Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2007 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 113. Student scale score in reading, by age and percentile: Selected years, 1971 through 2004
Age and percentile 1971 1975 1980 1984 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1999 2004
Total Male Female Total Male Female
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
9-year-olds                                                            
Average 208 (1.0) 210 (0.7) 215 (1.0) 211 (0.9) 212 (1.1) 209 (1.2) 211 (0.9) 211 (1.2) 212 (1.0) 212 (1.3) 209 (1.6) 215 (1.5) 219 (1.1) 216 (1.4) 221 (1.0)
Standard deviation 42 (0.4) 39 (0.3) 38 (0.4) 41 (0.4) 41 (1.0) 45 (0.8) 40 (0.6) 41 (0.8) 39 (0.8) 39 (0.7) 41 (0.9) 38 (0.9) (†) (†) (†)
                                                             
Percentile                                                            
5th 135 (2.0) 143 (1.3) 149 (1.6) 141 (1.2) 142 (3.6) 135 (3.2) 141 (1.6) 140 (2.6) 145 (2.4) 143 (1.3) 139 (1.6) 150 (3.1) (†) (†) (†)
10th 152 (1.6) 159 (1.1) 165 (1.4) 157 (1.2) 157 (2.1) 150 (1.9) 156 (1.5) 156 (2.5) 160 (2.1) 158 (1.4) 153 (2.3) 164 (2.6) 169 (1.7) (†) (†)
25th 180 (1.3) 185 (0.8) 191 (1.2) 184 (1.2) 184 (1.8) 179 (1.8) 183 (1.5) 184 (1.9) 186 (1.3) 185 (2.0) 180 (1.8) 189 (1.6) 194 (1.7) (†) (†)
50th 209 (1.0) 212 (0.8) 217 (0.9) 213 (1.0) 214 (1.4) 210 (1.5) 214 (0.9) 215 (1.1) 215 (1.2) 215 (1.7) 212 (2.3) 218 (2.7) 221 (1.4) (†) (†)
75th 237 (1.0) 237 (0.9) 241 (1.0) 240 (0.9) 240 (1.3) 240 (1.8) 239 (1.2) 240 (1.5) 240 (1.0) 239 (1.4) 237 (2.1) 241 (1.6) 245 (1.3) (†) (†)
90th 260 (0.8) 258 (0.8) 262 (1.1) 263 (0.9) 263 (1.7) 266 (1.8) 260 (1.2) 260 (1.6) 260 (1.0) 259 (1.1) 258 (3.0) 260 (2.7) 264 (2.1) (†) (†)
95th 274 (0.9) 271 (0.1) 273 (1.6) 277 (1.4) 278 (2.0) 280 (1.3) 272 (1.2) 272 (1.5) 272 (1.3) 272 (2.3) 272 (3.4) 273 (2.0) (†) (†) (†)
                                                             
13-year-olds                                                            
Average 255 (0.9) 256 (0.8) 258 (0.9) 257 (0.6) 257 (1.0) 257 (0.8) 260 (1.2) 258 (0.9) 258 (1.0) 259 (1.0) 254 (1.3) 265 (1.2) 259 (1.0) 254 (1.2) 264 (1.3)
Standard deviation 36 (0.4) 36 (0.3) 35 (0.4) 36 (0.3) 35 (0.5) 36 (0.6) 39 (0.8) 40 (0.7) 39 (0.9) 38 (0.8) 39 (1.1) 37 (1.0) (†) (†) (†)
                                                             
