Examines performance of adolescents (grades 4 through 12) on states" reading or English language arts and writing assessments and on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and documents the content, format, and performance levels of those assessments and the kinds of skills and competencies states were emphasizing to achieve goals for adolescent literacy. RAND gathered information from the 50 states and the District of Columbia (DC) on state assessment systems and student performance on reading or English language arts and writing assessments in order to measure adolescent"s (grades 4 through 12) performance toward state literacy goals. Also examines the relative performance of students against national standards represented by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP).