Elementary and Secondary Education

Student Effort, Persistence, and Progress

Table A-31-1. Percentage of high school graduates who completed selected mathematics and science courses in high school, by year and selected student and school characteristics: Selected years, 1990–2009

Year and student or school characteristic	Mathematics								Science
Year and student or school characteristic	Algebra I¹	Geometry¹	Algebra II/ trigonometry²	Analysis/ pre- calculus²		Statistics/ probability²		Calculus¹	Biology¹	Chemistry¹	Physics¹		Biology and chemistry³	Biology, chemistry, and physics⁴
1990
Total⁵	76.9	64.1	53.6	13.4		1.0		6.5	91.3	49.2	21.3		47.8	18.7
Sex
Male	75.1	63.0	51.8	14.1		1.2		7.6	90.0	48.1	25.1		46.6	21.8
Female	78.6	65.0	55.2	12.8		0.8		5.6	92.5	50.2	17.7		48.9	16.0

Race/ethnicity
White	76.8	66.4	56.9	14.9		1.0		6.9	91.5	51.8	22.8		50.5	20.5
Black	77.9	56.3	43.9	6.2		1.1	!	2.8	91.3	40.3	14.5		39.5	12.0
Hispanic	81.0	54.1	39.9	7.1		‡		3.8	90.2	38.3	12.7		36.4	10.0
Asian/Pacific Islander	71.3	71.5	69.3	25.2		‡		18.4	90.2	63.5	38.0		60.0	33.4
American Indian/Alaska Native	76.5	55.7	53.9	‡		‡		‡	90.5	35.5	‡		34.2	‡

School type
Traditional public	76.0	61.9	51.4	12.2		0.8		6.2	90.7	47.4	20.2		46.0	17.8
Public charter	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—
Private	86.1	85.5	75.5	25.3		2.6	!	9.7	97.2	66.7	31.4		65.2	28.2

Percentage of students in school eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–25 percent	77.0	67.4	57.8	15.3		1.1		7.5	92.4	54.0	22.8		52.8	21.0
26–50 percent	71.3	45.4	44.6	5.5		‡		3.8	88.8	36.5	15.3		35.5	12.8
51–75 percent	81.8	56.0	40.1	5.6		#		‡	93.6	33.5	12.7		33.0	11.7
76–100 percent	96.0	89.4	78.7	‡		#		#	99.0	‡	‡		‡	‡

Locale
City	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—
Suburban	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—
Town	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—
Rural	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—

Student disability (SD) and English language learner (ELL) status⁶
Students with disabilities (SD)
Yes	37.3	11.8	8.3	‡		‡		‡	65.0	7.7	‡		‡	‡
No	77.7	65.1	54.5	13.6		1.0		6.7	91.8	50.0	21.6		48.6	19.1
English language learner (ELL)
Yes	66.6	42.2	37.1	‡		‡		‡	70.5	‡	‡		‡	‡
No	77.0	64.2	53.7	13.4		1.0		6.6	91.4	49.3	21.3		48.0	18.8

2000
Total⁵	66.5	78.3	68.3	26.6		5.7		11.6	91.1	61.8	31.3		59.2	25.0
Sex
Male	65.0	74.8	65.2	25.3		5.8		12.1	88.9	57.7	34.1		54.3	26.3
Female	68.0	81.4	71.1	27.8		5.6		11.1	93.2	65.5	28.9		63.6	23.9

Race/ethnicity
White	65.1	79.2	69.6	28.1		6.1		12.5	91.7	62.9	32.3		60.1	25.6
Black	70.1	77.8	64.7	16.1		3.7	!	4.6	92.4	59.5	25.1		57.8	20.0
Hispanic	73.2	72.6	60.0	19.3		2.3		5.6	87.8	52.0	23.1		50.3	17.7
Asian/Pacific Islander	58.1	81.3	81.3	48.7		11.4		30.4	87.8	75.1	53.8		70.6	47.0
American Indian/Alaska Native	68.7	65.0	60.3	‡		‡		‡	88.4	43.6	‡		39.4	‡

School type
Traditional public	65.3	77.0	67.1	24.1		5.5		10.9	90.5	59.5	30.0		56.8	23.5
Public charter	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—
Private	79.1	92.3	81.9	53.8		7.8	!	18.2	98.2	86.6	45.1		85.4	41.5

Percentage of students in school eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–25 percent	66.8	80.3	68.1	29.6		6.5		13.4	91.4	65.2	34.5		61.9	28.6
26–50 percent	64.8	72.5	67.2	19.1		3.5		8.8	93.4	56.0	26.3		55.0	19.1
51–75 percent	72.7	77.5	66.7	18.0		3.4	!	4.8	90.8	58.9	22.5		57.4	17.5
76–100 percent	81.7	83.1	68.1	23.9		‡		5.4	91.4	60.8	35.0		59.5	26.1

Locale
City	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—
Suburban	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—
Town	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—
Rural	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—

Student disability (SD) and English language learner (ELL) status⁶
Students with disabilities (SD)
Yes	45.2	36.1	22.9	6.7	!	‡		‡	72.0	21.2	13.6		19.9	7.9	!
No	67.3	79.9	70.1	27.4		5.9		11.9	91.9	63.4	32.0		60.7	25.7
English language learner (ELL)
Yes	62.3	57.8	45.8	15.0		‡		‡	73.4	34.9	20.8		31.3	11.2
No	66.5	78.5	68.6	26.7		5.7		11.6	91.3	62.1	31.4		59.5	25.2

2005
Total⁵	68.4	83.8	71.3	29.4		7.7		13.6	92.5	66.4	32.9		64.3	27.4
Sex
Male	66.8	81.9	68.0	28.0		7.7		14.0	91.0	62.7	34.9		60.3	28.2
Female	69.8	85.6	74.4	30.8		7.8		13.2	93.9	70.0	31.0		68.0	26.5

Race/ethnicity
White	66.8	83.9	72.4	32.0		8.5		15.3	92.8	67.4	34.8		65.3	29.0
Black	75.4	85.0	69.3	17.9		5.8		5.5	93.7	63.6	25.8		62.0	21.3
Hispanic	70.2	81.0	63.1	20.4		3.4		6.4	89.2	59.3	23.4		57.2	18.8
Asian/Pacific Islander	65.4	87.1	79.5	48.8		12.9		30.0	92.4	79.7	50.3		75.5	42.9
American Indian/Alaska Native	70.1	73.8	67.2	15.8		‡		‡	91.5	48.9	18.1		47.6	‡

School type
Traditional public	67.6	83.0	69.3	27.6		7.7		12.5	92.1	64.2	30.6		62.0	24.8
Public charter	84.5	78.1	69.3	‡		‡		‡	91.6	72.2	36.7	!	67.0	33.9	!
Private	74.4	91.2	89.6	45.3		8.3		23.9	96.1	86.8	53.8		85.1	49.9

Percentage of students in school eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–25 percent	65.4	82.2	70.9	34.0		10.2		15.7	92.8	68.4	35.3		65.9	28.7
26–50 percent	69.5	84.2	69.8	23.4		6.7		10.8	93.0	61.0	26.9		59.1	21.8
51–75 percent	74.3	82.2	66.3	19.2		3.3		6.9	86.7	57.0	20.9		54.1	16.1
76–100 percent	75.1	88.2	69.4	18.2		2.8	!	4.9	90.2	67.6	21.2		64.1	17.8

Locale
City	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—
Suburban	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—
Town	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—
Rural	—	—	—	—		—		—	—	—	—		—	—

Student disability (SD) and English language learner (ELL) status⁶
Students with disabilities (SD)
Yes	49.5	47.8	27.9	6.0		2.2		2.0	71.6	26.6	13.2		24.8	6.6
No	69.9	87.0	75.2	31.6		8.3		14.7	94.4	69.9	34.5		67.8	29.0
English language learner (ELL)
Yes	63.7	70.1	48.0	13.8		3.9		6.1	81.4	46.1	20.2		43.0	13.8
No	68.4	84.3	72.0	30.0		7.9		13.8	92.9	67.0	33.2		64.9	27.6

2009
Total⁵	68.9	88.3	75.8	35.3		10.8		15.9	95.6	70.4	36.1		68.3	30.1
Sex
Male	68.5	86.6	73.8	33.8		10.7		16.1	94.9	67.4	39.2		65.0	31.9
Female	69.3	89.9	77.8	36.6		10.9		15.7	96.2	73.4	33.0		71.4	28.3

Race/ethnicity
White	67.0	88.8	77.4	37.9		11.6		17.5	95.6	71.5	37.6		68.9	31.4
Black	77.2	88.4	70.6	22.7		7.9		6.1	96.3	65.3	26.9		64.3	21.9
Hispanic	75.4	87.0	71.4	26.5		7.5		8.6	94.8	65.7	28.6		64.2	22.7
Asian/Pacific Islander	53.3	86.1	83.0	60.5		17.6		42.2	95.8	84.8	61.1		82.7	54.4
American Indian/Alaska Native	74.8	81.6	66.6	18.5		‡		‡	94.5	44.5	19.8		43.9	13.6

School type
Traditional public	68.2	88.1	74.9	34.0		10.7		15.4	95.3	68.9	34.6		66.9	28.8
Public charter	79.0	86.9	77.8	34.1		‡		‡	94.0	56.8	40.0		55.7	23.2	!
Private	74.7	90.0	84.6	47.5		12.5		23.3	98.6	87.4	49.5		83.3	43.9

Percentage of students in school eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0–25 percent	61.3	89.7	80.1	43.1		14.8		22.6	96.4	76.3	46.5		74.9	40.4
26–50 percent	70.9	88.4	74.7	29.7		8.6		11.8	94.5	64.0	27.6		61.6	22.2
51–75 percent	75.8	87.4	69.3	25.4		7.5		9.8	95.6	65.6	29.4		64.2	22.7
76–100 percent	80.1	88.8	70.7	25.5		5.1		7.5	95.6	69.4	26.6		68.2	22.8

Locale
City	72.5	89.1	74.9	36.7		10.6		15.5	96.4	74.0	38.8		70.8	31.6
Suburban	62.8	89.4	78.7	39.0		13.1		19.5	97.1	76.7	43.8		75.4	38.6
Town	76.9	86.4	71.4	30.1		8.4		10.7	92.2	62.3	24.0		60.4	18.9
Rural	70.2	86.3	74.5	30.0		8.6		13.5	93.7	59.6	26.0		57.2	19.7

Student disability and English language learner status⁶
Students with disabilities (SD)
Yes	56.0	61.1	39.5	9.7		3.9		3.0	82.4	35.4	19.3		33.8	12.0
No	70.1	90.7	79.1	37.6		11.4		17.1	96.8	73.6	37.6		71.4	31.7
English language learner (ELL)
Yes	73.3	76.2	58.1	19.4		4.4		4.7	86.9	47.4	23.2		43.8	15.4
No	68.8	88.5	76.2	35.6		10.9		16.2	95.7	70.9	36.3		68.7	30.3

— Not available.

# Rounds to zero.

! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is 30 percent or greater.

‡ Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.

¹Percentages are for students who earned at least one Carnegie credit.

2 Percentages are for students who earned at least one-half of a Carnegie credit. Courses listed are composites made up of individual courses that are relatively similar in content. For example, algebra II/trigonometry comprises courses including trigonometry and pre-IB algebra II/trigonometry.

³ Percentages are for students who earned at least one Carnegie credit each in biology and chemistry.

⁴ Percentages are for students who earned at least one Carnegie credit each in biology, chemistry, and physics.

⁵Includes other racial/ethnic groups not shown separately in the table and cases that were missing information on race/ethnicity and/or sex of student.

⁶ In 2009, the exclusion rate for SD students was 3 percent for grade 12, and the exclusion rate for ELL students was 1 percent for grade 12. The 2009 SD estimates included students with a “504” plan.

NOTE: For a transcript to be included in the analyses, it had to meet three requirements: (1) the graduate received either a standard or honors diploma, (2) the graduate’s transcript contained 16 or more Carnegie credits, and (3) the graduate’s transcript contained more than 0 Carnegie credits in English courses. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. For more information on race/ethnicity, free or reduced-price lunch, or locale, see Appendix C – Commonly Used Measures. For more information on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) or the High School Transcript Study (HSTS), please see Appendix B – Guide to Sources.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, High School Transcript Study (HSTS), Selected years, 1990–2009.

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