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Digest of Education Statistics
2009 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 138. Average mathematics scale scores of 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-graders, by selected student and school characteristics: Selected years, 1990 through 2009
Selected student or
school characteristic
19901 19921 1996 2000 2003 2005 2007 2009
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
4th-graders, all students 213 (0.9) 220 (0.7) 224 (1.0) 226 (0.9) 235 (0.2) 238 (0.1) 240 (0.2) 240 (0.2)
Sex                                
Male 214 (1.2) 221 (0.8) 224 (1.1) 227 (1.0) 236 (0.3) 239 (0.2) 241 (0.2) 241 (0.3)
Female 213 (1.1) 219 (1.0) 223 (1.1) 224 (0.9) 233 (0.2) 237 (0.2) 239 (0.2) 239 (0.3)
                               
Race/ethnicity                                
White 220 (1.0) 227 (0.8) 232 (1.0) 234 (0.8) 243 (0.2) 246 (0.1) 248 (0.2) 248 (0.2)
Black 188 (1.8) 193 (1.4) 198 (1.6) 203 (1.2) 216 (0.4) 220 (0.3) 222 (0.3) 222 (0.3)
Hispanic 200 (2.2) 202 (1.5) 207 (1.9) 208 (1.5) 222 (0.4) 226 (0.3) 227 (0.3) 227 (0.4)
Asian/Pacific Islander 225 (4.1) 231 (2.1) 229 (4.2) (†) 246 (1.1) 251 (0.7) 253 (0.8) 255 (1.0)
American Indian/Alaska Native (†) (†) 217 (5.6) 208 (3.5) 223 (1.0) 226 (0.9) 228 (0.7) 225 (0.9)
                               
Eligibility for free or reduced-
   price lunch
                               
Eligible (†) (†) 207 (1.3) 208 (0.9) 222 (0.3) 225 (0.2) 227 (0.2) 227 (0.2)
Not eligible (†) (†) 232 (0.8) 235 (1.1) 244 (0.3) 248 (0.2) 249 (0.2) 250 (0.3)
Unknown (†) (†) 231 (2.8) 237 (1.6) 241 (0.7) 244 (0.7) 246 (0.9) 246 (1.1)
                               
Control of school                                
Public 212 (1.1) 219 (0.8) 222 (1.1) 224 (1.0) 234 (0.2) 237 (0.2) 239 (0.2) 239 (0.2)
Private 224 (2.6) 228 (1.1) 235 (1.9) 238 (0.8) 244 (0.7) 246 (0.8) (†) 246 (0.8)
                               
Amount of math homework assigned
   per day
                               
None (†) (†) 227 (5.4) 227 (2.4) 234 (1.0) (†) 236 (0.9) 236 (0.9)
15 minutes (†) (†) 227 (1.6) 229 (1.2) 237 (0.4) (†) 242 (0.2) 242 (0.3)
30 minutes (†) (†) 223 (1.9) 225 (1.4) 234 (0.4) (†) 239 (0.3) 239 (0.4)
45 minutes (†) (†) 217 (4.7) 214 (2.7) 229 (1.2) (†) 233 (0.9) 235 (1.0)
1 hour (†) (†) (†) 225 (4.7) 225 (2.2) (†) 233 (2.5) 228 (3.0)
More than 1 hour (†) (†) (†) (†) 217 (3.0) (†) 233 (4.4) 222 (5.9)
                               
8th-graders, all students 263 (1.3) 268 (0.9) 270 (0.9) 273 (0.8) 278 (0.3) 279 (0.2) 281 (0.3) 283 (0.3)
Sex                                
Male 263 (1.6) 268 (1.1) 271 (1.1) 274 (0.9) 278 (0.3) 280 (0.2) 282 (0.3) 284 (0.3)
Female 262 (1.3) 269 (1.0) 269 (1.1) 272 (0.9) 277 (0.3) 278 (0.2) 280 (0.3) 282 (0.4)
                               
Race/ethnicity                                
White 270 (1.3) 277 (1.0) 281 (1.1) 284 (0.8) 288 (0.3) 289 (0.2) 291 (0.3) 293 (0.3)
Black 237 (2.7) 237 (1.3) 240 (1.9) 244 (1.2) 252 (0.5) 255 (0.4) 260 (0.4) 261 (0.5)
Hispanic 246 (4.3) 249 (1.2) 251 (1.7) 253 (1.3) 259 (0.6) 262 (0.4) 265 (0.4) 266 (0.6)
Asian/Pacific Islander 275 (5.0) 290 (5.9) (†) 288 (3.5) 291 (1.3) 295 (0.9) 297 (0.9) 301 (1.2)
American Indian/Alaska Native (†) (†) (†) 259 (7.5) 263 (1.8) 264 (0.9) 264 (1.2) 266 (1.1)
                               
Eligibility for free or reduced-
   price lunch
                               
Eligible (†) (†) 250 (1.7) 253 (1.1) 259 (0.4) 262 (0.3) 265 (0.3) 266 (0.3)
Not eligible (†) (†) 277 (1.3) 283 (1.1) 287 (0.3) 288 (0.2) 291 (0.3) 294 (0.3)
Unknown (†) (†) 279 (2.3) 276 (1.6) 285 (1.0) 289 (1.2) 291 (1.7) 295 (1.4)
                               
Parents' highest level of education                                
Did not finish high school 242 (2.0) 249 (1.7) 250 (2.0) 253 (1.4) 257 (0.6) 259 (0.5) 263 (0.5) 265 (0.6)
Graduated high school 255 (1.6) 257 (1.2) 260 (1.3) 261 (1.0) 267 (0.4) 267 (0.3) 270 (0.4) 270 (0.5)
Some education after high school 267 (1.6) 271 (1.1) 277 (1.2) 277 (1.1) 280 (0.4) 280 (0.3) 283 (0.4) 284 (0.4)
Graduated college 274 (1.5) 281 (1.2) 281 (1.2) 286 (1.0) 288 (0.3) 290 (0.2) 292 (0.3) 295 (0.3)
                               
Control of school                                
Public 262 (1.4) 267 (1.0) 269 (1.0) 272 (0.9) 276 (0.3) 278 (0.2) 280 (0.3) 282 (0.3)
Private 271 (2.5) 281 (2.2) 285 (1.8) 286 (1.2) 292 (1.2) (†) 293 (1.3) 296 (1.2)
                               
Amount of math homework assigned
   per day
                               
None (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 263 (2.0)
Less than 1 hour (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 284 (0.3)
About 1 hour (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 284 (0.8)
About 2-3 hours (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 274 (3.0)
More than 3 hours (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 269 (5.0)
                               
12th-graders, all students 294 (1.1) 299 (0.9) 302 (1.0) 300 (1.0) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Sex                                
Male 297 (1.4) 301 (1.1) 303 (1.2) 302 (1.2) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Female 291 (1.3) 298 (1.0) 300 (1.2) 299 (1.0) (†) (†) (†) (†)
                               
Race/ethnicity                                
White 300 (1.2) 305 (0.9) 309 (1.2) 307 (1.1) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Black 268 (2.0) 275 (1.8) 275 (1.6) 273 (2.0) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Hispanic 276 (3.8) 286 (1.6) 284 (2.2) 282 (2.0) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Asian/Pacific Islander 311 (5.2) 312 (4.2) 305 (2.7) 315 (4.2) (†) (†) (†) (†)
American Indian/Alaska Native (†) (†) (†) 294 (5.0) (†) (†) (†) (†)
                               
Eligibility for free or reduced-
   price lunch
                               
Eligible (†) (†) 280 (1.7) 279 (1.7) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Not eligible (†) (†) 306 (1.2) 304 (1.5) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Unknown (†) (†) 303 (2.4) 303 (1.7) (†) (†) (†) (†)
                               
Parents' highest level of education                                
Did not finish high school 272 (2.1) 278 (1.7) 280 (2.0) 278 (1.6) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Graduated high school 283 (2.0) 288 (1.4) 290 (1.0) 287 (1.3) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Some education after high school 297 (1.2) 299 (1.0) 302 (0.9) 299 (1.2) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Graduated college 306 (1.6) 311 (1.2) 313 (1.3) 312 (1.3) (†) (†) (†) (†)
                               
Control of school                                
Public 294 (1.2) 297 (1.0) 301 (1.1) 299 (1.1) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Private 300 (3.6) 314 (2.3) 310 (2.6) 315 (1.1) (†) (†) (†) (†)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met.
1 Accommodations were not permitted for this assessment.
NOTE: Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Includes public and private schools. Excludes persons not enrolled in school and students who were unable to be tested due to limited proficiency in English or due to a disability. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. 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), 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009 Mathematics Assessments, retrieved September 2, 2009, and November 18, 2009, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared November 2009.)

2009 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest