The purpose of the project on assessing the progress of education is to provide the intelligent lay-public with census-like data on the educational levels of important sectors of our population. This purpose is to give information to the public about where we are in education, what progress we are making and where our problems are. The National Assessment Program serves the same purpose as public health data serve when giving us a notion of what sectors of the population, for example, have higher incidents of heart disease or cancer. It is not to be mistaken for the task of developing means by which the doctor may carry on his diagnosis. We are not primarily providing information about the individual, but rather are concerned with what could be called census-like data.

Today, education is a necessity for everyone in order to participate in our complex civic, social and industrial life. The public is asked to support programs for extending both the quantity and the quality of education. Without prospective regarding the progress we have made and the difficult task we face, our citizens have an inadequate basis for making judgments. As a result, decisions are frequently made on hearsay, or widely publicized assertions, rather than on reasonably clear picture of the actual educational situation. (p. 78-80)

CONTENTS
A brief background.
Some criticisms.