Trends in Average Mathematics Scale Scores by Parents' Highest Level of Education
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KEY FINDINGS
Thirteen-year olds. The average mathematics scores in 2004 were higher than 1978 regardless of students' reports of their parents' highest level of education.
Seventeen-year-olds. Average scale scores showed no statistically significant differences between 2004 and any previous assessment year for students who reported that at least one parent had graduated from high school, or had some education after high school. Students who indicated that their parents' highest level of education was less than high school scored higher in 2004 than in 1978.
Parents' education levels: Students were asked to indicate their parents' level of education by choosing from the following options: graduated from college, some education after high school, graduated from high school, and less than high school. Results are not reported at age 9 because studies have shown that the responses are less reliable at this age.
Trends in average mathematics scale scores for students ages 13 and 17, by student-reported parents' highest level of education: 1978–2004
View data with standard errors for 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, 1978–2004 Long-Term Trend Mathematics Assessments.
Graphics like these show the average scale score at each age for each year the assessment was given. Each score is plotted, and lines are drawn to connect the scores between the different years, creating trend lines. Examining the trend lines helps us see if scores appear to be increasing over time, or if there are any peaks or valleys in the 26-year trend.
