Elementary and Secondary Education

Assessments

Table 14-2. Average writing scale scores, by grade and selected student and school characteristics: 1998, 2002, and 2007

	Grade 8			Grade 12
School or student characteristic	1998	2002	2007	1998	2002	2007

Total	150	153	156	150	148	153
Sex
Male	140	143	146	140	136	144
Female	160	164	166	159	160	162
Race/ethnicity¹
White	157	161	164	155	154	159
Black	131	135	141	134	130	137
Hispanic	131	137	142	136	136	139
Asian/Pacific Islander	154	161	167	150	151	160
American Indian/Alaska Native	130	137	143	129	‡	140
Parents’ education
Did not finish high school	—	136	139	—	129	134
Graduated from high school	—	144	147	—	139	141
Some education after high school	—	156	158	—	149	152
Graduated from college	—	165	166	—	158	163
Locale²
City	—	—	151	—	—	152
Suburban	—	—	161	—	—	156
Town	—	—	153	—	—	150
Rural	—	—	155	—	—	151
Free or reduced-price lunch
Eligible	132	136	141	133	132	138
Not eligible	157	162	164	152	152	157
Information not available	157	161	170	155	156	165

— Not available.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
¹ Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
² Adoption of the new urban-centric locale classification codes does not permit comparison across assessment years.
NOTE: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing scores range from 0 to 300. The achievement levels define what students should know and be able to do: Basic indicates partial mastery of fundamental skills; Proficient indicates demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter; and Advanced indicates superior performance.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1998, 2002, and 2007 Writing Assessments, NAEP Data Explorer.

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