportunity.

3. Imagine if standardized tests felt more like real life.

In real life, we often use the skills of reading, math and science all at the same time. Baking from a recipe is a prime example of that. What if NAEP asked questions that require students to apply knowledge across domains – testing how students interpret scientific texts, use math to analyze historical data, or reason through civic dilemmas? This approach would show how students solve real problems, not just memorize facts.

4. Imagine if shorter tests gave us better answers.

Testing can take up a lot of time. According to a comprehensive 2015 study of 66 of the nation’s big-city school districts by the Council of the Great City Schools, it found that children spend roughly 20-25 hours taking standardized tests a year, amounting to about 2.3 percent of classroom time for the average eighth-grader in public school. What if NAEP can deliver sharper insights with less testing time, by getting smarter about how, when, and where assessments happen? Through adaptive testing and AI-assisted item design, it can reduce test length while increasing precision. And by coordinating with state test platforms embedding NAEP items directly into existing test windows, NAEP can streamline delivery, reduce burden on schools, and gain broader, more cost-effective participation. The goal isn't just a shorter test. It's a more integrated responsive measurement system.

5. Imagine educators had an AI-powered dashboard to access assessment results.

NAEP’s reporting must evolve to help users more easily access data and interpret NAEP results quickly. Imagine a “NAEP Data Assistant” that lets educators and policymakers query results in plain language, view trends across subgroups, and generate customized visual insights. This would make NAEP data not just available, but truly usable at every level.

These transformational ideas show promise to our country, to our workforce, to our children, and to our future.

The world is moving. The next generation is watching. And our window to act is now. A new era of NAEP starts here.