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Ellen, Jim, and Steve bought three helium-filled balloons and paid $2 for all three. They decided to go back to the store and buy enough balloons for everyone in the class.

This article is the first of two articles to appear in the Arithmetic Teacher reporting the third-grade and seventh-grade results of the fourth mathematics assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The secondary school data appear in companion articles in the Mathematics Teacher (Brown et al. 1988a, 1988b). This article summarizes the major results of the performance on number, operations, and word-problem items. Some examples of the data are given to support conclusions about what students in general are and are not learning. The specific items reported are altered items that are parallel to the actual items and are illustrative of the results. The actual items are not included because they may be used in future assessments. Interpretations were made from analysis of the actual items. Not all items in the assessment were given to both third-grade and seventh-grade students. Some were administered only when appropriate for the given grade level. Results for eleventh-grade students are included when such information aids in understanding the performance of the third-grade or seventh-grade students.