and high school academic careers by surveying the curricula being followed in our nation's high schools and the course-taking patterns of high school students through a collection of transcripts. Recent studies have placed an emphasis on STEM education and how it correlates to student achievement on the NAEP mathematics and science assessments. NAEP-TIMSS Linking Study The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international assessment by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) that measures student learning in mathematics and science. NCES initiated the NAEP-TIMSS linking study so that states and selected districts can compare their own students' performance against international benchmarks. The linking study was conducted in 2011 at grade 8 in mathematics and science. NCES will "project", state and district-level scores on TIMSS in both subjects using data from NAEP. National Indian Education Study (NIES) The NIES is a two-part study designed to describe the condition of education for American Indian/Alaska Native students in the United States. The first part of the study consists of assessment results in mathematics and reading at grades 4 and 8. The second part presents the results of a survey given to American Indian/Alaska Native students, their teachers and their school administrators. The surveys focus on the students' cultural experiences in and out of school. Mapping State Proficiency Standards Under the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, states develop their own assessments and set their own proficiency standards to measure student achievement. Each state controls its own assessment programs, including developing its own standards, resulting in great variation among the states in statewide student assessment practices. This variation creates a challenge in understanding the achievement levels of students across the United States. Since 2003, NCES has supported research that compares the proficiency standards of NAEP with those of individual states. State assessments are placed onto a common scale defined by NAEP scores, which allows states' proficiency standards to be compared not only to NAEP, but also to each other. NCES has released the Mapping State Proficiency Standards report using state data for mathematics and reading in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, and most recently 2013. Past studies Over the years, NCES has conducted a number of other studies related to different aspects of the NAEP program. A few studies from the recent past are listed below: The Oral Reading Study was undertaken