Percentile                                                            
5th 193 (1.8) 194 (1.1) 199 (1.9) 197 (1.1) 200 (1.7) 196 (1.9) 191 (2.8) 188 (4.9) 189 (2.3) 193 (2.6) 186 (3.6) 203 (3.0) (†) (†) (†)
10th 208 (1.4) 209 (1.0) 213 (1.5) 210 (0.9) 213 (1.2) 210 (1.8) 208 (1.9) 205 (1.7) 206 (2.1) 209 (1.6) 201 (1.9) 218 (2.4) 210 (1.9) (†) (†)
25th 232 (1.2) 233 (1.0) 235 (1.1) 234 (0.8) 234 (1.2) 233 (1.0) 235 (1.8) 233 (1.2) 233 (1.5) 234 (1.1) 227 (2.0) 240 (1.2) 235 (1.3) (†) (†)
50th 257 (1.0) 258 (0.9) 260 (0.8) 258 (0.8) 258 (1.1) 257 (0.9) 262 (1.6) 260 (1.1) 260 (0.9) 261 (1.5) 255 (1.4) 266 (1.5) 260 (1.4) (†) (†)
75th 280 (0.8) 281 (0.8) 283 (0.8) 282 (0.6) 281 (1.4) 281 (0.8) 287 (1.4) 285 (1.1) 285 (0.8) 286 (1.6) 281 (2.4) 291 (2.6) 285 (1.4) (†) (†)
90th 300 (0.9) 300 (1.0) 302 (0.8) 302 (0.8) 302 (1.0) 302 (1.0) 309 (1.8) 307 (1.4) 306 (1.4) 308 (2.4) 302 (2.3) 312 (2.1) 305 (1.2) (†) (†)
95th 311 (0.9) 312 (1.0) 314 (0.8) 314 (1.0) 314 (1.3) 314 (1.3) 322 (2.6) 320 (1.4) 319 (1.8) 320 (1.2) 314 (1.7) 325 (2.0) (†) (†) (†)
                                                             
17-year-olds                                                            
Average 285 (1.2) 286 (0.8) 285 (1.2) 289 (0.8) 290 (1.0) 290 (1.1) 290 (1.1) 288 (1.3) 288 (1.1) 288 (1.3) 281 (1.6) 295 (1.4) 285 (1.2) 278 (1.5) 292 (1.3)
Standard deviation 46 (0.5) 44 (0.6) 42 (0.6) 40 (0.3) 37 (0.7) 41 (0.7) 43 (0.6) 44 (1.0) 42 (0.8) 42 (0.8) 43 (1.2) 40 (0.8) (†) (†) (†)
                                                             
Percentile                                                            
5th 206 (1.5) 209 (3.0) 213 (1.7) 220 (1.3) 226 (1.3) 220 (2.3) 214 (2.9) 211 (3.6) 214 (2.5) 215 (4.5) 207 (3.2) 229 (5.7) (†) (†) (†)
10th 225 (1.7) 228 (1.7) 231 (1.8) 236 (0.9) 241 (2.2) 237 (3.1) 233 (2.7) 230 (3.1) 232 (1.7) 233 (3.7) 225 (2.3) 244 (1.9) 227 (2.8) (†) (†)
25th 256 (1.6) 258 (1.1) 259 (1.2) 262 (1.1) 266 (1.8) 263 (1.3) 263 (1.1) 260 (1.8) 260 (1.1) 261 (2.2) 253 (2.2) 268 (1.6) 258 (1.4) (†) (†)
50th 288 (1.4) 288 (0.7) 287 (1.4) 290 (0.9) 291 (1.9) 291 (1.3) 293 (1.2) 290 (1.8) 289 (1.9) 289 (1.8) 283 (1.6) 295 (1.6) 287 (1.5) (†) (†)
75th 317 (1.0) 316 (0.7) 315 (1.2) 317 (0.9) 316 (1.4) 319 (1.5) 319 (1.4) 319 (1.8) 316 (1.6) 316 (1.2) 311 (1.9) 322 (1.9) 315 (1.0) (†) (†)
90th 342 (1.1) 340 (0.9) 337 (1.4) 340 (0.7) 337 (2.1) 343 (2.1) 343 (1.8) 343 (1.8) 341 (1.7) 341 (2.2) 335 (2.6) 345 (2.9) 338 (1.8) (†) (†)
95th 357 (1.5) 354 (0.7) 351 (1.3) 353 (1.0) 349 (1.8) 356 (1.7) 356 (1.9) 358 (1.7) 355 (2.6) 355 (1.7) 350 (6.4) 359 (3.0) (†) (†) (†)
— Not available.
† Not applicable.
NOTE: The NAEP reading scores have been evaluated at certain performance levels. Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Students scoring 150 (or higher) are able to follow brief written directions and carry out simple, discrete reading tasks. Students scoring 200 are able to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information. Students scoring 250 are able to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials. Students scoring 300 are able to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material. Includes public and private schools. 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. 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), NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/), retrieved July 2005. (This table was pre­pared February 2006.)

2007 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest