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Digest of Education Statistics
2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 108. Average reading scale score, by age and selected student and school characteristics: Selected years, 1971 through 2004
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Selected student and        |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
school characteristic       |     1971|    1975|    1980|    1984|    1988|    1990|    1992|    1994|    1996|    1999|    2004
____________________________|_________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
1                           |        2|       3|       4|       5|       6|       7|       8|       9|      10|      11|      12
____________________________|_________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
9-year-olds                 |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   All students ............| 208(1.0)|210(0.7)|215(1.0)|211(0.8)|212(1.1)|209(1.2)|211(0.9)|211(1.2)|212(1.0)|212(1.3)|219(1.1)
                            |_________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
Sex                         |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Male .....................| 201(1.1)|204(0.8)|210(1.1)|207(1.0)|207(1.4)|204(1.7)|206(1.3)|207(1.3)|207(1.4)|209(1.6)|216(1.4)
  Female ...................| 214(1.0)|216(0.8)|220(1.1)|214(0.9)|216(1.3)|215(1.2)|215(0.9)|215(1.4)|218(1.1)|215(1.5)|221(1.0)
                            |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Race/ethnicity              |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  White, non-Hispanic ......| 214(0.9)|217(0.7)|221(0.8)|218(0.9)|218(1.4)|217(1.3)|218(1.0)|218(1.3)|220(1.2)|221(1.6)|226(1.1)
  Black, non-Hispanic ......| 170(1.7)|181(1.2)|189(1.8)|186(1.3)|189(2.4)|182(2.9)|185(2.2)|185(2.3)|191(2.6)|186(2.3)|200(2.2)
  Hispanic .................| \1\  (†)|183(2.2)|190(2.3)|187(3.0)|194(3.5)|189(2.3)|192(3.1)|186(3.9)|195(3.4)|193(2.7)|205(1.7)
                            |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Region                      |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Northeast ................| 213(1.7)|215(1.3)|221(2.1)|216(2.2)|215(2.6)|217(2.2)|218(2.6)|217(2.9)|220(1.8)|222(3.5)|223(2.5)
  Southeast ................| 194(2.9)|201(1.2)|210(2.3)|204(2.0)|207(2.1)|197(3.2)|199(2.0)|208(3.0)|206(2.8)|205(2.3)|218(1.8)
  Central ..................| 215(1.2)|215(1.2)|217(1.4)|215(1.9)|218(2.2)|213(2.0)|216(1.6)|214(2.3)|215(2.6)|215(3.9)|221(2.3)
  West .....................| 205(2.0)|207(2.0)|213(1.8)|209(2.0)|208(2.6)|210(2.8)|209(2.3)|205(2.8)|210(1.9)|206(1.8)|215(1.5)
                            |=========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========
13-year-olds                |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    All students ...........| 255(0.9)|256(0.8)|258(0.9)|257(0.6)|257(1.0)|257(0.8)|260(1.2)|258(0.9)|258(1.0)|259(1.0)|259(1.0)
                            |_________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
Sex                         |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Male .....................| 250(1.0)|250(0.8)|254(1.1)|253(0.7)|252(1.3)|251(1.1)|254(1.7)|251(1.2)|251(1.2)|254(1.3)|254(1.2)
  Female ...................| 261(0.9)|262(0.9)|263(0.9)|262(0.7)|263(1.0)|263(1.1)|265(1.2)|266(1.2)|264(1.2)|265(1.2)|264(1.3)
                            |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Race/ethnicity              |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  White, non-Hispanic ......| 261(0.7)|262(0.7)|264(0.7)|263(0.6)|261(1.1)|262(0.9)|266(1.2)|265(1.1)|266(1.0)|267(1.2)|266(1.0)
  Black, non-Hispanic ......| 222(1.2)|226(1.2)|233(1.5)|236(1.2)|243(2.4)|241(2.2)|238(2.3)|234(2.4)|234(2.6)|238(2.4)|244(2.0)
  Hispanic .................| \1\  (†)|232(3.0)|237(2.0)|240(2.0)|240(3.5)|238(2.3)|239(3.5)|235(1.9)|238(2.9)|244(2.9)|242(1.6)
                            |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Parents' highest level      |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   of education             |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Not high school graduate .|---  (†) |--- (†) |239(1.1)|240(1.2)|246(2.1)|241(1.8)|239(2.6)|237(2.4)|239(2.8)|238(3.4)|240(2.7)
  Graduated high school ....|---  (†) |--- (†) |253(0.9)|253(0.8)|253(1.2)|251(0.9)|252(1.7)|251(1.4)|251(1.5)|251(1.8)|251(1.6)
  Some education after      |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
     high school ...........|---  (†) |--- (†) |268(1.0)|266(1.1)|265(1.7)|267(1.7)|265(2.7)|266(1.9)|268(2.3)|269(2.4)|264(2.0)
