ATLANTA – U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has appointed Governor Sonny Perdue to the National Assessment Governing Board. The board sets policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), sometimes referred to as “The Nation's Report Card.”

The 26-member panel includes a bipartisan group of governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives and other citizens. While members are chosen by the secretary of education, the board remains independent of the department.

“Governor Perdue will be a great addition to the board,” Secretary Duncan said. “During his two terms as governor, he has maintained and expanded on ambitious initiatives to improve education for children from the cradle to college. We look forward to his contributions to the board.”

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only continuing assessment administered to a representative sample of students in each state in various subject areas, including mathematics, reading, science, writing, the arts, civics, economics, geography, and U.S. history.

“NAEP is considered the gold standard in terms of measuring our progress in education across states,” Governor Perdue said. “Georgia’s math and reading NAEP scores have risen to an all-time high and are now at or near national averages in many categories. I appreciate the opportunity and look forward to serving on the National Assessment Governing Board.”

The governing board's responsibilities include:

· Selecting subject areas to be assessed

· Setting appropriate student achievement levels

· Developing assessment objectives and test specifications

· Developing a process for the review of the assessment

· Designing the assessment methodology

· Developing guidelines for reporting NAEP results

· Developing standards and procedures for interstate, regional and national comparisons

· Determining the appropriateness of all assessment items and ensuring the assessment items are free from bias and are secular, neutral, and non-ideological

· Taking actions to improve the form, content, use, and reporting of results of the national assessment

For more information on NAEP, see http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/#overview . For details on the board, visit www.nagb.org/ .