Percentage of students by reading achievement level, grades 4 and 8 public schools: By urban district, 2002 and 2003
Below Basic
At or above Basic
At or above Proficient
At Advanced
Grade 4
2002
2003
2002
2003
2002
2003
2002
2003
Nation (Public)
38
38
62
62
30
30
6***
7
Large central city (Public)
55***
52**
45***
48**
17***
20**
3***
5**
Atlanta
65
63*,**
35
37*,**
12
14**
3
4**
Boston
—
52**
—
48**
—
16*,**
—
2*,**
Charlotte
—
36*
—
64*
—
31*
—
8*
Chicago
66***
60*,**
34***
40*,**
11***
14*,**
2
3*,**
Cleveland
—
65*,**
—
35*,**
—
9*,**
—
1*,**
District of Columbia
69
69*,**
31
31*,**
10
10*,**
2***
3*,**
Houston
52
52**
48
48**
18
18**
3
3**
Los Angeles
67
65*,**
33
35*,**
11
11*,**
2
2*,**
New York City
53
47*,**
47
53*,**
19
22**
5
4**
San Diego
—
49**
—
51**
—
22**
—
5**
Grade 8
Nation (Public)
26***
28
74***
72
31
30
2
3
Large central city (Public)
40
41**
60
59**
20
19**
1
1**
Atlanta
58
53*,**
42
47*,**
8***
11*,**
#
#
Boston
—
39**
—
61**
—
22*,**
—
2*
Charlotte
—
29*
—
71*
—
30*
—
3*
Chicago
38
41**
62
59**
15
15*,**
1
1**
Cleveland
—
52*,**
—
48*,**
—
10*,**
—
#*,**
District of Columbia
52
53*,**
48
47*,**
10
10*,**
#
1**
Houston
41
45**
59
55**
17
14*,**
1
1**
Los Angeles
56
57*,**
44
43*,**
10
11*,**
#
1*,**
New York City
—
38**
—
62**
—
22**
—
2
San Diego
—
40**
—
60**
—
20**
—
2**
— Not available.
# The estimate rounds to zero.
* Significantly different from large central city public schools.
** Significantly different from nation (public schools).
*** Significantly different from 2003.
NOTE: NAEP sample sizes increased since 2002 compared to previous years, resulting in smaller detectable differences than in previous assessments.
Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Significance tests were performed using unrounded numbers.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2002 and 2003 Trial Urban District Reading Assessments.
View complete large central city data with standard errors at grade 4 and grade 8.
View complete data with standard errors for the assessed urban districts at grade 4 and grade 8.
Major Findings
In order to provide a context for the data collected in the 2003 TUDA, results are presented for students attending public schools in the nation as a whole, as well as for public schools located in large central cities across the nation. "Urban districts" refers to the ten districts reported in this trial study. Eight of the ten urban districts consist entirely of schools in cities with a population of 250,000 or more (i.e., large central cities as defined by NCES); two of them (Charlotte and Los Angeles) consist primarily of schools in large central cities, but also have from one-quarter to one-third of their fourth- and eighth-grade students enrolled in surrounding urban fringe or rural areas. All of the data for both districts were used to compare with data from large central cities and the nation.
Among the districts that participated in both 2002 and 2003, the percentages of students at or above Proficient were found to be significantly higher in 2003 for students in Chicago at grade 4, and for students in Atlanta at grade 8.
In all other participating districts, the percentages at or above Proficient were not found to differ from 2002 to 2003.
The percentages at or above Proficient for public-school students nationally were not found to differ significantly in 2002 from the corresponding percentages in 2003 at either grade 4 or grade 8.
At grade 4, the percentage of students at or above Proficient in large central city public schools was found to be significantly higher in 2003 than in 2002.
At grades 4 and 8, the percentage of students at or above Proficient in all urban districts was lower than that for the nation, except for Charlotte where the percentage of students at or above Proficient was not significantly different from that of the nation.
