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Digest of Education Statistics
1995 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 105.Average student proficiency in reading, by age and selected characteristics of students: 1971 to 1992 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                     |             9-year-olds                 |             13-year-olds                |            17-year-olds\1\
Selected characteris-|_________________________________________|_________________________________________|_________________________________________
  tics of students   | 1971 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1990 | 1992 | 1971 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1990 | 1992 | 1971 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1990 | 1992
_____________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______
          1          |  2   |  3   |  4   |  5   |  6   |  7   |  8   |  9   |  10  |  11  |  12  |  13  |  14  |  15  |  16  |  17  |  18  |  19
_____________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______
  Total .............|207.6 |215.0 |210.9 |211.8 |209.2 |210.5 |255.2 |258.5 |257.1 |257.5 |256.8 |259.8 |285.2 |285.5 |288.8 |290.1 |290.2 |289.7
                     |______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______
Sex                  |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
  Male ..............|201.2 |210.0 |207.5 |207.5 |204.0 |205.9 |249.6 |254.3 |252.6 |251.8 |250.5 |254.1 |278.9 |281.8 |283.8 |286.0 |284.0 |284.2
  Female ............|213.9 |220.1 |214.2 |216.3 |214.5 |215.4 |260.8 |262.6 |261.7 |263.0 |263.1 |265.3 |291.3 |289.2 |293.9 |293.8 |296.5 |295.7
                     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
Race/ethnicity       |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
  White .............|214.0 |221.3 |218.2 |217.7 |217.0 |217.9 |260.9 |264.4 |262.6 |261.3 |262.3 |266.4 |291.4 |292.8 |295.2 |294.7 |296.6 |297.4
  Black .............|170.1 |189.3 |185.7 |188.5 |181.8 |184.5 |222.4 |232.8 |236.3 |242.9 |241.5 |237.6 |238.7 |243.1 |264.3 |274.4 |267.3 |260.6
  Hispanic ..........|(\2\) |190.2 |187.2 |193.7 |189.4 |191.7 |(\2\) |237.2 |239.6 |240.1 |237.8 |239.2 |(\2\) |261.4 |268.1 |270.8 |274.8 |271.2
                     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
Parental education   |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
  Not h.s. graduate .|188.6 |194.3 |195.1 |192.5 |192.6 |194.9 |238.4 |238.5 |240.0 |246.5 |240.8 |239.2 |261.3 |262.1 |269.4 |267.4 |269.7 |270.8
  Graduated h.s. ....|207.8 |213.0 |208.9 |210.8 |209.1 |207.4 |255.5 |253.5 |253.4 |252.7 |251.4 |252.1 |283.0 |277.5 |281.2 |282.0 |282.9 |280.5
  Post high school ..|223.9 |226.0 |222.9 |220.0 |217.7 |219.5 |270.2 |270.9 |267.6 |265.3 |266.9 |269.9 |302.2 |298.9 |301.2 |299.5 |299.9 |298.6
                     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
Control of school    |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
  Public ............|  --- |213.5 |209.4 |210.2 |207.5 |208.6 |  --- |256.9 |255.2 |256.1 |255.0 |257.2 |  --- |284.4 |287.2 |288.7 |288.6 |287.8
  Private ...........|  --- |227.0 |222.8 |223.4 |228.3 |224.7 |  --- |270.6 |271.2 |268.3 |269.7 |276.3 |  --- |298.4 |303.0 |299.6 |311.0 |309.6
                     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
Type of community    |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
  Advantaged urban ..|229.8 |232.5 |230.8 |222.4 |227.1 |233.6 |272.9 |276.8 |274.5 |266.3 |270.1 |280.8 |305.9 |300.8 |302.2 |301.0 |299.9 |302.6
  Disadvantaged urban|179.2 |187.6 |191.5 |192.0 |186.1 |183.5 |234.3 |241.6 |238.9 |239.0 |241.0 |230.9 |259.7 |258.1 |265.7 |275.0 |273.3 |266.7
  Extreme rural .....|200.2 |211.8 |201.2 |213.7 |209.4 |206.5 |247.4 |254.8 |254.9 |262.4 |251.2 |257.2 |276.8 |279.0 |282.7 |286.6 |289.9 |285.3
  Other .............|207.8 |214.5 |211.3 |211.3 |209.8 |211.6 |255.4 |257.9 |257.1 |257.3 |257.5 |261.2 |285.2 |286.6 |289.6 |288.3 |290.9 |292.6
                     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
Region               |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |
  Northeast .........|213.0 |221.1 |215.7 |215.2 |217.4 |217.6 |261.1 |260.0 |260.4 |258.6 |258.9 |264.6 |291.3 |285.9 |292.2 |294.8 |295.7 |297.3
  Southeast .........|193.9 |210.3 |204.3 |207.2 |197.4 |199.3 |244.7 |252.6 |256.4 |257.6 |255.5 |253.8 |270.5 |280.1 |284.7 |285.5 |285.1 |278.4
  Central ...........|214.9 |216.7 |215.3 |218.2 |212.7 |215.8 |260.1 |264.5 |258.8 |255.9 |257.4 |263.5 |290.7 |287.4 |290.0 |291.2 |293.5 |293.8
  West ..............|205.0 |212.8 |207.8 |207.9 |209.6 |209.3 |253.6 |256.4 |253.8 |257.9 |255.6 |257.5 |283.7 |287.3 |288.4 |289.0 |286.8 |290.4
_____________________|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______|______

\1\All participants of this age were in school.
\2\Test scores of Hispanics were not tabulated separately.
---Data not available.

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.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress, The Reading Report Card, 1971-88 and NAEP 1992 Trends in Academic Progress, by Educational Testing Service. (This table was prepared April 1994.)


1995 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest
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