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Digest of Education Statistics
2002 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 114. Percent of students at or above selected reading proficiency levels, by sex, race/ethnicity, and age: 1971 to 1999

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
     Sex,      |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
race/ethnicity,|          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
   and level   |   1971   |   1975   |   1980    |   1984    |   1988    |   1990    |   1992   |   1994    |   1996    | 1999
_______________|__________|__________|___________|___________|___________|___________|__________|___________|___________|___________
       1       |    2     |    3     |    4      |    5      |    6      |    7      |    8     |    9      |    10     |   11
_______________|__________|__________|___________|___________|___________|___________|__________|___________|___________|___________
               |                                  9-year-olds\1\
               |____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Total          |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|90.6 (0.5)|93.1 (0.4)| 94.6 (0.4)| 92.3 (0.3)| 92.7 (0.7)| 90.1 (0.9)|92.3 (0.4)| 92.1 (0.7)| 93.5 (0.6)| 93.0 (0.7)
  Level 200\3\.|58.7 (1.0)|62.1 (0.8)| 67.7 (1.0)| 61.5 (0.7)| 62.6 (1.3)| 58.9 (1.3)|62.0 (1.1)| 63.3 (1.4)| 64.2 (1.3)| 63.7 (1.4)
  Level 250\4\.|15.6 (0.6)|14.6 (0.6)| 17.7 (0.8)| 17.2 (0.6)| 17.5 (1.1)| 18.4 (1.0)|16.2 (0.8)| 16.5 (1.2)| 16.7 (0.8)| 15.9 (1.0)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
Male           |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|87.9 (0.7)|91.0 (0.5)| 92.9 (0.5)| 90.4 (0.5)| 90.4 (0.9)| 87.9 (1.4)|90.2 (0.8)| 90.2 (1.0)| 91.6 (0.8)| 91.0 (1.1)
  Level 200\3\.|52.7 (1.2)|56.2 (1.0)| 62.7 (1.1)| 58.0 (0.9)| 58.4 (1.8)| 53.8 (1.9)|56.9 (1.6)| 59.2 (1.5)| 58.3 (2.0)| 61.0 (1.8)
  Level 250\4\.|12.0 (0.6)|11.5 (0.6)| 14.6 (0.9)| 15.9 (0.7)| 15.8 (1.4)| 16.1 (1.2)|14.2 (1.0)| 15.2 (1.2)| 14.1 (1.3)| 15.0 (1.3)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
Female         |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|93.2 (0.5)|95.3 (0.3)| 96.4 (0.4)| 94.2 (0.4)| 94.9 (1.0)| 92.4 (1.1)|94.4 (0.6)| 94.0 (0.8)| 95.3 (0.6)| 95.0 (0.8)
  Level 200\3\.|64.6 (1.1)|68.1 (0.8)| 72.7 (1.0)| 65.2 (0.8)| 66.9 (1.4)| 64.2 (1.2)|67.3 (1.2)| 67.3 (1.9)| 69.9 (1.6)| 67.0 (1.6)
  Level 250\4\.|19.2 (0.8)|17.7 (0.8)| 20.7 (1.0)| 18.4 (0.7)| 19.1 (1.2)| 20.8 (1.2)|18.2 (1.1)| 17.8 (1.5)| 19.2 (1.3)| 17.0 (1.3)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
White\5\       |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|94.0 (0.4)|96.0 (0.3)| 97.1 (0.2)| 95.4 (0.3)| 95.1 (0.7)| 93.5 (0.9)|95.8 (0.5)| 95.7 (0.5)| 96.4 (0.6)| 97.0 (0.4)
  Level 200\3\.|65.0 (1.0)|69.0 (0.8)| 74.2 (0.7)| 68.6 (0.8)| 68.4 (1.6)| 66.0 (1.4)|69.3 (1.2)| 70.1 (1.5)| 71.4 (1.5)| 73.0 (1.6)
  Level 250\4\.|18.0 (0.7)|17.4 (0.7)| 21.0 (0.9)| 20.9 (0.7)| 20.3 (1.5)| 22.6 (1.2)|19.6 (1.0)| 19.7 (1.5)| 20.4 (1.1)| 20.0 (1.4)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
Black\5\       |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|69.7 (1.7)|80.7 (1.1)| 84.9 (1.4)| 81.3 (1.0)| 83.2 (2.4)| 76.9 (2.7)|79.6 (2.2)| 78.7 (2.4)| 84.5 (1.9)| 82.0 (2.5)
  Level 200\3\.|22.0 (1.5)|31.6 (1.5)| 41.3 (1.9)| 36.6 (1.5)| 39.4 (2.9)| 33.9 (3.4)|36.6 (2.2)| 38.3 (2.8)| 41.8 (3.2)| 36.0 (3.0)
  Level 250\4\.| 1.6 (0.5)| 2.0 (0.3)|  4.1 (0.6)|  4.5 (0.5)|  5.6 (1.2)|  5.2 (1.5)| 4.6 (0.8)|  4.4 (1.5)|  6.0 (1.1)|  4.0 (1.1)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
Hispanic       |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.| ---  --- |80.8 (2.5)| 84.5 (1.8)| 82.0 (2.1)| 85.6 (3.5)| 83.7 (1.8)|83.4 (2.6)| 80.4 (4.6)| 85.8 (2.4)| 87.0 (3.3)
  Level 200\3\.| ---  --- |34.6 (3.0)| 41.6 (2.6)| 39.6 (2.2)| 45.9 (3.3)| 40.9 (2.7)|43.1 (3.5)| 37.1 (4.6)| 48.0 (3.8)| 44.0 (3.4)
  Level 250\4\.| ---  --- | 2.6 (0.5)|  5.0 (1.4)|  4.3 (0.6)|  8.6 (2.3)|  5.8 (2.0)| 7.2 (2.3)|  6.4 (1.6)|  7.1 (3.2)|  6.0 (1.7)
_______________|__________|__________|___________|___________|___________|___________|__________|___________|___________|___________
               |                      13-year-olds\1\
_______________|____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Total          |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|99.8 (0.0)|99.7 (0.1)| 99.9 (0.1)| 99.8 (0.0)| 99.9 (0.1)| 99.8 (0.1)|99.5 (0.3)| 99.3 (0.2)| 99.6 (0.2)| 99.6 (0.2)
  Level 200\3\.|93.0 (0.5)|93.2 (0.4)| 94.8 (0.4)| 93.9 (0.3)| 94.9 (0.6)| 93.8 (0.6)|92.7 (0.7)| 91.7 (0.6)| 92.1 (0.7)| 93.2 (0.7)
  Level 250\4\.|57.8 (1.1)|58.6 (1.0)| 60.7 (1.1)| 59.0 (0.6)| 58.7 (1.3)| 58.7 (1.0)|61.6 (1.4)| 60.4 (1.2)| 59.9 (1.3)| 60.9 (1.5)
  Level 300\6\.| 9.8 (0.5)|10.2 (0.5)| 11.3 (0.5)| 11.0 (0.4)| 10.9 (0.8)| 11.0 (0.6)|15.3 (0.9)| 14.1 (0.8)| 13.5 (1.0)| 14.5 (1.1)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
Male           |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|99.6 (0.1)|99.6 (0.1)| 99.8 (0.1)| 99.7 (0.1)| 99.7 (0.2)| 99.7 (0.2)|99.2 (0.4)| 99.1 (0.3)| 99.3 (0.4)| 99.0 (0.3)
  Level 200\3\.|90.7 (0.7)|90.9 (0.5)| 93.4 (0.6)| 92.2 (0.4)| 92.8 (1.0)| 91.4 (0.9)|90.4 (1.1)| 88.8 (1.1)| 89.2 (1.2)| 91.0 (0.9)
  Level 250\4\.|51.6 (1.2)|51.7 (1.1)| 55.9 (1.2)| 54.0 (0.8)| 52.3 (1.9)| 52.4 (1.5)|55.5 (2.0)| 53.3 (1.9)| 53.4 (1.6)| 55.0 (1.9)
  Level 300\6\.| 7.3 (0.5)| 7.0 (0.4)|  9.1 (0.7)|  9.0 (0.4)|  8.6 (0.9)|  7.6 (0.8)|12.8 (1.1)| 10.1 (0.7)| 10.1 (1.0)| 11.0 (1.1)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
Female         |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|99.9 (0.1)|99.9 (0.1)| 99.9 (0.0)| 99.9 (0.1)|100.0  --- | 99.9  --- |99.8  --- | 99.6 (0.2)| 99.8  --- |100.0  ---
  Level 200\3\.|95.2 (0.4)|95.5 (0.4)| 96.1 (0.4)| 95.8 (0.3)| 96.9 (0.6)| 96.3 (0.6)|95.0 (0.7)| 94.9 (0.6)| 94.9 (0.6)| 96.0 (0.7)
  Level 250\4\.|64.0 (1.1)|65.5 (1.2)| 65.4 (1.1)| 64.0 (0.7)| 65.0 (1.4)| 65.0 (1.5)|67.5 (1.4)| 67.9 (1.7)| 66.2 (1.6)| 66.0 (1.9)
  Level 300\6\.|12.3 (0.6)|13.5 (0.7)| 13.5 (0.6)| 13.2 (0.5)| 13.2 (0.9)| 14.5 (0.9)|17.7 (1.1)| 18.4 (1.1)| 16.8 (1.3)| 18.0 (1.7)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
White\5\       |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|99.9 (0.0)|99.9  0.0 |100.0  --- | 99.9 (0.0)| 99.9  --- | 99.9 (0.1)|99.8 (0.1)| 99.6 (0.2)| 99.7 (0.2)|100.0 (0.1)
  Level 200\3\.|96.2 (0.3)|96.4 (0.2)| 97.1 (0.2)| 96.2 (0.3)| 96.0 (0.6)| 96.0 (0.6)|95.9 (0.6)| 95.0 (0.7)| 95.5 (0.5)| 96.0 (0.6)
  Level 250\4\.|64.2 (0.9)|65.5 (0.9)| 67.8 (0.8)| 65.3 (0.7)| 63.7 (1.5)| 64.8 (1.2)|68.5 (1.4)| 68.1 (1.3)| 68.7 (1.4)| 69.0 (1.7)
  Level 300\6\.|11.3 (0.5)|12.1 (0.5)| 13.6 (0.6)| 13.1 (0.5)| 12.4 (0.9)| 13.3 (0.9)|18.1 (1.1)| 17.2 (1.0)| 16.9 (1.3)| 18.0 (1.4)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
Black\5\       |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|98.6 (0.3)|98.4 (0.3)| 99.3 (0.3)| 99.4 (0.2)| 99.8  --- | 99.4  --- |98.7  --- | 98.6  --- | 99.4  --- | 99.0  ---
  Level 200\3\.|74.2 (1.7)|76.9 (1.3)| 84.1 (1.7)| 85.5 (1.0)| 91.3 (2.2)| 87.7 (2.3)|82.0 (2.7)| 80.6 (2.3)| 81.5 (3.2)| 85.0 (2.3)
  Level 250\4\.|21.1 (1.2)|24.8 (1.6)| 30.1 (2.0)| 34.6 (1.2)| 40.2 (2.3)| 41.7 (3.5)|38.4 (2.7)| 35.6 (3.5)| 34.0 (3.9)| 38.0 (2.7)
  Level 300\6\.| 0.8 (0.2)| 1.5 (0.3)|  1.8 (0.5)|  2.8 (0.5)|  4.6 (1.2)|  4.6 (0.8)| 5.7 (1.4)|  3.9 (1.2)|  3.0 (0.9)|  5.0 (1.4)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
Hispanic       |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.| ---  --- |99.6 (0.3)| 99.7  --- | 99.5  --- | 99.2  --- | 99.1 (0.5)|98.1  --- | 98.7  --- | 98.6  --- |100.0  ---
  Level 200\3\.| ---  --- |81.3 (2.3)| 86.8 (2.4)| 86.7 (1.5)| 87.4 (2.6)| 85.8 (2.4)|83.4 (3.5)| 82.4 (2.7)| 84.9 (3.2)| 89.0 (2.8)
  Level 250\4\.| ---  --- |32.0 (3.6)| 35.4 (2.6)| 39.0 (2.1)| 38.0 (4.4)| 37.2 (2.9)|40.9 (5.1)| 33.9 (3.9)| 38.1 (3.7)| 43.0 (3.8)
  Level 300\6\.| ---  --- | 2.2 (1.0)|  2.3 (0.6)|  4.1 (0.7)|  4.4 (1.9)|  3.9 (1.2)| 6.0 (1.9)|  4.3 (1.8)|  5.4 (1.7)|  6.0 (1.8)
_______________|__________|__________|___________|___________|___________|___________|__________|___________|___________|___________
               |                      17-year-olds\1\
_______________|____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Total          |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|99.6 (0.1)|99.7 (0.1)| 99.9 (0.1)|100.0 (0.0)|100.0  --- | 99.9  --- |99.8 (0.1)| 99.8 (0.1)|100.0  --- |100.0  ---
  Level 200\3\.|96.0 (0.3)|96.4 (0.3)| 97.2 (0.3)| 98.3 (0.1)| 98.9 (0.3)| 98.1 (0.3)|97.1 (0.4)| 96.8 (0.5)| 97.5 (0.5)| 97.6 (0.4)
  Level 250\4\.|78.6 (0.9)|80.1 (0.7)| 80.7 (0.9)| 83.1 (0.5)| 85.7 (0.8)| 84.1 (1.0)|82.5 (0.8)| 80.8 (1.0)| 81.8 (0.8)| 82.0 (1.0)
  Level 300\6\.|39.0 (1.0)|38.7 (0.8)| 37.8 (1.1)| 40.3 (0.8)| 40.9 (1.5)| 41.4 (1.0)|43.2 (1.1)| 41.0 (1.2)| 39.4 (1.4)| 39.6 (1.4)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
Male           |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|99.4 (0.1)|99.5 (0.2)| 99.8 (0.1)| 99.9 (0.0)|100.0  --- | 99.8  --- |99.7 (0.2)| 99.7  --- | 99.9  --- |100.0  ---
  Level 200\3\.|94.7 (0.4)|95.3 (0.4)| 96.3 (0.5)| 97.6 (0.2)| 98.5 (0.5)| 97.0 (0.6)|96.3 (0.7)| 95.5 (0.9)| 96.4 (0.8)| 97.0 (0.6)
  Level 250\4\.|74.4 (1.0)|75.6 (0.8)| 77.9 (1.0)| 79.6 (0.6)| 82.9 (1.4)| 79.7 (1.4)|78.4 (1.2)| 76.2 (1.5)| 77.0 (1.2)| 77.0 (1.5)
  Level 300\6\.|33.9 (1.1)|33.7 (1.0)| 35.0 (1.3)| 35.4 (0.8)| 37.1 (2.3)| 36.1 (1.5)|38.4 (1.6)| 35.6 (1.9)| 33.6 (1.9)| 34.0 (1.7)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
Female         |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|99.8 (0.1)|99.8 (0.1)| 99.9  --- | 99.9  --- |100.0  --- |100.0  --- |99.9  --- | 99.9  --- |100.0  --- |100.0  ---
  Level 200\3\.|97.3 (0.3)|97.5 (0.4)| 98.1 (0.3)| 99.0 (0.1)| 99.3 (0.3)| 99.2 (0.3)|97.9 (0.4)| 98.0 (0.5)| 98.6 (0.5)| 99.0 (0.4)
  Level 250\4\.|82.6 (1.0)|84.3 (0.9)| 83.6 (1.0)| 86.8 (0.6)| 88.2 (1.1)| 88.6 (1.0)|86.8 (1.1)| 85.6 (1.2)| 86.8 (1.0)| 87.0 (1.0)
  Level 300\6\.|44.0 (1.2)|43.6 (0.9)| 40.7 (1.2)| 45.0 (0.9)| 44.4 (2.0)| 46.8 (1.3)|48.5 (1.5)| 46.5 (1.5)| 45.4 (1.7)| 45.0 (1.8)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
White\5\       |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|99.9  0.0 |99.9 (0.0)|100.0  --- |100.0  --- |100.0  --- |100.0  --- |99.9  --- |100.0  --- |100.0  --- |100.0  ---
  Level 200\3\.|97.9 (0.2)|98.6 (0.1)| 99.1 (0.1)| 99.0 (0.1)| 99.3 (0.3)| 98.8 (0.2)|98.6 (0.3)| 98.1 (0.4)| 98.5 (0.4)| 98.0 (0.4)
  Level 250\4\.|83.7 (0.7)|86.2 (0.6)| 86.9 (0.6)| 88.0 (0.5)| 88.7 (0.9)| 88.3 (1.1)|88.0 (0.9)| 86.2 (1.1)| 87.0 (0.8)| 87.0 (1.3)
  Level 300\6\.|43.2 (0.9)|43.9 (0.8)| 43.3 (1.1)| 46.3 (0.9)| 45.4 (1.6)| 47.5 (1.2)|50.1 (1.4)| 47.7 (1.4)| 46.0 (1.5)| 46.0 (1.5)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
Black\5\       |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.|97.6 (0.4)|97.7 (0.8)| 99.0 (0.3)| 99.9  --- |100.0  --- | 99.6  --- |99.1  --- | 99.5  --- | 99.8  --- |100.0  ---
  Level 200\3\.|81.9 (1.5)|82.0 (1.8)| 85.6 (1.7)| 95.9 (0.5)| 98.0 (1.0)| 95.7 (1.3)|91.6 (1.6)| 93.4 (2.0)| 94.9 (1.9)| 95.0 (1.1)
  Level 250\4\.|40.1 (1.6)|43.0 (1.6)| 44.0 (2.0)| 65.7 (1.2)| 75.8 (2.4)| 69.1 (2.8)|61.4 (2.3)| 65.7 (4.1)| 67.9 (4.0)| 66.0 (2.5)
  Level 300\6\.| 7.7 (0.9)| 8.1 (0.7)|  7.1 (0.8)| 16.2 (0.9)| 24.9 (3.1)| 19.7 (1.8)|16.9 (2.5)| 21.5 (3.7)| 18.5 (2.2)| 17.0 (1.7)
               |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
Hispanic       |          |          |           |           |           |           |          |           |           |
  Level 150\2\.| ---  --- |99.3 (0.4)| 99.8  --- | 99.8  --- | 99.9  --- | 99.7  --- |99.8  --- | 99.0  --- | 99.9  --- |100.0  ---
  Level 200\3\.| ---  --- |88.7 (2.4)| 93.3 (1.8)| 95.6 (0.7)| 96.3 (2.4)| 95.9 (2.1)|93.4 (2.3)| 91.1 (3.4)| 94.1 (1.9)| 97.0  ---
  Level 250\4\.| ---  --- |52.9 (4.1)| 62.2 (3.1)| 68.3 (2.1)| 71.5 (4.8)| 75.2 (4.7)|69.2 (4.0)| 63.0 (4.4)| 65.0 (4.2)| 68.0 (4.3)
  Level 300\6\.| ---  --- |12.6 (2.7)| 16.5 (2.1)| 21.2 (2.3)| 23.3 (3.7)| 27.1 (3.3)|27.3 (3.2)| 20.1 (3.0)| 20.5 (4.8)| 24.0 (3.8)
_______________|__________|__________|___________|___________|___________|___________|__________|___________|___________|___________

---Not available.
\1\Excludes persons not enrolled in school.
\2\Able to follow brief written directions and carry out simple, discrete reading tasks.
\3\Able to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information.
\4\Able to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials.
\5\Data for 1971 include persons of Hispanic origin.
\6\Able to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material.

NOTE: Reading proficiency levels measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Standard errors appear in parentheses.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP Trends in Academic Progress, various years, by Educational Testing Service. (This table was prepared October 2001).


2002 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest