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Digest of Education Statistics
2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 120. Mathematics performance of 17-year-olds, by highest mathematics course taken, sex, and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1978 through 2004
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                 |        |   Average scale score by highest mathematics course taken  |Percent of students at or above score levels
                 |        |____________________________________________________________|____________________________________________
                 |        |        |           |         |         |          |   Pre- |          |          |          |
                 | Percent|        |Pre-algebra|         |         |          |calculus|          |          |          |
Selected         |      of|     All| or general|         |         |          |      or|          |          |          |
characteristic   |students|   areas|mathematics|Algebra I| Geometry|Algebra II|calculus|       200|       250|       300|      350
_________________|________|________|___________|_________|_________|__________|________|__________|__________|__________|___________
1                |       2|       3|         4 |       5 |       6 |        7 |       8|         9|        10|        11|        12
_________________|________|________|___________|_________|_________|__________|________|__________|__________|__________|___________
1978             |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
   All students .|100 (†) |300(1.0)|  267 (0.8)|286 (0.7)|307 (0.7)| 321 (0.7)|334(1.4)| 100 (0.1)|  92 (0.5)|  52 (1.1)|   7  (0.4)
                 |________|________|___________|_________|_________|__________|________|__________|__________|__________|___________
Sex              |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
  Male ..........| 49(0.5)|304(1.0)|  269 (1.0)|289 (0.9)|310 (1.0)| 325 (0.8)|337(2.0)| 100 (0.1)|  93 (0.5)|  55 (1.2)|  10  (0.6)
  Female ........| 51(0.5)|297(1.0)|  264 (0.9)|284 (1.0)|304 (0.8)| 318 (0.9)|329(1.8)| 100 (0.1)|  91 (0.6)|  48 (1.3)|   5  (0.7)
                 |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
Race/ethnicity   |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
  White, non-    |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
     Hispanic ...| 83(1.3)|306(0.9)|  272 (0.6)|291 (0.6)|310 (0.6)| 325 (0.6)|338(1.1)| 100  (‡) |  96 (0.3)|  58 (1.1)|   8  (0.5)
  Black, non-    |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
     Hispanic ...| 12(1.1)|268(1.3)|  247 (1.6)|264 (1.5)|281 (1.9)| 292 (1.4)|297(6.5)|  99 (0.3)|  71 (1.7)|  17 (1.6)|  #    (†)
  Hispanic ......|  4(0.5)|276(2.3)|  256 (2.3)|273 (2.8)|294 (4.4)| 303 (2.9)| ‡  (†) |  99 (0.4)|  78 (2.3)|  23 (2.7)|   1  (0.6)
  Other\1\ ......|  1(0.1)|313(3.3)| ---   (†) |---  (†) |---  (†) |---   (†) |--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  94 (2.6)|  65 (4.9)|  15  (3.2)
                 |========|========|===========|=========|=========|==========|========|==========|==========|==========|===========
1990             |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
   All students .|100 (†) |305(0.9)|  273 (1.1)|288 (1.2)|299 (1.5)| 319 (1.0)|344(2.7)| 100  (‡) |  96 (0.5)|  56 (1.4)|   7  (0.6)
                 |________|________|___________|_________|_________|__________|________|__________|__________|__________|___________
Sex              |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
  Male ..........| 49(0.9)|306(1.1)|  274 (1.7)|291 (1.6)|302 (1.6)| 323 (1.2)|347(2.4)| 100  (‡) |  96 (0.8)|  58 (1.4)|   9  (0.8)
  Female ........| 51(0.9)|303(1.1)|  271 (1.8)|285 (1.8)|296 (1.8)| 316 (1.1)|340(4.0)| 100  (‡) |  96 (0.8)|  55 (1.8)|   6  (0.8)
                 |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
Race/ethnicity   |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
  White, non-    |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
     Hispanic ...| 73(0.5)|309(1.0)|  277 (1.1)|292 (1.6)|304 (1.3)| 323 (0.9)|347(2.8)| 100  (‡) |  98 (0.3)|  63 (1.6)|   8  (0.7)
  Black, non-    |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
     Hispanic ...| 16(0.3)|289(2.8)|  264 (2.2)|278 (4.0)|285 (3.5)| 302 (3.2)|--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  92 (2.2)|  33 (4.5)|   2  (1.0)
  Hispanic ......|  7(0.4)|284(2.9)| ---   (†) |---  (†) |---  (†) | 306 (3.3)|--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  86 (4.2)|  30 (3.1)|   2  (0.8)
  Other\1\ ......|  4(0.5)|312(5.2)| ---   (†) |---  (†) |---  (†) |---   (†) |--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  98  (‡) |  62 (7.0)|  16  (4.3)
                 |========|========|===========|=========|=========|==========|========|==========|==========|==========|===========
1994             |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
   All students .|100 (†) |306(1.0)|  272 (1.2)|288 (1.4)|297 (1.7)| 316 (1.0)|340(2.2)| 100  (‡) |  97 (0.5)|  59 (1.4)|   7  (0.8)
                 |________|________|___________|_________|_________|__________|________|__________|__________|__________|___________
Sex              |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
  Male ..........| 49(1.3)|309(1.4)|  274 (1.8)|289 (1.6)|301 (2.1)| 320 (1.5)|343(2.6)| 100  (‡) |  97 (0.6)|  60 (2.1)|   9  (1.0)
  Female ........| 51(1.3)|304(1.1)|  268 (1.9)|286 (1.9)|293 (1.8)| 313 (1.1)|337(2.8)| 100  (‡) |  96 (0.6)|  57 (1.4)|   6  (0.9)
                 |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
Race/ethnicity   |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
  White, non-    |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
     Hispanic ...| 73(0.5)|312(1.1)|  275 (1.4)|292 (1.7)|301 (1.5)| 320 (1.0)|344(2.0)| 100  (‡) |  98 (0.4)|  67 (1.4)|   9  (1.1)
  Black, non-    |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
     Hispanic ...| 15(0.3)|286(1.8)| ---   (†) |275 (3.3)|283 (3.8)| 297 (2.5)|--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  91 (1.8)|  30 (3.4)|  #    (†)
  Hispanic ......|  9(0.3)|291(3.7)| ---   (†) |---  (†) |---  (†) | 304 (4.1)|--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  92 (3.6)|  38 (5.5)|   1   (‡)
  Other\1\ ......|  3(0.3)|313(4.5)| ---   (†) |---  (†) |---  (†) |---   (†) |--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  97  (‡) |  66 (6.6)|  12  (3.6)
                 |========|========|===========|=========|=========|==========|========|==========|==========|==========|===========
1996             |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
   All students .|100 (†) |307(1.2)|  269 (1.9)|283 (1.3)|298 (1.3)| 316 (1.3)|339(1.7)| 100  (‡) |  97 (0.4)|  60 (1.7)|   7  (0.8)
                 |________|________|___________|_________|_________|__________|________|__________|__________|__________|___________
Sex              |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
  Male ..........| 50(1.2)|310(1.3)|  272 (2.5)|286 (1.5)|302 (1.7)| 320 (1.7)|342(2.3)| 100  (‡) |  97 (0.7)|  63 (1.8)|   9  (1.3)
  Female ........| 50(1.2)|305(1.4)|  265 (2.2)|278 (2.2)|294 (1.5)| 313 (1.4)|335(2.2)| 100  (‡) |  97 (0.6)|  58 (2.2)|   5  (0.8)
                 |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
Race/ethnicity   |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
  White, non-    |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
     Hispanic ...| 71(0.6)|313(1.4)|  273 (2.3)|287 (2.0)|304 (1.6)| 320 (1.4)|342(1.9)| 100  (‡) |  99 (0.4)|  69 (2.2)|   9  (1.0)
  Black, non-    |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
     Hispanic ...| 15(0.3)|286(1.7)| ---   (†) |272 (2.4)|280 (3.0)| 299 (2.2)|--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  91 (1.3)|  31 (2.5)|   1   (‡)
  Hispanic ......|  9(0.7)|292(2.1)| ---   (†) |---  (†) |---  (†) | 306 (2.8)|--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  92 (2.2)|  40 (3.5)|   2   (‡)
  Other\1\ ......|  4(0.7)|312(5.7)| ---   (†) |---  (†) |---  (†) |---   (†) |--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  97 (1.2)|  64 (7.2)|  14  (5.0)
                 |========|========|===========|=========|=========|==========|========|==========|==========|==========|===========
1999             |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
   All students .|100 (†) |308(1.0)|  278 (2.8)|285 (1.7)|298 (1.2)| 315 (0.8)|341(1.4)| 100  (‡) |  97 (0.5)|  61 (1.6)|   8  (0.8)
                 |________|________|___________|_________|_________|__________|________|__________|__________|__________|___________
Sex              |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
  Male ..........| 48(1.0)|310(1.4)|  281 (3.2)|288 (2.6)|301 (1.8)| 317 (1.3)|343(1.9)| 100  (‡) |  96 (0.8)|  63 (2.1)|  10  (1.1)
  Female ........| 52(1.0)|307(1.0)|  274 (3.2)|282 (2.5)|295 (1.3)| 314 (1.1)|340(2.0)| 100  (‡) |  97 (0.4)|  58 (1.9)|   7  (1.1)
                 |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
Race/ethnicity   |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
  White, non-    |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
     Hispanic ...| 72(0.5)|315(1.1)|  282 (3.4)|290 (2.2)|303 (1.5)| 320 (0.9)|343(1.5)| 100  (‡) |  99 (0.4)|  70 (2.0)|  10  (1.1)
  Black, non-    |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
     Hispanic ...| 15(0.4)|283(1.5)| ---   (†) |267 (2.9)|281 (2.5)| 293 (1.4)|--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  89 (2.0)|  27 (2.7)|   1   (‡)
  Hispanic ......| 10(0.5)|293(2.5)| ---   (†) |---  (†) |---  (†) | 308 (3.0)|--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  94 (2.2)|  38 (4.1)|   3  (1.1)
  Other\1\ ......|4.0(0.2)|320(4.0)| ---   (†) |---  (†) |---  (†) |---   (†) |--- (†) | 100  (‡) | 100  (‡) |  76 (6.3)|  14  (4.1)
                 |========|========|===========|=========|=========|==========|========|==========|==========|==========|===========
2004             |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
   All students .|100 (†) |307(0.8)|  270 (2.6)|282 (1.4)|296 (1.1)| 310 (0.7)|336(1.6)| 100  (‡) |  97 (0.4)|  59 (1.3)|   7  (0.6)
                 |________|________|___________|_________|_________|__________|________|__________|__________|__________|___________
Sex              |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
  Male ..........| 48(1.1)|308(1.0)|  273 (3.3)|286 (1.8)|298 (1.6)| 313 (1.0)|339(2.3)| 100  (‡) |  97 (0.6)|  61 (1.6)|   9  (1.0)
  Female ........| 52(1.1)|305(0.9)|  267 (3.6)|278 (1.8)|293 (1.5)| 308 (0.9)|332(1.3)| 100  (‡) |  97 (0.5)|  57 (1.6)|   5  (0.6)
                 |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
Race/ethnicity   |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
  White, non-    |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
     Hispanic ...| 69(1.5)|313(0.7)|  276 (2.9)|287 (1.3)|302 (1.0)| 316 (0.8)|338(1.4)| 100  (‡) |  98 (0.4)|  69 (1.3)|   9  (0.8)
  Black, non-    |        |        |           |         |         |          |        |          |          |          |
     Hispanic ...| 13(1.1)|285(1.6)| ---   (†) |---  (†) |279 (2.0)| 292 (1.5)|--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  92 (1.9)|  26 (2.6)|   1  (0.5)
  Hispanic ......| 14(1.2)|289(1.8)| ---   (†) |---  (†) |285 (3.5)| 293 (2.5)|321(2.6)| 100  (‡) |  92 (2.1)|  32 (2.1)|   1  (0.5)
  Other\1\ ......|  5(0.5)|320(2.8)| ---   (†) |---  (†) |---  (†) |---   (†) |--- (†) | 100  (‡) |  99  (‡) |  73 (4.2)|  16  (3.8)
_________________|________|________|___________|_________|_________|__________|________|__________|__________|__________|___________
---Not available.
†Not applicable.
#Rounds to zero.
‡Reporting standards not met.
\1\Includes Asian/Pacific Islanders and American Indians/Alaska Natives.
NOTE: Score level 200 indicates ability to perform simple additive reasoning and problem solving. Score level 250 indicates ability to perform simple multiplicative reasoning and 2-step problem solving. Score level 300 indicates ability to perform reasoning and problem solving involving fractions, decimals, percents, elementary geometry, and simple algebra. Score level 350 indicates ability to perform reasoning and problem solving involving geometry, algebra, and beginning statistics and probability. Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Excludes persons not enrolled in school and those who were unable to be tested due to limited proficiency in English or due to a disability. Includes public and private schools. Details may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), NAEP Trends in Academic Progress, 1996 and 1999; and unpublished tabulations, NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/), retrieved August 2005. (This table was prepared February 2006.)


2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest