Average student proficiency in reading, by age and selected characteristics of students: 1971 to 1999

Table 112.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
   Selected characteris-    |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
      tics of students      | 1971      | 1975      | 1980      | 1984      | 1988      | 1990      | 1992      | 1994      | 1996      | 1999
____________________________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
             1              |  2        |  3        |  4        |  5        |  6        |  7        |  8        |  9        |  10       |   11
____________________________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
                            |                                    9-year-olds\1\
                            |_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Total ......................|207.6 (1.0)|210.0 (0.7)|215.0 (1.0)|210.9 (0.7)|211.8 (1.1)|209.2 (1.2)|210.5 (0.9)|211.0 (1.2)|212.5 (1.0)|211.7 (1.3)
                            |___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
  Male .....................|201.2 (1.1)|204.3 (0.8)|210.0 (1.1)|207.5 (0.8)|207.5 (1.4)|204.0 (1.7)|205.9 (1.3)|207.3 (1.3)|207.0 (1.4)|208.5 (1.6)
  Female ...................|213.9 (1.0)|215.8 (0.8)|220.1 (1.1)|214.2 (0.8)|216.3 (1.3)|214.5 (1.2)|215.4 (0.9)|214.7 (1.4)|217.8 (1.1)|214.8 (1.5)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Race/ethnicity              |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  White, non-Hispanic ......|214.0 (0.9)|216.6 (0.7)|221.3 (0.8)|218.2 (0.8)|217.7 (1.4)|217.0 (1.3)|217.9 (1.0)|218.0 (1.3)|219.6 (1.2)|221.0 (1.6)
  Black, non-Hispanic ......|170.1 (1.7)|181.2 (1.2)|189.3 (1.8)|185.7 (1.1)|188.5 (2.4)|181.8 (2.9)|184.5 (2.2)|185.4 (2.3)|190.9 (2.6)|185.5 (2.3)
  Hispanic .................|(\2\)  --- |182.7 (2.2)|190.2 (2.3)|187.2 (2.1)|193.7 (3.5)|189.4 (2.3)|191.7 (3.1)|185.9 (3.9)|194.8 (3.4)|193.0 (2.7)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Parental education          |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Not high school graduate .|188.6 (1.5)|189.9 (1.3)|194.3 (1.6)|195.1 (1.4)|192.5 (4.9)|192.6 (3.2)|194.9 (4.5)|189.1 (4.0)|197.3 (3.4)|199.1 (3.9)
  Graduated high school ....|207.8 (1.2)|211.3 (0.9)|213.0 (1.3)|208.9 (1.0)|210.8 (2.2)|209.1 (1.8)|207.4 (1.5)|207.1 (2.6)|206.8 (2.0)|206.2 (2.0)
  Post high school .........|223.9 (1.1)|221.5 (0.9)|226.0 (1.1)|222.9 (0.9)|220.0 (1.7)|217.7 (2.0)|219.5 (1.4)|221.0 (1.3)|219.4 (1.4)|219.7 (1.7)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Control of school           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Public ...................|  ---  --- |  ---  --- |213.5 (1.1)|209.4 (0.8)|210.2 (1.2)|207.5 (1.4)|208.6 (1.0)|209.4 (1.4)|210.2 (1.0)|209.9 (1.3)
  Private ..................|  ---  --- |  ---  --- |227.0 (1.8)|222.8 (1.6)|223.4 (3.0)|228.3 (3.3)|224.7 (2.3)|225.0 (2.7)|226.6 (3.0)|225.7 (3.3)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Region                      |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Northeast ................|213.0 (1.7)|214.8 (1.3)|221.1 (2.1)|215.7 (1.7)|215.2 (2.6)|217.4 (2.2)|217.6 (2.6)|217.4 (2.9)|220.0 (1.8)|222.0 (3.5)
  Southeast ................|193.9 (2.9)|201.1 (1.2)|210.3 (2.3)|204.3 (1.6)|207.2 (2.1)|197.4 (3.2)|199.3 (2.0)|208.4 (3.0)|206.0 (2.8)|205.0 (2.3)
  Central ..................|214.9 (1.2)|215.5 (1.2)|216.7 (1.4)|215.3 (1.5)|218.2 (2.2)|212.7 (2.0)|215.8 (1.6)|214.3 (2.3)|215.0 (2.6)|215.0 (3.9)
  West .....................|205.0 (2.0)|207.0 (2.0)|212.8 (1.8)|207.8 (1.5)|207.9 (2.6)|209.6 (2.8)|209.3 (2.3)|205.1 (2.8)|210.0 (1.9)|206.0 (1.8)
                            |___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
