As mandated by Congress, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) surveys the educational accomplishments of U.S. students and monitors changes in those accomplishments. NAEP tracks the educational achievement of 4th, 8th, and 12th graders over time in selected content areas, and has been tracking achievement for 30 years. The goals of this guide are to provide readers with an overview of the project and to help them understand the philosophical approach, procedures, analysis, and psychometric underpinnings of the NAEP. It introduces NAEP resources, demonstrates how the survey design matches the NAEP role as an indicator of national achievement, and describes some of the methods used in the 1999 and 2000 assessments. The guide follows a question-and-answer format, presenting questions most commonly asked about the NAEP and following them with answers and background information. Questions relate to: (1) the nature of the NAEP; (2) the subjects it assesses; (3) participation and confidentiality; (4) the availability of information to parents and the public; (5) the evaluation and validation of the NAEP; (6) the assessment development process; (7) accommodations for students with disabilities and those of limited English proficiency; (8) assessment innovations; (9) results; (10) scoring; (11) analysis of results; (12) comparability of results; (13) NAEP reports; (14) contextual background data; (15) use of NAEP results by educators; (16) use of NAEP results in education and policy issues; (17) linkage with other assessments; (18) students assessed in the NAEP; (19) student and school participation; (20) use of matrix sampling; and (21) data collection procedures. (Contains 32 references.) (SLD)