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Digest of Education Statistics
1998 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 109. -  Average student proficiency in reading, by age and selected characteristics of students: 1971 to 1996
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   Selected characteris-    |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
      tics of students      | 1971      | 1975      | 1980      | 1984      | 1988      | 1990      | 1992      | 1994      | 1996
____________________________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
             1              |  2        |  3        |  4        |  5        |  6        |  7        |  8        |  9        |  10
____________________________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
                            |                                    9-year-olds\1\
                            |___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Total ......................|207.6 (1.0)|210.0 (0.7)|215.0 (1.0)|210.9 (0.7)|211.8 (1.1)|209.2 (1.2)|210.5 (0.9)|211.0 (1.2)|212.4 (1.0)
                            |___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
  Male .....................|201.2 (1.1)|204.3 (0.8)|210.0 (1.1)|207.5 (0.8)|207.5 (1.4)|204.0 (1.7)|205.9 (1.3)|207.3 (1.3)|206.8 (1.5)
  Female ...................|213.9 (1.0)|215.8 (0.8)|220.1 (1.1)|214.2 (0.8)|216.3 (1.3)|214.5 (1.2)|215.4 (0.9)|214.7 (1.4)|218.0 (1.2)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Race/ethnicity              |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  White, non-Hispanic ......|214.0  0.9 |216.6 (0.7)|221.3 (0.8)|218.2 (0.8)|217.7 (1.4)|217.0 (1.3)|217.9 (1.0)|218.0 (1.3)|219.9 (1.2)
  Black, non-Hispanic ......|170.1 (1.7)|181.2 (1.2)|189.3 (1.8)|185.7 (1.1)|188.5 (2.4)|181.8 (2.9)|184.5 (2.2)|185.4 (2.3)|190.0 (2.7)
  Hispanic .................|      (\2\)|182.7 (2.2)|190.2 (2.3)|187.2 (2.1)|193.7 (3.5)|189.4 (2.3)|191.7 (3.1)|185.9 (3.9)|194.1 (3.5)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Parental education          |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Not high school graduate .|188.6 (1.5)|189.9 (1.3)|194.3 (1.6)|195.1 (1.4)|192.5 (4.9)|192.6 (3.2)|194.9 (4.5)|189.1 (4.0)|197.0 (3.6)
  Graduated high school ....|207.8 (1.2)|211.3 (0.9)|213.0 (1.3)|208.9 (1.0)|210.8 (2.2)|209.1 (1.8)|207.4 (1.5)|207.1 (2.6)|207.0 (2.1)
  Post high school .........|223.9 (1.1)|221.5 (0.9)|226.0 (1.1)|222.9 (0.9)|220.0 (1.7)|217.7 (2.0)|219.5 (1.4)|221.0 (1.3)|220.0 (1.4)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Control of school           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Public ...................|  ---  --- |  ---  --- |213.5 (1.1)|209.4 (0.8)|210.2 (1.2)|207.5 (1.4)|208.6 (1.0)|209.4 (1.4)|210.0 (1.1)
  Private ..................|  ---  --- |  ---  --- |227.0 (1.8)|222.8 (1.6)|223.4 (3.0)|228.3 (3.3)|224.7 (2.3)|225.0 (2.7)|227.0 (3.1)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Region                      |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Northeast ................|213.0 (1.7)|214.8 (1.3)|221.1 (2.1)|215.7 (1.7)|215.2 (2.6)|217.4 (2.2)|217.6 (2.6)|217.4 (2.9)|220.0 (1.9)
  Southeast ................|193.9 (2.9)|201.1 (1.2)|210.3 (2.3)|204.3 (1.6)|207.2 (2.1)|197.4 (3.2)|199.3 (2.0)|208.4 (3.0)|206.0 (2.9)
  Central ..................|214.9 (1.2)|215.5 (1.2)|216.7 (1.4)|215.3 (1.5)|218.2 (2.2)|212.7 (2.0)|215.8 (1.6)|214.3 (2.3)|215.0 (2.7)
  West .....................|205.0 (2.0)|207.0 (2.0)|212.8 (1.8)|207.8 (1.5)|207.9 (2.6)|209.6 (2.8)|209.3 (2.3)|205.1 (2.8)|210.0 (2.0)
                            |___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
                            |                                    13-year-olds\1\
                            |___________ ___________ ___________ _______________________________________________________________________
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Total ......................|255.2 (0.9)|255.9 (0.8)|258.5 (0.9)|257.1 (0.5)|257.5 (1.0)|256.8 (0.8)|259.8 (1.2)|257.9 (0.9)|259.1 (0.9)
                            |___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
  Male .....................|249.6 (1.0)|249.6 (0.8)|254.3 (1.1)|252.6 (0.6)|251.8 (1.3)|250.5 (1.1)|254.1 (1.7)|250.6 (1.2)|252.5 (1.2)
  Female ...................|260.8 (0.9)|262.3 (0.9)|262.6 (0.9)|261.7 (0.6)|263.0 (1.0)|263.1 (1.1)|265.3 (1.2)|265.7 (1.2)|265.4 (1.2)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Race/ethnicity              |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  White, non-Hispanic ......|260.9 (0.7)|262.1 (0.7)|264.4 (0.7)|262.6 (0.6)|261.3 (1.1)|262.3 (0.9)|266.4 (1.2)|265.1 (1.1)|267.0 (1.0)
  Black, non-Hispanic ......|222.4 (1.2)|225.7 (1.2)|232.8 (1.5)|236.3 (1.0)|242.9 (2.4)|241.5 (2.2)|237.6 (2.3)|234.3 (2.4)|235.6 (2.6)
  Hispanic .................|      (\2\)|232.5 (3.0)|237.2 (2.0)|239.6 (1.7)|240.1 (3.5)|237.8 (2.3)|239.2 (3.5)|235.1 (1.9)|239.9 (2.9)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Parental education          |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Not high school graduate .|238.4 (1.3)|238.7 (1.2)|238.5 (1.1)|240.0 (0.9)|246.5 (2.1)|240.8 (1.8)|239.2 (2.6)|236.7 (2.4)|241.0 (2.7)
  Graduated high school ....|255.5 (0.8)|254.6 (0.7)|253.5 (0.9)|253.4 (0.7)|252.7 (1.2)|251.4 (0.9)|252.1 (1.7)|251.4 (1.4)|252.0 (1.4)
  Post high school .........|270.2 (0.8)|269.8 (0.8)|270.9 (0.8)|267.6 (0.7)|265.3 (1.4)|266.9 (1.0)|269.9 (1.4)|268.5 (1.2)|270.0 (1.2)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Control of school           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Public ...................|  ---  --- |  ---  --- |256.9 (1.1)|255.2 (0.6)|256.1 (1.0)|255.0 (0.8)|257.2 (1.3)|255.6 (1.0)|257.0 (1.1)
  Private ..................|  ---  --- |  ---  --- |270.6 (1.5)|271.2 (1.7)|268.3 (2.8)|269.7 (2.9)|276.3 (2.6)|275.8 (3.4)|274.0 (3.3)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Region                      |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Northeast ................|261.1 (2.0)|258.5 (1.8)|260.0 (1.8)|260.4 (0.6)|258.6 (2.4)|258.9 (1.8)|264.6 (3.2)|269.0 (2.0)|261.0 (2.5)
  Southeast ................|244.7 (1.7)|249.3 (1.5)|252.6 (1.6)|256.4 (1.5)|257.6 (2.2)|255.5 (2.2)|253.8 (2.5)|252.7 (2.5)|252.0 (3.2)
  Central ..................|260.1 (1.8)|261.5 (1.4)|264.5 (1.4)|258.8 (1.0)|255.9 (2.0)|257.4 (1.5)|263.5 (3.0)|259.3 (3.3)|268.0 (1.8)
  West .....................|253.6 (1.3)|253.2 (1.7)|256.4 (2.0)|253.8 (0.9)|257.9 (2.1)|255.6 (1.6)|257.5 (1.6)|252.9 (2.1)|258.0 (1.7)
                            |___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
                            |                                    17-year-olds\1\
                            |_______________________ ___________ _______________________________________________________________________
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Total ......................|285.2 (1.2)|285.6 (0.8)|285.5 (1.2)|288.8 (0.6)|290.1 (1.0)|290.2 (1.1)|289.7 (1.1)|288.1 (1.3)|286.9 (1.1)
                            |___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
  Male .....................|278.9 (1.2)|279.7 (1.0)|281.8 (1.3)|283.8 (0.6)|286.0 (1.5)|284.0 (1.6)|284.2 (1.6)|281.7 (2.2)|279.9 (1.3)
  Female ...................|291.3 (1.3)|291.2 (1.0)|289.2 (1.2)|293.9 (0.8)|293.8 (1.5)|296.5 (1.2)|295.7 (1.1)|294.7 (1.5)|294.4 (1.2)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Race/ethnicity              |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  White, non-Hispanic ......|291.4 (1.0)|293.0 (0.6)|292.8 (0.9)|295.2 (0.7)|294.7 (1.2)|296.6 (1.2)|297.4 (1.4)|295.7 (1.5)|294.4 (1.2)
  Black, non-Hispanic ......|238.7 (1.7)|240.6 (2.0)|243.1 (1.8)|264.3 (1.0)|274.4 (2.4)|267.3 (2.3)|260.6 (2.1)|266.2 (3.9)|265.4 (2.7)
  Hispanic .................|(\2\)  --- |252.4 (3.6)|261.4 (2.7)|268.1 (2.2)|270.8 (4.3)|274.8 (3.6)|271.2 (3.7)|263.2 (4.9)|264.7 (4.1)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Parental education          |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Not high school graduate .|261.3 (1.5)|262.5 (1.3)|262.1 (1.5)|269.4 (1.1)|267.4 (2.0)|269.7 (2.8)|270.8 (3.9)|267.9 (2.7)|267.0 (3.2)
  Graduated high school ....|283.0 (1.2)|281.4 (1.1)|277.5 (1.0)|281.2 (0.7)|282.0 (1.3)|282.9 (1.4)|280.5 (1.6)|276.1 (1.9)|273.0 (1.7)
  Post high school .........|302.2 (1.0)|300.6 (0.7)|298.9 (1.0)|301.2 (0.7)|299.5 (1.3)|299.9 (1.1)|298.6 (1.4)|298.5 (1.4)|297.0 (1.2)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Control of school           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Public ...................|  ---  --- |  ---  --- |284.4 (1.2)|287.2 (0.6)|288.7 (1.0)|288.6 (1.1)|287.8 (1.0)|286.0 (1.5)|286.0 (1.1)
  Private ..................|  ---  --- |  ---  --- |298.4 (2.7)|303.0 (2.0)|299.6 (3.8)|311.0 (4.2)|309.6 (4.2)|306.1 (5.8)|294.0 (5.7)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Region                      |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Northeast ................|291.3 (2.8)|289.1 (1.7)|285.9 (2.4)|292.2 (1.9)|294.8 (2.9)|295.7 (1.8)|297.3 (3.2)|296.8 (4.2)|291.0 (2.8)
  Southeast ................|270.5 (2.4)|276.5 (1.4)|280.1 (2.2)|284.7 (1.6)|285.5 (2.1)|285.1 (2.5)|278.4 (2.9)|283.5 (2.8)|279.0 (2.6)
  Central ..................|290.7 (2.1)|291.8 (1.4)|287.4 (2.2)|290.0 (1.4)|291.2 (1.9)|293.5 (2.4)|293.8 (2.1)|285.7 (3.7)|292.0 (2.1)
  West .....................|283.7 (1.8)|281.6 (1.9)|287.3 (2.1)|288.4 (1.1)|289.0 (1.8)|286.8 (2.6)|290.4 (2.3)|287.8 (2.8)|286.0 (2.4)
____________________________|_______________________|_______________________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________

\1\Excludes persons not enrolled 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. Standard errors appear in parentheses.

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 October 1998.)


1998 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest