NAEP - Mathematics Percentiles

National Trends in Mathematics by Percentiles

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KEY FINDINGS

At all three ages. Scores at the 10th, 25th, and 50th percentiles were higher in 2004 than in 1978.
Nine-year-olds. Students at each of the five selected percentiles had higher scores in 2004 than in any other assessment year.
Thirteen-year-olds. The scores at each of the five percentiles were higher in 2004 than in every previous assessment year, with the exception of the 10th percentile, where the score in 2004 was not significantly different from the score in 1999.
Seventeen-year-olds. Scores at the 10th, 25th, and 50th percentiles were higher in 2004 than in 1978. The scores for students at the 75th and 90th percentiles in 2004 were not significantly different from the scores in 1978.

Trends in mathematics scale score at selected percentiles for students ages 9, 13, and 17: 1978–2004

Trends in mathematics scale score percentiles for students age 9: Selected years, 1978–2004

Trends in mathematics scale score percentiles for students age 13: Selected years, 1978–2004

Trends in mathematics scale score percentiles for students age 17: Selected years, 1978–2004

View data with standard errors for age 9, age 13, and age 17.

* Significantly different from 2004.

NOTE: Mathematics scores at selected percentiles are not available in 1973 because only the overall average scores were extrapolated for this year.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), selected years, 1978–2004 Long-Term Trend Mathematics Assessments.

View the trends in percentages of students at or above mathematics performance levels.

See more long-term trend mathematics results.

Return to long-term trend results.

Graphics like these show the score at each percentile for five selected percentiles. Looking at the five trend lines together, we can see if more improvement took place at the upper end or at the lower end, or if the trend lines look the same at all five levels. A percentile is a score location below which a specified percentage of the population falls. For example, in 2004, the tenth percentile of mathematics scores for students at age 9 was 197. This means that in 2004, 10 percent of students at age 9 had NAEP mathematics scores below 197, while 90 percent scored at or above 197.

National Trends in Mathematics by Percentiles

Last updated 07 July 2005 (RF)