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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 111. Percentage of students at or above selected reading score levels, by age, sex, and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1971 through 2004
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Selected        |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
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     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Total           |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|    91(0.5)| 93(0.4)| 95(0.4)| 92(0.4)| 93(0.7)| 90(0.9)| 92(0.4)| 92(0.7)| 93(0.6)| 93(0.7)| 96(0.3)
  Level 200 ....|    59(1.0)| 62(0.8)| 68(1.0)| 62(0.8)| 63(1.3)| 59(1.3)| 62(1.1)| 63(1.4)| 64(1.3)| 64(1.4)| 70(1.2)
  Level 250 ....|    16(0.6)| 15(0.6)| 18(0.8)| 17(0.7)| 17(1.1)| 18(1.0)| 16(0.8)| 17(1.2)| 17(0.8)| 16(1.0)| 20(1.0)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Male            |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|    88(0.7)| 91(0.5)| 93(0.5)| 90(0.5)| 90(0.9)| 88(1.4)| 90(0.8)| 90(1.0)| 92(0.8)| 91(1.1)| 95(0.6)
  Level 200 ....|    53(1.2)| 56(1.0)| 63(1.1)| 58(1.0)| 58(1.8)| 54(1.9)| 57(1.6)| 59(1.5)| 58(2.0)| 61(1.8)| 67(1.7)
  Level 250 ....|    12(0.6)| 12(0.6)| 15(0.9)| 16(0.8)| 16(1.4)| 16(1.2)| 14(1.0)| 15(1.2)| 14(1.3)| 15(1.3)| 19(1.3)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Female          |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|    93(0.5)| 95(0.3)| 96(0.4)| 94(0.5)| 95(1.0)| 92(1.1)| 94(0.6)| 94(0.8)| 95(0.6)| 95(0.8)| 97(0.5)
  Level 200 ....|    65(1.1)| 68(0.8)| 73(1.0)| 65(1.0)| 67(1.4)| 64(1.2)| 67(1.2)| 67(1.9)| 70(1.6)| 67(1.6)| 74(1.1)
  Level 250 ....|    19(0.8)| 18(0.8)| 21(1.0)| 18(0.8)| 19(1.2)| 21(1.2)| 18(1.1)| 18(1.5)| 19(1.3)| 17(1.3)| 21(1.3)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
White, non-     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   Hispanic     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|\1\ 94(0.4)| 96(0.3)| 97(0.2)| 95(0.3)| 95(0.7)| 94(0.9)| 96(0.5)| 96(0.5)| 96(0.6)| 97(0.4)| 98(0.4)
  Level 200 ....|\1\ 65(1.0)| 69(0.8)| 74(0.7)| 69(0.9)| 68(1.6)| 66(1.4)| 69(1.2)| 70(1.5)| 71(1.5)| 73(1.6)| 78(1.1)
  Level 250 ....|\1\ 18(0.7)| 17(0.7)| 21(0.9)| 21(0.8)| 20(1.5)| 23(1.2)| 20(1.0)| 20(1.5)| 20(1.1)| 20(1.4)| 25(1.2)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Black, non-     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   Hispanic     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|\1\ 70(1.7)| 81(1.1)| 85(1.4)| 81(1.2)| 83(2.4)| 77(2.7)| 80(2.2)| 79(2.4)| 84(1.9)| 82(2.5)| 91(1.2)
  Level 200 ....|\1\ 22(1.5)| 32(1.5)| 41(1.9)| 37(1.5)| 39(2.9)| 34(3.4)| 37(2.2)| 38(2.8)| 42(3.2)| 36(3.0)| 51(3.0)
  Level 250 ....|\1\  2(0.5)|  2(0.3)|  4(0.6)|  5(0.5)|  6(1.2)|  5(1.5)|  5(0.8)|  4(1.5)|  6(1.1)|  4(1.1)|  8(1.6)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Hispanic        |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|    ‡  (†) | 81(2.5)| 84(1.8)| 82(3.0)| 86(3.5)| 84(1.8)| 83(2.6)| 80(4.6)| 86(2.4)| 87(3.3)| 95(1.4)
  Level 200 ....|    ‡  (†) | 35(3.0)| 42(2.6)| 40(2.7)| 46(3.3)| 41(2.7)| 43(3.5)| 37(4.6)| 48(3.8)| 44(3.4)| 57(2.8)
  Level 250 ....|    ‡  (†) |  3(0.5)|  5(1.4)|  4(0.6)|  9(2.3)|  6(2.0)|  7(2.3)|  6(1.6)|  7(3.2)|  6(1.7)|  9(1.8)
                |===========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========
13-year-olds    |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Total           |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|   100 (#) |100(0.1)|100(0.1)|100 (#) |100(0.1)|100(0.1)|100(0.3)| 99(0.2)|100(0.2)|100(0.2)|--- (†)
  Level 200 ....|    93(0.5)| 93(0.4)| 95(0.4)| 94(0.3)| 95(0.6)| 94(0.6)| 93(0.7)| 92(0.6)| 92(0.7)| 93(0.7)| 94(0.6)
  Level 250 ....|    58(1.1)| 59(1.0)| 61(1.1)| 59(0.8)| 59(1.3)| 59(1.0)| 62(1.4)| 60(1.2)| 60(1.3)| 61(1.5)| 61(1.3)
  Level 300 ....|    10(0.5)| 10(0.5)| 11(0.5)| 11(0.4)| 11(0.8)| 11(0.6)| 15(0.9)| 14(0.8)| 14(1.0)| 15(1.1)| 13(0.9)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Male            |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|   100(0.1)|100(0.1)|100(0.1)|100(0.1)|100(0.2)|100(0.2)| 99(0.4)| 99(0.3)| 99(0.4)| 99(0.3)|--- (†)
  Level 200 ....|    91(0.7)| 91(0.5)| 93(0.6)| 92(0.4)| 93(1.0)| 91(0.9)| 90(1.1)| 89(1.1)| 89(1.2)| 91(0.9)| 91(0.8)
  Level 250 ....|    52(1.2)| 52(1.1)| 56(1.2)| 54(0.9)| 52(1.9)| 52(1.5)| 55(2.0)| 53(1.9)| 53(1.6)| 55(1.9)| 55(1.5)
  Level 300 ....|     7(0.5)|  7(0.4)|  9(0.7)|  9(0.5)|  9(0.9)|  8(0.8)| 13(1.1)| 10(0.7)| 10(1.0)| 11(1.1)| 11(0.9)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Female          |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|   100(0.1)|100(0.1)|100 (#) |100(0.1)|100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100(0.2)|100 (‡) |100 (‡) |--- (†)
  Level 200 ....|    95(0.4)| 96(0.4)| 96(0.4)| 96(0.3)| 97(0.6)| 96(0.6)| 95(0.7)| 95(0.6)| 95(0.6)| 96(0.7)| 96(0.6)
  Level 250 ....|    64(1.1)| 65(1.2)| 65(1.1)| 64(0.8)| 65(1.4)| 65(1.5)| 68(1.4)| 68(1.7)| 66(1.6)| 66(1.9)| 67(1.8)
  Level 300 ....|    12(0.6)| 13(0.7)| 13(0.6)| 13(0.6)| 13(0.9)| 14(0.9)| 18(1.1)| 18(1.1)| 17(1.3)| 18(1.7)| 15(1.2)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
White, non-     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   Hispanic     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|\1\100 (#) |100 (#) |100 (‡) |100 (#) |100 (‡) |100(0.1)|100(0.1)|100(0.2)|100(0.2)|100(0.1)|--- (†)
  Level 200 ....|\1\ 96(0.3)| 96(0.2)| 97(0.2)| 96(0.2)| 96(0.6)| 96(0.6)| 96(0.6)| 95(0.7)| 95(0.5)| 96(0.6)| 96(0.6)
  Level 250 ....|\1\ 64(0.9)| 65(0.9)| 68(0.8)| 65(0.8)| 64(1.5)| 65(1.2)| 68(1.4)| 68(1.3)| 69(1.4)| 69(1.7)| 69(1.3)
  Level 300 ....|\1\ 11(0.5)| 12(0.5)| 14(0.6)| 13(0.6)| 12(0.9)| 13(0.9)| 18(1.1)| 17(1.0)| 17(1.3)| 18(1.4)| 17(1.2)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Black, non-     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   Hispanic     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|\1\ 99(0.3)| 98(0.3)| 99(0.3)| 99(0.2)|100 (‡) | 99 (‡) | 99 (‡) | 99 (‡) | 99 (‡) | 99 (‡) |--- (†)
  Level 200 ....|\1\ 74(1.7)| 77(1.3)| 84(1.7)| 85(1.2)| 91(2.2)| 88(2.3)| 82(2.7)| 81(2.3)| 82(3.2)| 85(2.3)| 89(2.2)
  Level 250 ....|\1\ 21(1.2)| 25(1.6)| 30(2.0)| 35(1.3)| 40(2.3)| 42(3.5)| 38(2.7)| 36(3.5)| 34(3.9)| 38(2.7)| 45(2.8)
  Level 300 ....|\1\  1(0.2)|  2(0.3)|  2(0.5)|  3(0.6)|  5(1.2)|  5(0.8)|  6(1.4)|  4(1.2)|  3(0.9)|  5(1.4)|  5(1.0)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Hispanic        |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|    ‡  (†) |100(0.3)|100 (‡) |100 (‡) | 99 (‡) | 99(0.5)| 98 (‡) | 99 (‡) | 99 (‡) |100 (‡) |--- (†)
  Level 200 ....|    ‡  (†) | 81(2.3)| 87(2.4)| 86(1.7)| 87(2.6)| 86(2.4)| 83(3.5)| 82(2.7)| 85(3.2)| 89(2.8)| 88(1.8)
  Level 250 ....|    ‡  (†) | 32(3.6)| 35(2.6)| 39(2.3)| 38(4.4)| 37(2.9)| 41(5.1)| 34(3.9)| 38(3.7)| 43(3.8)| 43(2.0)
  Level 300 ....|    ‡  (†) |  2(1.0)|  2(0.6)|  4(1.0)|  4(1.9)|  4(1.2)|  6(1.9)|  4(1.8)|  5(1.7)|  6(1.8)|  4(0.8)
                |===========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========|========
17-year-olds    |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Total           |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|   100(0.1)|100(0.1)|100(0.1)|100 (#) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100(0.1)|100(0.1)|100 (‡) |100 (‡) |--- (†)
  Level 200 ....|    96(0.3)| 96(0.3)| 97(0.3)| 98(0.1)| 99(0.3)| 98(0.3)| 97(0.4)| 97(0.5)| 98(0.5)| 98(0.4)|--- (†)
  Level 250 ....|    79(0.9)| 80(0.7)| 81(0.9)| 83(0.6)| 86(0.8)| 84(1.0)| 83(0.8)| 81(1.0)| 82(0.8)| 82(1.0)| 80(1.0)
  Level 300 ....|    39(1.0)| 39(0.8)| 38(1.1)| 40(1.0)| 41(1.5)| 41(1.0)| 43(1.1)| 41(1.2)| 39(1.4)| 40(1.4)| 38(1.2)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Male            |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|    99(0.1)| 99(0.2)|100(0.1)|100 (#) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100(0.2)|100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |--- (†)
  Level 200 ....|    95(0.4)| 95(0.4)| 96(0.5)| 98(0.2)| 99(0.5)| 97(0.6)| 96(0.7)| 96(0.9)| 96(0.8)| 97(0.6)|--- (†)
  Level 250 ....|    74(1.0)| 76(0.8)| 78(1.0)| 80(0.7)| 83(1.4)| 80(1.4)| 78(1.2)| 76(1.5)| 77(1.2)| 77(1.5)| 74(1.4)
  Level 300 ....|    34(1.1)| 34(1.0)| 35(1.3)| 36(1.0)| 37(2.3)| 36(1.5)| 38(1.6)| 36(1.9)| 34(1.9)| 34(1.7)| 33(1.5)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Female          |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|   100(0.1)|100(0.1)|100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |--- (†)
  Level 200 ....|    97(0.3)| 98(0.4)| 98(0.3)| 99(0.1)| 99(0.3)| 99(0.3)| 98(0.4)| 98(0.5)| 99(0.5)| 99(0.4)|--- (†)
  Level 250 ....|    83(1.0)| 84(0.9)| 84(1.0)| 87(0.6)| 88(1.1)| 89(1.0)| 87(1.1)| 86(1.2)| 87(1.0)| 87(1.0)| 86(1.0)
  Level 300 ....|    44(1.2)| 44(0.9)| 41(1.2)| 45(1.1)| 44(2.0)| 47(1.3)| 48(1.5)| 46(1.5)| 45(1.7)| 45(1.8)| 42(1.5)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
White, non-     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   Hispanic     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|\1\100 (#) |100 (#) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |--- (†)
  Level 200 ....|\1\ 98(0.2)| 99(0.1)| 99(0.1)| 99(0.1)| 99(0.3)| 99(0.2)| 99(0.3)| 98(0.4)| 99(0.4)| 98(0.4)|--- (†)
  Level 250 ....|\1\ 84(0.7)| 86(0.6)| 87(0.6)| 88(0.5)| 89(0.9)| 88(1.1)| 88(0.9)| 86(1.1)| 87(0.8)| 87(1.3)| 86(1.0)
  Level 300 ....|\1\ 43(0.9)| 44(0.8)| 43(1.1)| 47(1.1)| 45(1.6)| 48(1.2)| 50(1.4)| 48(1.4)| 46(1.5)| 46(1.5)| 45(1.4)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Black, non-     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   Hispanic     |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|\1\ 98(0.4)| 98(0.8)| 99(0.3)|100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) | 99 (‡) | 99 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |--- (†)
  Level 200 ....|\1\ 82(1.5)| 82(1.8)| 86(1.7)| 96(0.5)| 98(1.0)| 96(1.3)| 92(1.6)| 93(2.0)| 95(1.9)| 95(1.1)|--- (†)
  Level 250 ....|\1\ 40(1.6)| 43(1.6)| 44(2.0)| 65(1.5)| 76(2.4)| 69(2.8)| 61(2.3)| 66(4.1)| 68(4.0)| 66(2.5)| 67(3.0)
  Level 300 ....|\1\  8(0.9)|  8(0.7)|  7(0.8)| 16(1.0)| 25(3.1)| 20(1.8)| 17(2.5)| 22(3.7)| 18(2.2)| 17(1.7)| 17(2.0)
                |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Hispanic        |           |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Level 150 ....|    ‡  (†) | 99(0.4)|100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) | 99 (‡) |100 (‡) |100 (‡) |--- (†)
  Level 200 ....|    ‡  (†) | 89(2.4)| 93(1.8)| 96(0.7)| 96(2.4)| 96(2.1)| 93(2.3)| 91(3.4)| 94(1.9)| 97 (‡) |--- (†)
  Level 250 ....|    ‡  (†) | 53(4.1)| 62(3.1)| 68(2.4)| 71(4.8)| 75(4.7)| 69(4.0)| 63(4.4)| 65(4.2)| 68(4.3)| 64(3.7)
  Level 300 ....|    ‡  (†) | 13(2.7)| 17(2.1)| 21(3.0)| 23(3.7)| 27(3.3)| 27(3.2)| 20(3.0)| 20(4.8)| 24(3.8)| 20(2.4)
________________|___________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
---Not available.
†Not applicable.
#Rounds to zero.
‡Reporting standards not met.
\1\Data for 1971 include persons of Hispanic origin.
NOTE: The NAEP scores have been evaluated at certain performance levels. 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. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress; and unpublished tabulations, NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/), retrieved July 2005. (This table was prepared February 2006.)


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