Efforts have been made to increase the dissemination and use of data generated by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Potential users include those concerned with curriculum and methods evaluation, public policymakers, and researchers. NAEP can provide data for curriculum evaluation, including item analysis data which assist in item selection for student testing. Census-like reporting is useful in policy formulation, but this type of information requires estimation of attainment levels in individual pupils and not merely the aggregated responses of groups. There have been problems associated with use of NAEP data in educational research; for example, matrix sampling data were previously difficult to handle. Currently, individual scores are being provided in ways which can be analyzed by conventional statistical methods. It has also been difficult to use school and classroom data as the unit of analysis. A NAEP design which would be suitable for hierarchical regression analysis would expand the possibilities for secondary analysis. Item response theory scaling currently assists in longitudinal analysis of NAEP data. Ways to increase use of the data include the duplex design and rotation sampling of schools, resulting in more frequent sampling. Cooperation with state testing programs can help in providing comparable scores. (GDC)