Table 139.

Percentage distribution of elementary and secondary school children, by average grades and selected child and school characteristics: 1996, 1999, and 2003

Selected characteristic of children and schools	Distribution of children, by parental reports of average grades in all subjects
	1996								1999								2003
	Mostly A's		Mostly B's		Mostly C's		Mostly D's or F's		Mostly A's		Mostly B's		Mostly C's		Mostly D's or F's		Mostly A's		Mostly B's		Mostly C's		Mostly D's or F's
1	2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		12		13
All students	39.5	(0.53)	37.7	(0.56)	18.5	(0.41)	4.2	(0.22)	40.3	(0.52)	37.7	(0.53)	17.8	(0.42)	4.3	(0.23)	43.6	(0.62)	37.0	(0.58)	15.9	(0.52)	3.6	(0.24)
Sex of child
Male	32.5	(0.68)	38.3	(0.82)	23.5	(0.63)	5.7	(0.36)	33.7	(0.70)	38.3	(0.73)	21.9	(0.63)	6.2	(0.39)	36.4	(0.72)	38.6	(0.86)	19.8	(0.74)	5.2	(0.40)
Female	46.9	(0.78)	37.2	(0.77)	13.2	(0.60)	2.7	(0.27)	47.0	(0.77)	37.1	(0.76)	13.5	(0.54)	2.4	(0.25)	51.0	(0.84)	35.3	(0.76)	11.9	(0.61)	1.9	(0.24)
Race/ethnicity of child
White	43.7	(0.66)	36.1	(0.61)	16.5	(0.49)	3.7	(0.27)	44.6	(0.67)	36.1	(0.65)	15.8	(0.50)	3.4	(0.25)	47.8	(0.86)	35.2	(0.75)	14.0	(0.63)	3.1	(0.25)
Black	27.0	(1.40)	41.0	(1.48)	26.2	(1.51)	5.8	(0.67)	27.5	(1.20)	40.3	(1.42)	26.4	(1.22)	5.8	(0.72)	34.5	(1.75)	39.5	(1.65)	20.9	(1.33)	5.0	(0.82)
Hispanic	31.9	(1.40)	43.6	(1.47)	19.6	(1.18)	4.9	(0.70)	33.3	(1.17)	42.7	(1.26)	17.4	(0.98)	6.5	(0.73)	34.9	(1.14)	42.3	(1.24)	18.6	(1.03)	4.2	(0.49)
Other	44.7	(1.80)	33.7	(2.10)	17.1	(1.61)	4.5	(1.12)	45.8	(2.38)	35.8	(2.36)	14.2	(2.03)	4.2	(1.18)	49.3	(2.63)	33.7	(2.32)	14.3	(1.99)	2.7	(0.78)
Highest education level of parents
Less than high school	29.0	(1.86)	39.0	(1.89)	23.9	(1.66)	8.1	(1.04)	26.3	(1.58)	40.8	(1.82)	22.3	(1.62)	10.5	(1.30)	27.8	(2.17)	41.6	(2.05)	22.7	(2.28)	7.8	(1.46)
High school/GED	30.5	(0.90)	40.5	(1.09)	23.1	(0.91)	5.9	(0.52)	31.6	(0.99)	39.5	(1.06)	23.3	(0.90)	5.6	(0.49)	32.1	(1.20)	41.4	(1.23)	21.7	(1.12)	4.8	(0.57)
Vocational/technical or some college	36.9	(0.99)	40.1	(1.01)	19.1	(0.64)	3.9	(0.43)	38.9	(0.93)	39.0	(0.94)	18.3	(0.75)	3.8	(0.38)	42.0	(1.13)	37.1	(1.19)	16.9	(0.76)	4.0	(0.42)
Bachelor's degree	52.5	(1.40)	32.9	(1.29)	12.7	(1.03)	1.9	(0.34)	51.1	(1.28)	34.9	(1.22)	12.1	(0.85)	1.8	(0.34)	53.2	(1.30)	34.2	(1.29)	10.9	(0.90)	1.7	(0.31)
Graduate/professional degree	58.2	(1.30)	30.9	(1.21)	9.8	(0.86)	1.1	(0.26)	54.8	(1.30)	33.0	(1.23)	10.3	(0.82)	1.9	(0.39)	60.6	(1.67)	30.9	(1.70)	7.5	(0.73)	1.0	(0.24)
Family income
$5,000 or less	28.9	(2.50)	38.8	(2.39)	23.3	(2.35)	8.9	(1.67)	25.0	(2.59)	42.9	(3.46)	24.4	(2.77)	7.7	(1.77)	31.8	(4.43)	38.9	(4.27)	21.0	(3.53)	8.3	(3.25)
$5,001 to $10,000	26.6	(1.97)	41.9	(2.30)	24.6	(2.33)	6.9	(1.15)	32.1	(2.37)	36.5	(2.35)	24.0	(2.14)	7.4	(1.32)	31.6	(2.90)	40.1	(3.70)	24.9	(2.70)	3.4	(0.98)
$10,001 to $15,000	28.0	(1.98)	39.8	(2.27)	26.0	(1.97)	6.2	(1.10)	30.3	(2.00)	38.9	(2.16)	23.7	(1.92)	7.1	(1.21)	33.5	(3.49)	35.1	(2.85)	23.9	(2.67)	7.5	(1.44)
$15,001 to $20,000	32.7	(2.34)	38.4	(1.99)	21.6	(1.81)	7.3	(1.35)	32.0	(2.03)	40.0	(2.10)	22.3	(1.89)	5.7	(0.94)	34.6	(2.28)	41.1	(2.41)	18.8	(2.00)	5.4	(1.26)
$20,001 to $25,000	34.4	(1.92)	40.8	(2.19)	20.6	(1.77)	4.2	(0.88)	32.8	(1.83)	38.9	(1.88)	21.6	(1.60)	6.7	(1.09)	33.5	(2.51)	42.1	(2.93)	19.8	(1.99)	4.7	(0.96)
$25,001 to $30,000	33.0	(1.88)	42.0	(2.05)	19.8	(1.41)	5.2	(0.76)	37.4	(1.91)	37.4	(1.90)	19.7	(1.54)	5.4	(0.86)	34.5	(2.67)	42.6	(3.13)	17.9	(1.92)	5.0	(1.21)
$30,001 to $35,000	40.0	(1.88)	38.0	(1.66)	18.1	(1.44)	3.9	(0.69)	38.2	(1.88)	38.8	(1.95)	19.2	(1.53)	3.8	(0.75)	35.1	(2.76)	43.1	(2.57)	16.9	(1.84)	5.0	(1.09)
$35,001 to $40,000	40.4	(1.70)	37.3	(1.69)	19.4	(1.22)	2.8	(0.65)	37.5	(1.83)	42.1	(1.89)	17.4	(1.40)	3.0	(0.62)	39.6	(3.20)	37.8	(2.79)	19.1	(1.78)	3.6	(0.93)
$40,001 to $50,000	43.2	(1.49)	36.0	(1.51)	16.8	(1.09)	4.0	(0.57)	45.0	(1.52)	35.1	(1.44)	16.6	(1.14)	3.3	(0.55)	43.9	(2.06)	35.8	(1.95)	15.8	(1.51)	4.4	(0.75)
$50,001 to $75,000	50.2	(1.05)	32.7	(1.04)	14.9	(0.86)	2.2	(0.34)	45.8	(1.20)	36.8	(1.17)	14.5	(0.84)	2.9	(0.41)	48.0	(1.29)	35.0	(1.22)	14.0	(0.81)	3.0	(0.45)
Over $75,000	51.0	(1.58)	36.8	(1.55)	10.9	(0.9)	1.3	(0.31)	51.9	(1.15)	35.4	(1.11)	10.9	(0.72)	1.8	(0.32)	54.0	(1.19)	33.8	(1.18)	11.0	(0.78)	1.2	(0.19)
Child attending public school	38.2	(0.54)	37.9	(0.56)	19.3	(0.44)	4.6	(0.23)	39.0	(0.55)	37.8	(0.56)	18.5	(0.45)	4.7	(0.26)	41.8	(0.64)	37.5	(0.62)	16.8	(0.57)	3.8	(0.26)
Elementary (kindergarten to grade 8)	43.2	(0.75)	36.6	(0.69)	16.3	(0.55)	3.9	(0.26)	43.5	(0.71)	36.6	(0.71)	15.9	(0.54)	4.1	(0.29)	46.1	(0.80)	35.9	(0.84)	14.6	(0.74)	3.4	(0.32)
Secondary (grades 9 to 12)	29.6	(0.89)	40.2	(1.00)	24.5	(0.89)	5.7	(0.46)	31.8	(0.87)	39.9	(0.92)	22.7	(0.79)	5.6	(0.48)	34.6	(0.96)	40.2	(0.97)	20.6	(0.94)	4.6	(0.46)
Child attending private school	50.8	(1.64)	36.1	(1.58)	11.8	(0.96)	1.3	(0.40)	51.9	(1.61)	36.1	(1.55)	11.0	(1.09)	1.0	(0.27)	57.6	(1.72)	33.0	(1.68)	8.1	(0.91)	1.3	(0.45)
Elementary (kindergarten to grade 8)	55.7	(2.02)	35.3	(1.90)	7.5	(0.86)	1.4	(0.57)	56.2	(1.88)	34.4	(1.80)	9.0	(1.21)	0.5	(0.21)	61.6	(2.39)	30.3	(2.28)	7.3	(1.03)	0.8	(0.28)
Secondary (grades 9 to 12)	41.5	(2.97)	37.7	(2.40)	20.4	(2.30)	1.0	(0.44)	41.2	(3.09)	40.6	(3.03)	15.9	(2.31)	2.2	(0.79)	48.8	(3.22)	38.9	(2.94)	10.0	(1.77)	2.3	(1.30)

NOTE: Includes children enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12. Excludes children whose programs have no classes with lettered grades. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education/Civic Involvement Survey, Parent Survey, and Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of The National Household Edu­cation Surveys Program (PFI/CI-NHES:1996, Parent-NHES:1999, and PFI-NHES:2003). (This table was prepared July 2005.)