Percentage of students, by writing achievement level and type of school, grades 4, 8, and 12: 1998 and 2002

			Below Basic	At Basic	At Proficient	At Advanced	At or above Basic	At or above Proficient
Grade 4
Public		1998	17 *	61 *	20 *	1 *	83 *	22 *
		2002	15	59	25	2	85	27
Nonpublic		1998	7	58	33	2	93	35
		2002	6	56	36	3	94	39
Nonpublic: Catholic		1998	6	60	33	2	94	34
		2002	5	57	35	2	95	38
Nonpublic: Other		1998	7	55	35	3	93	38
		2002	6	54	37	3	94	40
Grade 8
Public		1998	17	59 *	23 *	1 *	83	24 *
		2002	16	54	28	2	84	30
Nonpublic		1998	4	52 *	41	3 *	96	44
		2002	5	48	43	4	95	47
Nonpublic: Catholic		1998	3	51	43	2	97	46
		2002	3	48	45	4	97	49
Nonpublic: Other		1998	5	53	39	3	95	42
		2002	6	48	41	4	94	45
Grade 12
Public		1998	23 *	57 *	19	1 *	77 *	20
		2002	27	51	20	2	73	22
Nonpublic		1998	10	55	33	2 *	90	35
		2002	11	50	36	4	89	40
Nonpublic: Catholic		1998	9	54	35	2	91	37
		2002	***	***	***	***	***	***
Nonpublic: Other		1998	14	56	29	2	86	30
		2002	***	***	***	***	***	***

* Significantly different from 2002.
*** Participation rates for Catholic and Other nonpublic school students at grade 12 did not meet the minimum criterion for reporting.
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 Finding

• The percentages of fourth-grade public-school students at or above Basic, at or above Proficient, and at Advanced increased between 1998 and 2002.
• At grade 8, the percentage of public-school students at or above Proficient increased between 1998 and 2002.
• At grade 12, the percentage of public school students at or above Basic decreased.

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Last updated 10 July 2003 (JBJ)