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Digest of Education Statistics
1997 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 109.Student proficiency in reading, by age, amount of time spent on homework and reading habits: 1984, 1994, and 1996

________________________________________________________________________________________________    
Time spent on homework |                       |                       |
  and reading habits   |  9-year-olds          | 13-year-olds          |17-year-olds\1\
                       |_______________________|_______________________|________________________
                       | 1984  | 1994  | 1996  | 1984  | 1994  | 1996  | 1984  | 1994  |  1996
_______________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|________
           1           |   2   |   3   |   4   |   5   |   6   |   7   |   8   |   9   |   10
_______________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|________
                       |        Average proficiency score
                       |________________________________________________________________________
Materials read a few   |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
 times a year or more  |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  Poems ...............|   211 |   210 |    ---|   260 |   261 |    ---|   290 |   293 |     ---
  Plays ...............|   211 |   207 |    ---|   260 |   263 |    ---|   290 |   294 |     ---
  Biographies .........|   213 |   210 |    ---|   261 |   261 |    ---|   292 |   293 |     ---
  Science books .......|   212 |   211 |    ---|   259 |   260 |    ---|   289 |   293 |     ---
  Books about other    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
   places .............|   211 |   211 |    ---|   259 |   260 |    ---|   289 |   293 |     ---
                       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
Frequency of reading   |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  for fun              |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  Daily ...............|   214 |   215 |   213 |   264 |   272 |   270 |   297 |   302 |    301
  Weekly ..............|   212 |   214 |   212 |   255 |   255 |   259 |   290 |   286 |    292
  Monthly .............|   204 |   213 |   210 |   255 |   255 |   260 |   290 |   286 |    290
  Yearly ..............|   197 |    ---|    ---|   252 |   252 |    ---|   280 |   281 |    285
  Never ...............|   198 |   193 |   199 |   239 |   237 |   238 |   269 |   258 |    269
                       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
Time spent on homework |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  each day             |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  None ................|   213 |   213 |   210 |   254 |   250 |   256 |   276 |   273 |    273
  Didn't do assignment |   199 |   200 |   195 |   247 |   243 |   251 |   287 |   285 |    281
  Less than 1 hour ....|   218 |   212 |   215 |   261 |   261 |   259 |   290 |   288 |    288
  1 to 2 hours ........|   216 |   214 |   220 |   266 |   268 |   267 |   296 |   297 |    295
  More than 2 hours ...|   201 |   193 |   198 |   265 |   270 |   269 |   303 |   306 |    307
                       |_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|________
                       |                                Percent
                       |________________________________________________________________________
Materials read a few   |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
 times a year or more  |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  Poems ...............|    70 |    62 |    60 |    68 |    79 |    80 |    76 |    85 |     80
  Plays ...............|    56 |    45 |    42 |    59 |    63 |    67 |    63 |    70 |     67
  Biographies .........|    45 |    47 |    46 |    62 |    68 |    65 |    59 |    69 |     66
  Science books .......|    84 |    87 |    83 |    90 |    92 |    90 |    70 |    84 |     82
  Books about other    |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
   places .............|    79 |    79 |    78 |    83 |    83 |    84 |    81 |    82 |     81
                       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
Frequency of reading   |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  for fun              |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  Daily ...............|    53 |    58 |    54 |    35 |    32 |    32 |    31 |    30 |     23
  Weekly ..............|    28 |    25 |    27 |    35 |    32 |    31 |    34 |    31 |     32
  Monthly .............|     7 |     5 |     8 |    14 |    14 |    15 |    17 |    15 |     17
  Yearly ..............|     3 |     3 |     3 |     7 |    10 |     9 |    10 |    12 |     12
  Never ...............|     9 |     9 |     8 |     9 |    12 |    13 |     9 |    12 |     16
                       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
Time spent on homework |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  each day             |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |
  None ................|    36 |    32 |    26 |    23 |    23 |    22 |    22 |    23 |     23
  Didn't do assignment |     4 |     5 |     4 |     4 |     6 |     5 |    11 |    11 |     13
  Less than 1 hour ....|    42 |    48 |    53 |    36 |    34 |    37 |    26 |    27 |     28
  1 to 2 hours ........|    13 |    12 |    13 |    29 |    28 |    27 |    27 |    26 |     24
  More than 2 hours ...|     6 |     4 |     4 |     9 |     9 |     8 |    13 |    13 |     11
_______________________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|________

\1\Excludes persons not enrolled in school.

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, NAEP 1996 Trends in Academic Progress, by Educational Testing Service. (This table was prepared September 1997.)



1997 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest