The writing performance of 4th- and 8th-graders improved between 1998 and 2002. Twenty-eight percent of 4th-graders, 31 percent of 8th-graders, and 24 percent of 12th-graders performed at or above the Proficient level in 2002.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessed the performance of 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-graders in public and private schools in writing in 1998 and 2002 using the assessment reported here. Average scale scores increased at grades 4 and 8 from 1998 to 2002. In contrast, no significant change was detected at grade 12 (see table 10-1).

Achievement levels, which indicate what students should know and be able to do, provide another way to assess performance. In 2002, 28 percent of 4th-graders, 31 percent of 8th-graders, and 24 percent of 12th-graders performed at or above the Proficient level in writing. The percentages of 4th-graders at or above Basic and Proficient and 8th-graders at or above Proficient were higher in 2002 than in 1998. The percentage of 12th-graders at or above Basic decreased over the period. Although only 2 percent of students in each grade performed at Advanced in 2002, at all three grades, the percentage represented an increase.

Average scores at selected percentiles provide another measure of achievement. At grade 4, writing scale scores increased at all percentile levels from 1998 to 2002. At grade 8, scale scores increased at the 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles, indicating performance gains for middle- to high-performing students. At grade 12, scores at the 10th and 25th percentiles decreased, while scores at the 90th percentile increased, indicating lower-performing students scored lower in 2002 than in 1998 and higher-performing students scored higher.

In 2002, writing performance differed among subgroups. Females outperformed males at all three grades (see table 10-2). Asian/Pacific Islander and White students had higher average scale scores than their Black and Hispanic peers at all three grades, and Asian/Pacific Islanders had higher average scores than Whites at grade 4. In addition, parental education was positively related to academic achievement in grades 8 and 12, and the percentage of students in a school eligible for free or reduced-price lunch was negatively related to student achievement at all three grades.

NAEP also provided a comparison of public school students by state and jurisdiction in 4th grade in 2002 and in 8th grade in 1998 and 2002. Of the 36 states and jurisdictions participating in grade 8 in 1998 and 2002, 16 showed score increases (see table 10-3).