                            |                                    13-year-olds\1\
                            |___________ ___________ ___________ ___________________________________________________________________________________
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Total ......................|255.2 (0.9)|255.9 (0.8)|258.5 (0.9)|257.1 (0.5)|257.5 (1.0)|256.8 (0.8)|259.8 (1.2)|257.9 (0.9)|257.9 (1.0)|259.4 (1.0)
                            |___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
  Male .....................|249.6 (1.0)|249.6 (0.8)|254.3 (1.1)|252.6 (0.6)|251.8 (1.3)|250.5 (1.1)|254.1 (1.7)|250.6 (1.2)|251.1 (1.2)|253.5 (1.3)
  Female ...................|260.8 (0.9)|262.3 (0.9)|262.6 (0.9)|261.7 (0.6)|263.0 (1.0)|263.1 (1.1)|265.3 (1.2)|265.7 (1.2)|264.3 (1.2)|265.2 (1.2)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Race/ethnicity              |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  White, non-Hispanic ......|260.9 (0.7)|262.1 (0.7)|264.4 (0.7)|262.6 (0.6)|261.3 (1.1)|262.3 (0.9)|266.4 (1.2)|265.1 (1.1)|265.9 (1.0)|266.7 (1.2)
  Black, non-Hispanic ......|222.4 (1.2)|225.7 (1.2)|232.8 (1.5)|236.3 (1.0)|242.9 (2.4)|241.5 (2.2)|237.6 (2.3)|234.3 (2.4)|234.0 (2.6)|238.2 (2.4)
  Hispanic .................|(\2\)  --- |232.5 (3.0)|237.2 (2.0)|239.6 (1.7)|240.1 (3.5)|237.8 (2.3)|239.2 (3.5)|235.1 (1.9)|238.3 (2.9)|243.8 (2.9)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Parental education          |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Not high school graduate .|238.4 (1.3)|238.7 (1.2)|238.5 (1.1)|240.0 (0.9)|246.5 (2.1)|240.8 (1.8)|239.2 (2.6)|236.7 (2.4)|239.3 (2.8)|237.9 (3.4)
  Graduated high school ....|255.5 (0.8)|254.6 (0.7)|253.5 (0.9)|253.4 (0.7)|252.7 (1.2)|251.4 (0.9)|252.1 (1.7)|251.4 (1.4)|250.9 (1.5)|251.4 (1.8)
  Post high school .........|270.2 (0.8)|269.8 (0.8)|270.9 (0.8)|267.6 (0.7)|265.3 (1.4)|266.9 (1.0)|269.9 (1.4)|268.5 (1.2)|268.7 (1.2)|269.6 (1.1)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Control of school           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Public ...................|  ---  --- |  ---  --- |256.9 (1.1)|255.2 (0.6)|256.1 (1.0)|255.0 (0.8)|257.2 (1.3)|255.6 (1.0)|256.0 (1.1)|256.9 (1.4)
  Private ..................|  ---  --- |  ---  --- |270.6 (1.5)|271.2 (1.7)|268.3 (2.8)|269.7 (2.9)|276.3 (2.6)|275.8 (3.4)|273.0 (3.4)|276.4 (3.4)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Region                      |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Northeast ................|261.1 (2.0)|258.5 (1.8)|260.0 (1.8)|260.4 (0.6)|258.6 (2.4)|258.9 (1.8)|264.6 (3.2)|269.0 (2.0)|259.0 (2.6)|263.0 (2.9)
  Southeast ................|244.7 (1.7)|249.3 (1.5)|252.6 (1.6)|256.4 (1.5)|257.6 (2.2)|255.5 (2.2)|253.8 (2.5)|252.7 (2.5)|251.0 (3.3)|254.0 (2.4)
  Central ..................|260.1 (1.8)|261.5 (1.4)|264.5 (1.4)|258.8 (1.0)|255.9 (2.0)|257.4 (1.5)|263.5 (3.0)|259.3 (3.3)|267.0 (1.8)|261.0 (1.9)
  West .....................|253.6 (1.3)|253.2 (1.7)|256.4 (2.0)|253.8 (0.9)|257.9 (2.1)|255.6 (1.6)|257.5 (1.6)|252.9 (2.1)|257.0 (1.7)|259.0 (2.2)
                            |___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
                            |                                    17-year-olds\1\
                            |_______________________ ___________ ___________________________________________________________________________________
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Total ......................|285.2 (1.2)|285.6 (0.8)|285.5 (1.2)|288.8 (0.6)|290.1 (1.0)|290.2 (1.1)|289.7 (1.1)|288.1 (1.3)|287.6 (1.1)|287.8 (1.3)
                            |___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________
  Male .....................|278.9 (1.2)|279.7 (1.0)|281.8 (1.3)|283.8 (0.6)|286.0 (1.5)|284.0 (1.6)|284.2 (1.6)|281.7 (2.2)|280.6 (1.3)|281.5 (1.6)
  Female ...................|291.3 (1.3)|291.2 (1.0)|289.2 (1.2)|293.9 (0.8)|293.8 (1.5)|296.5 (1.2)|295.7 (1.1)|294.7 (1.5)|295.1 (1.2)|294.6 (1.4)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Race/ethnicity              |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  White, non-Hispanic ......|291.4 (1.0)|293.0 (0.6)|292.8 (0.9)|295.2 (0.7)|294.7 (1.2)|296.6 (1.2)|297.4 (1.4)|295.7 (1.5)|295.1 (1.2)|294.6 (1.4)
  Black, non-Hispanic ......|238.7 (1.7)|240.6 (2.0)|243.1 (1.8)|264.3 (1.0)|274.4 (2.4)|267.3 (2.3)|260.6 (2.1)|266.2 (3.9)|266.1 (2.7)|263.9 (1.7)
  Hispanic .................|(\2\)  --- |252.4 (3.6)|261.4 (2.7)|268.1 (2.2)|270.8 (4.3)|274.8 (3.6)|271.2 (3.7)|263.2 (4.9)|265.4 (4.1)|270.7 (3.9)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Parental education          |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Not high school graduate .|261.3 (1.5)|262.5 (1.3)|262.1 (1.5)|269.4 (1.1)|267.4 (2.0)|269.7 (2.8)|270.8 (3.9)|267.9 (2.7)|267.3 (3.2)|264.8 (3.6)
  Graduated high school ....|283.0 (1.2)|281.4 (1.1)|277.5 (1.0)|281.2 (0.7)|282.0 (1.3)|282.9 (1.4)|280.5 (1.6)|276.1 (1.9)|273.4 (1.7)|273.9 (2.1)
  Post high school .........|302.2 (1.0)|300.6 (0.7)|298.9 (1.0)|301.2 (0.7)|299.5 (1.3)|299.9 (1.1)|298.6 (1.4)|298.5 (1.4)|297.7 (1.2)|297.5 (1.2)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Control of school           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Public ...................|  ---  --- |  ---  --- |284.4 (1.2)|287.2 (0.6)|288.7 (1.0)|288.6 (1.1)|287.8 (1.0)|286.0 (1.5)|287.0 (1.1)|285.6 (1.3)
  Private ..................|  ---  --- |  ---  --- |298.4 (2.7)|303.0 (2.0)|299.6 (3.8)|311.0 (4.2)|309.6 (4.2)|306.1 (5.8)|294.2 (5.7)|307.2 (3.5)
                            |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
Region                      |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |           |
  Northeast ................|291.3 (2.8)|289.1 (1.7)|285.9 (2.4)|292.2 (1.9)|294.8 (2.9)|295.7 (1.8)|297.3 (3.2)|296.8 (4.2)|292.0 (2.8)|295.0 (4.0)
  Southeast ................|270.5 (2.4)|276.5 (1.4)|280.1 (2.2)|284.7 (1.6)|285.5 (2.1)|285.1 (2.5)|278.4 (2.9)|283.5 (2.8)|279.0 (2.6)|279.0 (2.4)
  Central ..................|290.7 (2.1)|291.8 (1.4)|287.4 (2.2)|290.0 (1.4)|291.2 (1.9)|293.5 (2.4)|293.8 (2.1)|285.7 (3.7)|293.0 (2.1)|292.0 (1.5)
  West .....................|283.7 (1.8)|281.6 (1.9)|287.3 (2.1)|288.4 (1.1)|289.0 (1.8)|286.8 (2.6)|290.4 (2.3)|287.8 (2.8)|287.0 (2.4)|286.0 (3.0)
____________________________|_______________________|_______________________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________|___________

---Not available.
\1\Excludes persons not enrolled in school.
\2\Test scores of Hispanics were not tabulated separately.

NOTE: These test scores are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAEP scores have been evaluated at certain performance levels. A score of 300 implies an ability to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material. A score of 250 implies an ability to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials. A score of 200 implies an ability to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information. A score of 150 implies an ability to follow brief written directions and carry out simple, discrete reading tasks. Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Standard errors appear in parentheses.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP Trends in Academic Progress, various years, by Educational Testing Service. (This table was prepared August 2000.)

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