This document identifies selected 2017 examination priorities of the Office of. Prevent fraud, identify risk, and inform policy.2 We selected our 2017 examination.
“No One Knows the Day or the Hour...”
When Jesus explains the time of the end in Matthew 24 to the disciples, we have all failed to understand the intent of the passage at the time it was given. Clearly Jesus details signs that must occur at the end of the age for when he will set up his kingdom. We must remember this comes just days after Jesus presented himself as the king in the Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday. A number of Jews were hoping Jesus would establish his kingdom right then and there. We know that did not happen, but they were still confused and did not grasp what was coming in a couple of days to fulfill Passover.
Consider this famous passage of Peter who did not understand what the Christ must first do in Mark 8:31-32:
And He (Jesus) began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.
Why did Peter not like this teaching? It was because Peter did not understand the two advents of Christ. Peter wanted the kingdom now, but that was not what was going to happen.
Consider this passage from Acts 1:6:
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Even before Jesus ascended to heaven it was hoped that Jesus would establish his kingdom. We must remember that the disciples were struggling to grasp the whirlwind of events of those weeks. Of course Jesus knew this.
So then, let us go back between Palm Sunday and the Crucifixion in the Passion Week when Jesus takes the disciples aside as recorded in the Olivet Discourse and presents them many signs that will occur. Jesus explains all of what must happen, but then he says:
But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. – Matthew 24:36
This is the verse everyone seems “to know” by saying “no one can know” when anyone discusses the nearness of Jesus’ return, but that is entirely wrong. The Greek word used for “knows” is εiδω and it is in the perfect active indicative. It should be rendered as “has seen” as in completed action up to that point.
Jesus is communicating the time of the end to disciples who do not truly understand the outflow of events that are coming. Jesus is yet to be crucified, buried, raised, and ascended. Jesus explains that no one has seen the time of the end, because it is not occurring at that time. Jesus is not restoring the kingdom as they are hoping will be done.
Read the Reading Report Card for the latest results, and see key findings in the Highlights
Results from the 2017 NAEP reading assessment are reported for public and private school students in the nation and are compared to results from previous years.
Results are reported in 2017 for public school students at grades 4 and 8 in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Department of Defense schools.
Results for the 2017 Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) are reported for public school students in 27 participating districts at grades 4 and 8.
See examples of fourth- and eighth-grade passages and questions from the 2017 NAEP reading assessment and find out how students performed. Try some of the questions yourself.
Learn more about the prevalence of students' access to digital technology, the activities and skills their teachers emphasize in the classroom, and their approaches to learning.
How NAEP Assesses Reading
- The NAEP reading assessment measures students' reading comprehension by asking them to read selected grade-appropriate materials and to answer questions based on what they have read. The assessment measures comprehension of literary and informational texts.
- In 2017, the NAEP reading assessment was administered for the first time as a digitally based assessment at grades 4 and 8; prior to 2017, the reading assessment had been administered on paper.
- The reading assessment was administered on tablets with attached keyboards. Passages were presented in full color and adapted to fit the tablet screen in either a paginated or scroll format.
- The assessment included multiple-choice and constructed-response questions, most of which had also been administered in 2015.
Learn more about the NAEP reading assessment.
2017 Cruise Deals
The Story of NAEP
2017 Ford Fusion
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a continuing and nationally representative measure of trends in academic achievement of U.S. elementary and secondary students in various subjects. It is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what our nation's students know and can do in select subjects. It was first administered in 1969 to measure student achievement nationally. Teachers, principals, parents, policymakers, and researchers all use NAEP results to assess progress and develop ways to improve education in the United States.