Overview   NAEP Activities   National   State   Long-Term Trend   Selected Schools   HS Transcript Study   Special Studies   NAEP Technical   Documentation   Parents   Researchers   Media   Educators

The Arts   Civics   Economics   Foreign Language   Geography   Mathematics    Reading   Science   U.S. History   World History   Writing

Percentage of students, by reading achievement level and race/ethnicity, grade 4: 1992–2003

				Below Basic		At Basic		At Proficient		At Advanced		At or above Basic		At or above Proficient
Grade 4
White
	Accommodations not permitted	1992		29	*	36		27	*	8	*	71	*	35	*
		1994		30	*	34		27	*	9		70	*	36	*
		1998		28	*	34		29		9		72	*	38	*
		2000		28	*	33		29		10		72	*	39
	Accommodations permitted	1998		30	*	33		28		9		70	*	37	*
		2000		30	*	32		28		9		70	*	38
		2002		25		35		31		10		75		41
		2003		25		34		30		11		75		41
Black
	Accommodations not permitted	1992		68	*	24		8	*	1	*	32	*	8	*
		1994		70	*	21		7	*	1		30	*	8	*
		1998		65	*	25		9		1		35	*	10	*
		2000		65	*	24		10		1		35	*	11
	Accommodations permitted	1998		64	*	25		9		1		36	*	10
		2000		65	*	25		9		1		35	*	10
		2002		60		28		11		2		40		12
		2003		60		27		11		2		40		13
Hispanic
	Accommodations not permitted	1992		61		28		10		2		39		12
		1994		66	*	22		9		3		34	*	12
		1998		62		26		10		2		38		13
		2000		59		26		12		2		41		15
	Accommodations permitted	1998		63		24		11		2		37		13
		2000		63		25		11		1	*	37		13
		2002		56		29		13		2		44		15
		2003		56		29		13		2		44		15
Asian/Pacific Islander
	Accommodations not permitted	1992		40		35		20		5	*	60		25	*
		1994		34		30		27		9		66		36
		1998		37		29		23		11		63		34
		2000		25		31		28		16		75		44
	Accommodations permitted	1998		42		28		20		10		58		30
		2000		30		30		27		14		70		41
		2002		30		33		27		10		70		37
		2003		30		32		27		12		70		38
American Indian/Alaska Native
	Accommodations not permitted	1992		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡
		1994		41		28		24		6		59		30
		1998		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡
		2000		40		38		21		1		60		22
	Accommodations permitted	1998		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡
		2000		37		35		26		2		63		28
		2002		49		29		17		5		51		22
		2003		53		31		14		2		47		16
Other1
	Accommodations not permitted	1992		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡
		1994		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡
		1998		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡
		2000		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡
	Accommodations permitted	1998		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡
		2000		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡		‡
		2002		37		33		23		7		63		30
		2003		31		35		25		8		69		34

^‡ Reporting standards not met. Sample size is insufficient to permit a reliable estimate.
* Significantly different from 2003.
¹ "Other" comprises students whose race based on school records was "other race" or, if school data was missing, who self-reported their race as "multiracial" but not "Hispanic," or did not self-report racial/ethnic information.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
Approximately 1 percent of students were classified as American Indian/Alaska Native or Other races.
In addition to allowing for accommodations, the accommodations-permitted results at grade 4 (1998–2003) differ slightly from previous years’ results, and from previously reported results for 1998 and 2000, due to changes in sample weighting procedures.
Significance tests were performed using unrounded numbers. NAEP sample sizes have increased since 2002 compared to previous years, resulting in smaller detectable differences than in previous assessments.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2003 Reading Assessments.   

Major Findings

• At grade 4, there were no significant changes detected in the percentages of students at or above the Basic and Proficient levels among any of the racial/ethnic subgroups since 2002.
• At grade 4, the percentages of White, Black, and Asian/Pacific Islander students at or above Proficient were higher in 2003 than in 1992.
• At grade 4, the percentages of White and Black students at or above Basic were higher in 2003 than in 1992.
• No significant changes were detected in the percentages of Hispanic fourth-grade students at or above Basic or Proficient in 2003 compared to either 1992 or 2002.

See the national reading achievement-level results by race/ethnicity for grade 8.

Return to national subgroup results page.

Return to main results.

---

Last updated 20 October 2003 (SW)