Percentage of students, by writing achievement level and school-reported race/ethnicity, grade 12: 1998 and 2002

		Below Basic	At Basic	At Proficient	At Advanced	At or above Basic	At or above Proficient
Grade 12
White	1998	17 *	57 *	25	1 *	83 *	26
	2002	21	51	25	2	79	28
Black	1998	36	56 *	8	#	64	8
	2002	41	50	8	#	59	9
Hispanic	1998	34	56	10	#	66	10
	2002	36	51	12	1	64	13
Asian/Pacific Islander	1998	24	53	21	1	76	23
	2002	24	50	23	3	76	25
American Indian/Alaska Native	1998	42	47	10	#	58	11
	2002	***	***	***	***	***	***
Other	1998	18	47	34	1	82	35
	2002	33	45	19	3	67	22

# Percentage rounds to zero.
* Significantly different from 2002.
*** Quality control activities and special analysis raised concerns about the accuracy and precision of grade 12 American Indian/Alaska Native data in 2002. As a result, they are omitted.
NOTE: NAEP reports assessment results in terms of student performance standards called "achievement levels," which are set by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB). The three levels for each grade are Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. See more information about the writing achievement levels.
Percentages within each writing achievement level range may not add to 100, or to the exact percentages at or above achievement levels, due to rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1998 and 2002 Writing Assessments.

Major Findings

• The percentage of White twelfth-graders at or above Basic declined from 1998 to 2002.

See the national writing achievement level results by race/ethnicity for grade 4 and grade 8.

Return to national subgroup results page.

Return to main results.

---

Last updated 10 July 2003 (JBJ)