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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 116. Average proficiency in reading for 8th-graders in public schools, by selected characteristics, and state: 1998

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                     |         |   Location                       |      Parental education\1\
                     |         |__________________________________|___________________________________________
        State        | Average |          |            |          |  Did not  |         |   Some   |
                     |         |  Central |  Urban     |  Rural/  |  finish   |Graduated|education |Graduated
                     |         |   city   | fringe/    |small town|   high    |  high   |after high|college
                     |         |          | large town |          |  school   | school  |  school  |
_____________________|_________|__________|____________|__________|___________|_________|__________|__________
          1          |    2    |    3     |     4      |    5     |     6     |    7    |     8    |    9
_____________________|_________|__________|____________|__________|___________|_________|__________|__________
  United States\2\ ..|261 (0.8)| 254 (1.7)| 266   (1.4)| 263 (1.5)|  242 (1.9)|253 (1.3)| 268 (1.4)|272  (1.0)
                     |_________|__________|____________|__________|___________|_________|__________|__________
                     |         |          |            |          |           |         |          |
Alabama .............|255 (1.4)| 254 (3.4)| 260   (2.3)| 254 (1.9)|  252 (2.9)|246 (1.6)| 262 (2.0)|264  (2.0)
Arizona  ............|261 (1.2)| 261 (1.7)| 267   (2.3)| 250 (2.5)|  243 (2.3)|253 (2.5)| 267 (1.5)|272  (1.4)
Arkansas ............|256 (1.3)| 253 (3.1)| 262   (2.9)| 255 (1.6)|  243 (3.1)|249 (1.9)| 265 (2.4)|264  (1.7)
California\3\ .......|253 (1.7)| 249 (2.5)| 255   (2.3)|(\4\)(\4\)|  238 (3.1)|244 (2.2)| 264 (2.3)|266  (1.8)
Colorado ............|264 (1.1)| 258 (2.6)| 268   (1.2)| 264 (2.1)|  240 (4.7)|251 (2.1)| 266 (1.8)|274  (1.2)
                     |         |          |            |          |           |         |          |
Connecticut .........|272 (1.1)| 252 (2.9)| 275   (1.4)| 280 (1.7)|  251 (3.0)|256 (1.7)| 274 (1.5)|282  (1.0)
Delaware ............|256 (1.3)| 254 (2.7)| 256   (2.3)| 258 (2.5)|  234 (8.2)|251 (2.5)| 257 (2.4)|266  (1.7)
District of Columbia |236 (2.0)| 236 (2.0)|(\4\) (\4\) |(\4\)(\4\)|  235 (5.1)|227 (3.9)| 242 (3.1)|248  (3.3)
Florida .............|253 (1.7)| 252 (2.5)| 256   (2.0)| 247 (7.4)|  245 (3.1)|244 (2.5)| 262 (1.8)|261  (2.0)
Georgia .............|257 (1.4)| 245 (3.1)| 263   (1.8)| 254 (2.5)|  242 (2.9)|247 (2.2)| 264 (1.7)|267  (1.9)
Hawaii ..............|250 (1.3)| 253 (2.6)| 250   (1.5)| 247 (2.0)|  230 (5.1)|241 (2.3)| 258 (2.1)|259  (1.5)
                     |         |          |            |          |           |         |          |
Kansas\3\ ...........|268 (1.2)| 260 (3.7)| 273   (1.9)| 269 (1.6)|  249 (6.3)|261 (2.1)| 269 (1.9)|276  (1.8)
Kentucky ............|262 (1.3)| 261 (4.7)| 266   (2.4)| 261 (1.3)|  246 (3.1)|256 (1.6)| 268 (1.9)|274  (2.0)
Louisiana ...........|252 (1.5)| 247 (3.3)| 253   (2.8)| 255 (1.7)|  247 (4.1)|245 (1.4)| 261 (1.5)|258  (2.2)
Maine ...............|273 (1.2)| 279 (3.0)| 272   (3.8)| 272 (1.3)|  262 (4.8)|260 (2.1)| 275 (2.0)|282  (1.4)
Maryland\3\ .........|262 (1.8)| 246 (4.3)| 264   (2.3)| 268 (2.3)|  253 (3.5)|250 (2.0)| 262 (2.3)|272  (2.2)
                     |         |          |            |          |           |         |          |
Massachusetts .......|269 (1.6)| 254 (3.3)| 275   (2.4)| 274 (2.4)|  242 (4.3)|256 (2.1)| 273 (2.4)|278  (1.7)
Minnesota\3\ ........|267 (1.3)| 249 (5.2)| 273   (1.4)| 266 (2.3)|  244 (4.9)|256 (2.2)| 273 (1.9)|276  (1.4)
Mississippi .........|251 (1.4)| 243 (4.8)| 255   (2.1)| 250 (1.8)|  239 (2.5)|243 (2.5)| 257 (2.8)|259  (1.6)
Missouri ............|263 (1.3)| 257 (4.0)| 263   (2.0)| 266 (1.4)|  247 (3.3)|257 (1.7)| 268 (1.7)|271  (1.6)
Montana\3\ ..........|270 (1.1)| 263 (2.8)| 266   (3.4)| 273 (1.4)|  253 (5.3)|258 (2.7)| 273 (2.3)|277  (1.4)
                     |         |          |            |          |           |         |          |
Nevada ..............|257 (1.1)| 254 (1.7)| 258   (2.5)| 262 (2.1)|  241 (3.5)|248 (1.8)| 265 (1.9)|269  (1.5)
New Mexico ..........|258 (1.2)| 260 (2.7)| 261   (1.6)| 253 (1.7)|  240 (3.0)|251 (1.7)| 263 (2.6)|268  (1.4)
New York\3\ .........|266 (1.6)| 254 (2.7)| 278   (2.4)| 271 (2.2)|  252 (3.3)|256 (2.2)| 270 (2.0)|277  (1.8)
North Carolina ......|264 (1.1)| 267 (2.0)| 263   (2.6)| 261 (1.5)|  246 (3.6)|250 (1.9)| 268 (1.6)|273  (1.4)
Oklahoma ............|265 (1.3)| 265 (2.0)| 268   (2.1)| 264 (1.7)|  256 (3.4)|255 (1.8)| 270 (2.2)|274  (1.4)
                     |         |          |            |          |           |         |          |
Oregon ..............|266 (1.5)| 264 (4.0)| 269   (2.2)| 263 (1.6)|  241 (3.5)|259 (2.4)| 266 (1.6)|276  (1.8)
Rhode Island ........|262 (1.0)| 252 (2.7)| 265   (1.8)| 271 (3.0)|  241 (4.7)|253 (3.0)| 265 (2.4)|273  (1.5)
South Carolina ......|255 (1.3)| 257 (2.2)| 260   (1.9)| 249 (2.2)|  245 (2.9)|243 (1.6)| 264 (2.0)|264  (1.6)
Tennessee ...........|259 (1.3)| 253 (2.2)| 264   (2.4)| 261 (1.8)|  246 (3.7)|250 (1.5)| 265 (1.7)|269  (1.8)
Texas ...............|262 (1.5)| 259 (2.5)| 266   (2.2)| 263 (3.5)|  247 (2.4)|256 (1.7)| 269 (1.9)|272  (1.7)
                     |         |          |            |          |           |         |          |
Utah ................|265 (1.1)| 264 (1.8)| 266   (1.3)| 261 (3.1)|  247 (5.1)|251 (2.3)| 265 (2.0)|273  (0.9)
Virginia ............|266 (1.1)| 260 (1.9)| 274   (1.7)| 263 (2.2)|  248 (3.4)|254 (1.5)| 269 (2.2)|277  (1.3)
Washington  .........|265 (1.3)| 264 (2.2)| 266   (2.2)| 263 (2.1)|  243 (3.7)|258 (2.2)| 268 (1.7)|274  (1.7)
West Virginia .......|262 (1.2)| 265 (3.7)| 264   (3.2)| 260 (1.4)|  248 (2.7)|254 (1.9)| 265 (1.9)|272  (1.6)
Wisconsin\3\ ........|266 (1.6)| 256 (3.1)| 273   (2.5)| 269 (1.9)|  240 (4.4)|260 (2.4)| 269 (2.1)|276  (1.9)
Wyoming .............|262 (1.3)| 263 (3.0)|(\4\) (\4\) | 262 (1.3)|  256 (4.3)|256 (2.5)| 266 (2.2)|267  (1.9)
                     |=========|==========|============|==========|===========|=========|==========|==========
                     |         |          |            |          |           |         |          |
Department of Defense|         |          |            |          |           |         |          |
  Overseas Schools  .|269 (1.0)|(\4\)(\4\)|(\4\) (\4\) |(\4\)(\4\)|(\4\) (\4\)|258 (3.5)| 272 (2.1)|275  (1.5)
Virgin Islands ......|233 (2.9)|(\4\)(\4\)|(\4\) (\4\) | 233 (2.9)|  237 (4.7)|234 (4.9)| 242 (7.6)|232  (4.3)
_____________________|_________|__________|____________|__________|___________|_________|__________|__________

\1\Parents' highest level of education. Data not shown for students who did not know parents' level of education.
\2\As measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Forty-four jurisdictions (state, territory, Department of Defense Overseas Schools) participated in 1998. Due to sample size and school participation guidelines, some states are not shown.
\3\Did not satisfy one or more of the guidelines for school sample participation rates. Data are subject to appreciable nonresponse bias.
\4\Sample size is insufficient to permit a reliable estimate.

NOTE: These test scores are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAEP scores have been evaluated at certain performance levels. A score of 300 implies an ability to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material. A score of 250 implies an ability to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials. A score of 200 implies an ability to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information. A score of 150 implies an ability to follow brief written directions and carry out simple, discrete reading tasks. Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Excludes states not participating in the survey. Standard errors appear in parentheses.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP 1994 and 1998 Reading Report Card for the Nation and the States, by Educational Testing Service. (This table was prepared July 2000.)


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