  Graduated college ........|---  (†) |--- (†) |273(0.9)|268(0.9)|265(1.6)|267(1.1)|271(1.5)|269(1.2)|269(1.4)|270(1.2)|270(1.0)
                            |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Region                      |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Northeast ................| 261(2.0)|259(1.8)|260(1.8)|261(0.8)|259(2.4)|259(1.8)|265(3.2)|269(2.0)|259(2.6)|263(2.9)|265(1.9)
  Southeast ................| 245(1.7)|249(1.5)|253(1.6)|256(1.9)|258(2.2)|256(2.2)|254(2.5)|253(2.5)|251(3.3)|254(2.4)|257(2.3)
  Central ..................| 260(1.8)|261(1.4)|265(1.4)|258(1.3)|256(2.0)|257(1.5)|263(3.0)|259(3.3)|267(1.8)|261(1.9)|260(2.1)
  West .....................| 254(1.3)|253(1.7)|256(2.0)|254(1.1)|258(2.1)|256(1.6)|258(1.6)|253(2.1)|257(1.7)|259(2.2)|255(1.6)
                            |=========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========
17-year-olds                |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    All students ...........| 285(1.2)|286(0.8)|285(1.2)|289(0.8)|290(1.0)|290(1.1)|290(1.1)|288(1.3)|288(1.1)|288(1.3)|285(1.2)
                            |_________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
Sex                         |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Male .....................| 279(1.2)|280(1.0)|282(1.3)|284(0.8)|286(1.5)|284(1.6)|284(1.6)|282(2.2)|281(1.3)|281(1.6)|278(1.5)
  Female ...................| 291(1.3)|291(1.0)|289(1.2)|294(0.9)|294(1.5)|296(1.2)|296(1.1)|295(1.5)|295(1.2)|295(1.4)|292(1.3)
                            |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Race/ethnicity              |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  White, non-Hispanic ......| 291(1.0)|293(0.6)|293(0.9)|295(0.9)|295(1.2)|297(1.2)|297(1.4)|296(1.5)|295(1.2)|295(1.4)|293(1.1)
  Black, non-Hispanic ......| 239(1.7)|241(2.0)|243(1.8)|264(1.2)|274(2.4)|267(2.3)|261(2.1)|266(3.9)|266(2.7)|264(1.7)|264(2.7)
  Hispanic .................| \1\  (†)|252(3.6)|261(2.7)|268(2.9)|271(4.3)|275(3.6)|271(3.7)|263(4.9)|265(4.1)|271(3.9)|264(2.9)
                            |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Parents' highest level      |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   of education             |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Not high school graduate .|---  (†) |--- (†) |262(1.5)|269(1.4)|267(2.0)|270(2.8)|271(3.9)|268(2.7)|267(3.2)|265(3.6)|259(3.4)
  Graduated high school ....|---  (†) |--- (†) |277(1.0)|281(0.8)|282(1.3)|283(1.4)|280(1.6)|276(1.9)|273(1.7)|274(2.1)|274(1.6)
  Some education after      |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
     high school ...........|---  (†) |--- (†) |295(1.2)|298(0.9)|299(2.2)|295(1.9)|293(1.9)|294(1.6)|295(2.2)|295(1.8)|286(1.9)
  Graduated college ........|---  (†) |--- (†) |301(1.0)|302(0.9)|300(1.4)|302(1.5)|301(1.7)|300(1.7)|299(1.5)|298(1.3)|298(1.3)
                            |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Region                      |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Northeast ................| 291(2.8)|289(1.7)|286(2.4)|291(2.5)|295(2.9)|296(1.8)|297(3.2)|297(4.2)|292(2.8)|295(4.0)|290(2.5)
  Southeast ................| 271(2.4)|277(1.4)|280(2.2)|284(2.1)|286(2.1)|285(2.5)|278(2.9)|283(2.8)|279(2.6)|279(2.4)|281(2.1)
  Central ..................| 291(2.1)|292(1.4)|287(2.2)|290(1.8)|291(1.9)|294(2.4)|294(2.1)|286(3.7)|293(2.1)|292(1.5)|291(2.2)
  West .....................| 284(1.8)|282(1.9)|287(2.1)|289(1.6)|289(1.8)|287(2.6)|290(2.3)|288(2.8)|287(2.4)|286(3.0)|280(2.5)
____________________________|_________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
---Not available.
†Not applicable.
\1\Test scores of Hispanics were not tabulated separately.
NOTE: The NAEP scores have been evaluated at certain performance levels. Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Students at reading score level 150 are able to follow brief written directions and carry out simple, discrete reading tasks. Students at reading score level 200 are able to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information. Students at reading score level 250 are able to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials. Students at reading score level 300 are able to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material. Includes public and private schools. Excludes persons not enrolled in school and those who were unable to be tested due to limited proficiency in English or due to a disability. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress; and unpublished tabulations, NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/), retrieved January 2006. (This table was prepared February 2006.)


2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest