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| 2012 Tables and Figures | All Years of Tables and Figures | Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest |
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| Table 151. | Average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing scale score of 8th- and 12th-graders, standard deviation, and percentage of students attaining writing achievement levels, by selected student and school characteristics and percentile: 2011 |
| [Standard errors appear in parentheses] | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selected student or school characteristic | 8th-graders | 12th-graders | ||||||||||||||
| Total, all students | Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch | Total, all students | Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch | |||||||||||||
| Eligible | Not eligible | Unknown | Eligible | Not eligible | Unknown | |||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||||||||
| Average writing scale score1 | ||||||||||||||||
| All students | 150 | (0.7) | 134 | (0.6) | 161 | (0.8) | 163 | (2.2) | 150 | (0.5) | 133 | (0.7) | 157 | (0.6) | 167 | (1.7) |
| Sex | ||||||||||||||||
| Male | 140 | (0.7) | 125 | (0.7) | 151 | (0.9) | 154 | (2.6) | 143 | (0.6) | 126 | (0.8) | 150 | (0.6) | 162 | (1.9) |
| Female | 160 | (0.7) | 144 | (0.6) | 171 | (0.8) | 171 | (2.5) | 157 | (0.6) | 140 | (0.7) | 165 | (0.6) | 173 | (1.9) |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||||||||||||||
| White | 158 | (0.8) | 142 | (0.8) | 163 | (0.9) | 166 | (2.3) | 159 | (0.7) | 144 | (1.0) | 161 | (0.7) | 172 | (1.6) |
| Black | 132 | (1.1) | 127 | (1.1) | 145 | (1.4) | 140 | (4.6) | 130 | (1.0) | 124 | (1.1) | 140 | (1.2) | 148 | (3.6) |
| Hispanic | 136 | (0.7) | 130 | (0.8) | 150 | (1.0) | 150 | (5.4) | 134 | (0.7) | 128 | (0.8) | 142 | (1.0) | 149 | (3.6) |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 163 | (2.4) | 146 | (2.8) | 171 | (2.4) | 175 | (4.0) | 158 | (1.6) | 146 | (2.3) | 163 | (2.0) | 162 | (4.9) |
| Asian | 165 | (2.0) | 148 | (2.7) | 172 | (2.2) | 175 | (4.0) | 158 | (1.5) | 146 | (2.5) | 164 | (1.7) | 162 | (5.0) |
| Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | 141 | (6.3) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) | 144 | (6.0) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 145 | (4.0) | 139 | (4.3) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) | 145 | (3.5) | 135 | (4.4) | 153 | (4.4) | ‡ | (†) |
| Two or more races | 155 | (1.9) | 141 | (2.3) | 165 | (2.5) | ‡ | (†) | 158 | (2.3) | 137 | (4.2) | 163 | (2.8) | ‡ | (†) |
| Parents' highest level of education | ||||||||||||||||
| Did not finish high school | 133 | (1.0) | 131 | (1.0) | 142 | (2.0) | ‡ | (†) | 129 | (0.9) | 127 | (1.0) | 135 | (1.6) | ‡ | (†) |
| Graduated high school | 138 | (0.8) | 131 | (0.8) | 149 | (1.3) | 146 | (4.4) | 138 | (0.7) | 131 | (1.0) | 145 | (0.9) | 153 | (3.5) |
| Some education after high school | 150 | (0.9) | 143 | (0.9) | 158 | (1.2) | 155 | (3.8) | 149 | (0.5) | 140 | (0.9) | 155 | (0.6) | 158 | (2.2) |
| Graduated college | 160 | (0.8) | 141 | (0.8) | 166 | (0.9) | 167 | (2.3) | 160 | (0.7) | 139 | (1.1) | 164 | (0.7) | 173 | (1.5) |
| Student's attitude and experience | ||||||||||||||||
| Agreed or strongly agreed that "Writing is one of my favorite activities" |
157 | (0.8) | 141 | (0.8) | 170 | (0.9) | 172 | (2.5) | 157 | (0.6) | 139 | (0.8) | 165 | (0.6) | 175 | (2.0) |
| Uses a computer for writing school assign- ments once or twice a week |
157 | (0.9) | 140 | (0.7) | 168 | (1.2) | 169 | (2.9) | 154 | (0.6) | 136 | (0.8) | 161 | (0.7) | 167 | (1.4) |
| School locale | ||||||||||||||||
| City | 144 | (1.2) | 130 | (1.0) | 160 | (1.4) | 164 | (4.3) | 146 | (1.0) | 131 | (0.8) | 156 | (1.2) | 168 | (2.5) |
| Suburban | 155 | (1.3) | 137 | (1.0) | 165 | (1.3) | 164 | (4.4) | 154 | (0.9) | 135 | (1.1) | 160 | (0.9) | 167 | (2.1) |
| Town | 148 | (1.1) | 137 | (1.3) | 156 | (1.3) | 157 | (3.8) | 149 | (2.0) | 134 | (3.1) | 156 | (1.8) | ‡ | (†) |
| Rural | 150 | (1.4) | 137 | (1.5) | 158 | (1.3) | 158 | (5.3) | 149 | (1.1) | 135 | (1.5) | 154 | (1.0) | 164 | (5.4) |
| Percentile2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 10th | 104 | (1.0) | 92 | (1.1) | 119 | (1.1) | 121 | (3.8) | 104 | (0.9) | 90 | (0.9) | 114 | (1.1) | 126 | (4.6) |
| 25th | 127 | (0.8) | 113 | (0.6) | 140 | (1.0) | 142 | (2.6) | 127 | (0.8) | 111 | (0.9) | 136 | (0.8) | 149 | (2.3) |
| 50th | 151 | (0.8) | 135 | (0.6) | 163 | (0.9) | 163 | (2.6) | 152 | (0.7) | 135 | (1.1) | 159 | (0.8) | 170 | (2.2) |
| 75th | 175 | (0.7) | 157 | (0.8) | 184 | (1.1) | 185 | (2.6) | 175 | (0.6) | 156 | (0.6) | 180 | (0.5) | 189 | (1.7) |
| 90th | 194 | (0.9) | 176 | (0.9) | 201 | (1.4) | 203 | (3.5) | 194 | (0.7) | 176 | (0.8) | 198 | (0.8) | 205 | (3.2) |
| Standard deviation of the writing scale score3 | ||||||||||||||||
| All students | 35 | (0.3) | 33 | (0.3) | 32 | (0.3) | 32 | (1.1) | 35 | (0.3) | 33 | (0.3) | 33 | (0.3) | 31 | (0.9) |
| Percent of students attaining writing achievement levels | ||||||||||||||||
| Achievement level | ||||||||||||||||
| Below Basic4 | 20 | (0.6) | 32 | (0.8) | 10 | (0.6) | 10 | (1.6) | 21 | (0.6) | 36 | (0.9) | 14 | (0.5) | 9 | (1.3) |
| At or above Basic | 80 | (0.6) | 68 | (0.8) | 90 | (0.6) | 90 | (1.6) | 79 | (0.6) | 64 | (0.9) | 86 | (0.5) | 91 | (1.3) |
| At or above Basic by race/ethnicity | ||||||||||||||||
| White | 87 | (0.6) | 76 | (1.1) | 91 | (0.6) | 94 | (1.6) | 87 | (0.6) | 76 | (1.2) | 88 | (0.6) | 95 | (1.1) |
| Black | 65 | (1.7) | 59 | (1.7) | 79 | (2.1) | 74 | (6.4) | 61 | (1.5) | 54 | (1.7) | 71 | (1.9) | 82 | (3.9) |
| Hispanic | 69 | (0.9) | 63 | (1.1) | 82 | (1.2) | 80 | (5.4) | 65 | (0.9) | 59 | (1.1) | 74 | (1.4) | 79 | (4.7) |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 88 | (2.3) | 76 | (3.4) | 93 | (1.8) | 96 | (2.1) | 85 | (1.4) | 78 | (2.7) | 89 | (1.4) | 83 | (4.4) |
| Asian | 89 | (1.9) | 79 | (3.0) | 94 | (1.7) | 95 | (2.2) | 85 | (1.4) | 78 | (2.9) | 89 | (1.3) | 83 | (4.4) |
| Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | 70 | (7.3) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) | 78 | (5.0) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 78 | (4.7) | 74 | (6.6) | ‡ | (†) | ‡ | (†) | 76 | (4.3) | 66 | (7.2) | 84 | (5.0) | ‡ | (†) |
| Two or more races | 87 | (1.7) | 79 | (3.9) | 92 | (1.9) | ‡ | (†) | 86 | (2.7) | 70 | (7.1) | 90 | (3.1) | ‡ | (†) |
| At or above Proficient5 | 27 | (0.7) | 12 | (0.4) | 37 | (1.0) | 39 | (2.9) | 27 | (0.6) | 12 | (0.5) | 33 | (0.7) | 46 | (2.3) |
| At Advanced6 | 3 | (0.2) | 1 | (0.1) | 5 | (0.4) | 5 | (1.2) | 3 | (0.2) | 1 | (0.1) | 4 | (0.3) | 7 | (1.2) |
| †Not applicable. | ||||||||||||||||
| ‡Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate). | ||||||||||||||||
| 1 Scale ranges from 0 to 300. | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 The percentile represents a specific point on the percentage distribution of all students ranked by their Writing score from low to high. For example, 10 percent of students scored at or below the 10th percentile score, while 90 percent of students scored above it. | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 The standard deviation provides an indication of how much the test scores varied. The lower the standard deviation, the closer the scores were clustered around the average score. About two-thirds of the student scores can be expected to fall within the range of one standard deviation above and one standard deviation below the average score. For example, the average score for all 12th-graders was 150 and the standard deviation was 35. This means that we would expect about two-thirds of the students to have scores between 185 (one standard deviation above the average) and 115 (one standard deviation below). Standard errors also must be taken into account when making comparisons of these ranges. | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 Basic denotes partial mastery of the knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work. | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 Proficient represents solid academic performance. Students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter. | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 Advanced signifies superior performance. | ||||||||||||||||
| NOTE: Writing scores from 2011 cannot be compared with Writing scores from earlier assessment years. The 2011 writing assessment was developed under a new framework and is NAEP’s first computer-based writing assessment. Includes public and private schools. Includes students tested with accommodations (8 percent of all 8th-graders and 7 percent of all 12th-graders); excludes only those students with disabilities and English language learners who were unable to be tested even with accommodations (2 percent of all students at both grades). Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. | ||||||||||||||||
| SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2011 Writing Assessment, retrieved October 1, 2012, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared October 2012.) |
