NAEP - Reading Percentiles

National Trends in Reading by Percentiles

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KEY FINDINGS

Nine-year-olds. The score at the 50th percentile—the median—was higher in 2004 than in any other assessment year. The scores at the 10th, 25th, and 75th percentiles were significantly higher in 2004 than in 1971 and 1999.
Thirteen-year-olds. At the 75th and 90th percentiles, scores in 2004 were higher than in 1971, although no significant differences were detected between the scores in 2004 and those in 1999.
Seventeen-year-olds. There were no statistically significant differences between the scores at any of the selected percentiles in 2004 and those in 1971 or 1999.

Trends in reading scale score at selected percentiles for students ages 9, 13, and 17: 1971–2004

Trends in reading scale score percentiles for students age 9: Selected years, 1971–2004

Trends in reading scale score percentiles for students age 13: Selected years, 1971–2004

Trends in reading scale score percentiles for students age 17: Selected years, 1971–2004

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

* Significantly different from 2004.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), selected years, 1971–2004 Long-Term Trend Reading Assessments.

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

See more long-term trend reading 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 reading scores for students at age 9 was 169. This means that in 2004, 10 percent of students at age 9 had NAEP reading scores below 169, while 90 percent scored at or above 169.

National Trends in Reading by Percentiles

Last updated 06 July 2005 (RF)