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Digest of Education Statistics
2011 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 61. Percentage of kindergartners through fifth-graders whose parents reported doing education-related activities with their children in the past week, by selected child, parent, and school characteristics: 1999, 2003, and 2007
Child, parent, and
school characteristic
Told child a story Did arts and crafts Discussed family history/
ethnic heritage
Played board games or did puzzles
1999 2003 2007 1999 2003 2007 1999 2003 2007 1999 2003 2007
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Total 69.4 (0.60) 74.9 (0.66) 70.3 (1.11) 68.0 (0.60) 74.9 (0.70) 75.7 (1.00) 54.9 (0.67) 53.1 (0.89) 53.5 (1.10) (†) 72.9 (0.68) 69.0 (0.99)
                                                 
Sex of child                                                
Male 69.1 (0.76) 73.3 (0.86) 68.7 (1.51) 64.2 (0.81) 69.7 (0.98) 70.3 (1.32) 53.4 (0.91) 51.1 (1.16) 52.9 (1.48) (†) 71.8 (0.92) 69.0 (1.49)
Female 69.7 (0.89) 76.6 (0.96) 72.0 (1.47) 71.9 (0.90) 80.2 (1.01) 81.7 (1.33) 56.5 (0.97) 55.1 (1.28) 54.3 (1.45) (†) 74.1 (1.05) 69.0 (1.43)
                                                 
Race/ethnicity of child                                                
White 70.9 (0.80) 76.0 (0.96) 73.2 (1.20) 72.4 (0.73) 75.4 (0.89) 74.9 (1.23) 52.6 (0.89) 44.7 (1.13) 45.6 (1.28) (†) 73.8 (0.87) 69.0 (1.19)
Black 64.8 (1.73) 69.6 (2.00) 61.6 (3.81) 58.6 (1.82) 68.1 (2.14) 73.0 (3.53) 60.2 (2.05) 66.6 (2.45) 66.9 (3.59) (†) 72.9 (1.92) 72.8 (3.14)
Hispanic 66.6 (1.49) 74.2 (1.55) 67.6 (2.46) 59.4 (1.33) 79.6 (1.45) 81.2 (1.66) 53.6 (1.44) 64.5 (1.71) 61.1 (2.22) (†) 68.5 (1.82) 67.5 (2.33)
Asian (†) (†) 68.9 (5.08) (†) (†) 66.5 (4.74) (†) (†) 73.6 (4.14) (†) (†) 61.7 (4.88)
                                                 
Grade of child                                                
Kindergarten through grade 1 77.6 (1.11) 84.5 (0.93) 74.1 (1.81) 75.9 (0.95) 89.3 (0.84) 89.1 (1.08) 49.6 (1.30) 47.7 (1.38) 45.7 (2.03) (†) 77.5 (1.17) 73.5 (1.71)
Grades 2 through 3 67.7 (1.05) 74.5 (1.21) 70.7 (1.94) 66.4 (1.20) 74.0 (1.12) 75.4 (1.84) 56.4 (1.26) 54.7 (1.34) 55.7 (1.93) (†) 72.7 (1.09) 68.9 (1.70)
Grades 4 through 5 62.3 (1.09) 66.4 (1.20) 66.1 (1.60) 61.1 (1.19) 62.2 (1.36) 62.6 (1.80) 59.1 (1.12) 56.5 (1.42) 59.3 (1.78) (†) 68.9 (1.18) 64.6 (1.83)
                                                 
Language spoken most at home
    by child
                                               
English 70.0 (0.64) 75.4 (0.73) 71.0 (1.22) 69.3 (0.64) 74.4 (0.72) 74.6 (1.04) 55.2 (0.71) 51.5 (0.93) 52.0 (1.10) (†) 73.7 (0.73) 68.8 (1.06)
Spanish 57.7 (2.73) 65.6 (2.85) 60.7 (3.74) 52.1 (2.73) 81.7 (2.16) 84.5 (2.84) 47.3 (2.94) 60.2 (3.11) 62.2 (3.48) (†) 58.1 (3.10) 69.2 (3.62)
English and Spanish equally 62.8 (3.49) 76.6 (3.83) 67.5 (4.69) 53.7 (4.27) 78.7 (3.88) 85.7 (3.23) 52.6 (3.40) 77.3 (4.18) 63.2 (3.98) (†) 75.2 (3.73) 76.9 (4.06)
English and other language
    equally
83.9 (6.72) (†) (†) 61.9 (9.53) (†) (†) 74.0 (7.71) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Other language 73.1 (5.33) 81.7 (6.95) 80.3 (8.34) 61.1 (6.67) 76.7 (4.81) 84.4 (5.61) 61.5 (7.29) 75.1 (6.13) 74.8 (8.83) (†) 74.8 (7.43) 66.3 (10.40)
                                                 
Highest education level of parents/
   guardians in the household
                                               
Less than high school 61.9 (2.30) 67.2 (3.16) 59.3 (4.90) 54.4 (2.13) 74.8 (3.20) 80.1 (4.60) 45.1 (2.43) 60.4 (2.98) 52.1 (4.16) (†) 66.8 (3.16) 67.6 (3.97)
High school/GED1  66.5 (1.28) 71.3 (1.59) 66.9 (2.62) 64.3 (1.27) 75.5 (1.32) 78.6 (2.44) 47.6 (1.46) 54.9 (1.91) 56.3 (3.10) (†) 73.2 (1.39) 72.8 (2.47)
Vocational/technical or some
    college
70.2 (1.23) 75.9 (1.54) 70.0 (2.56) 68.3 (1.18) 76.2 (1.51) 76.4 (2.15) 57.7 (1.41) 50.8 (1.75) 53.1 (2.69) (†) 71.6 (1.58) 69.0 (2.44)
Associate's degree 70.0 (2.04) 76.0 (2.00) 68.9 (2.58) 71.9 (1.88) 73.6 (2.47) 72.3 (3.13) 56.7 (2.31) 50.9 (3.16) 48.7 (3.17) (†) 70.1 (2.50) 64.9 (2.77)
Bachelor's degree/some
    graduate school
74.2 (1.39) 77.3 (1.60) 70.6 (2.11) 73.3 (1.10) 74.0 (1.48) 74.2 (1.31) 61.5 (1.57) 47.3 (1.74) 51.8 (2.06) (†) 75.8 (1.27) 69.4 (1.65)
Graduate/professional degree 71.4 (1.73) 78.6 (1.64) 77.9 (1.91) 73.3 (1.53) 73.9 (1.72) 74.1 (1.99) 61.4 (1.56) 60.1 (2.16) 55.9 (1.87) (†) 74.9 (1.82) 66.8 (1.88)
                                                 
Family income (in current dollars)                                                
$5,000 or less 67.5 (4.39) 79.5 (4.52) 63.9 (7.52) 55.9 (4.38) 78.9 (4.61) 76.7 (7.70) 54.5 (4.27) 71.0 (4.75) 50.3 (7.92) (†) 74.1 (3.94) 77.8 (5.04)
$5,001 to 10,000 69.6 (2.30) 70.9 (3.88) 58.6 (7.15) 58.4 (2.93) 75.3 (3.30) 78.9 (5.56) 49.8 (3.46) 63.7 (4.64) 62.5 (6.49) (†) 76.8 (3.82) 74.3 (5.79)
$10,001 to 15,000 66.7 (2.62) 70.0 (3.62) 72.4 (4.17) 61.2 (2.99) 74.6 (4.03) 83.8 (3.94) 54.7 (2.48) 58.8 (4.30) 58.9 (5.61) (†) 70.0 (4.15) 71.8 (4.83)
$15,001 to 20,000 62.3 (2.29) 76.9 (3.45) 64.6 (7.55) 64.1 (2.70) 76.1 (3.74) 79.6 (4.10) 49.2 (2.78) 57.3 (3.48) 58.7 (6.60) (†) 73.1 (3.34) 72.2 (5.36)
$20,001 to 25,000 68.1 (2.34) 71.6 (2.86) 67.0 (5.11) 63.9 (2.42) 80.6 (2.33) 73.0 (5.58) 53.4 (2.82) 60.4 (3.71) 61.0 (5.19) (†) 70.0 (2.95) 72.4 (4.21)
$25,001 to 30,000 70.6 (2.32) 74.2 (2.86) 67.6 (5.92) 68.7 (2.42) 71.9 (3.47) 84.3 (3.45) 53.3 (2.34) 52.3 (4.08) 58.4 (5.16) (†) 73.0 (3.42) 63.5 (5.93)
$30,001 to 35,000 69.3 (1.85) 73.3 (2.88) 69.5 (4.44) 66.1 (2.51) 78.1 (2.72) 73.8 (4.98) 54.6 (2.68) 52.9 (3.86) 65.2 (4.25) (†) 72.5 (3.24) 67.7 (4.55)
$35,001 to 40,000 72.5 (1.94) 74.5 (3.68) 69.3 (4.21) 71.6 (1.96) 75.5 (2.97) 80.5 (2.81) 56.9 (2.33) 44.6 (3.73) 52.9 (3.81) (†) 71.7 (4.03) 62.5 (4.25)
$40,001 to 50,000 69.0 (1.82) 75.7 (2.20) 73.0 (2.88) 72.2 (1.87) 71.9 (2.48) 75.8 (2.89) 55.8 (1.83) 55.0 (2.94) 54.9 (3.17) (†) 73.8 (2.62) 65.8 (3.55)
$50,001 to 75,000 70.9 (1.43) 74.9 (1.53) 69.1 (2.00) 72.5 (1.41) 75.3 (1.55) 75.5 (1.94) 53.8 (1.37) 49.6 (1.99) 44.4 (2.27) (†) 72.1 (1.51) 66.6 (2.26)
$75,001 to 100,000 (†) 74.7 (2.02) 72.4 (2.29) (†) 71.2 (1.98) 73.0 (2.03) (†) 48.8 (2.28) 49.4 (2.77) (†) 73.3 (2.30) 70.5 (2.41)
Over $100,000 (†) 78.6 (1.52) 75.3 (1.86) (†) 75.1 (1.87) 72.5 (1.89) (†) 50.1 (1.93) 55.4 (2.09) (†) 74.7 (1.81) 69.1 (1.69)
                                                 
Child attending public school 68.8 (0.65) 75.0 (0.68) 69.6 (1.19) 67.5 (0.66) 75.2 (0.72) 75.9 (0.99) 54.5 (0.73) 52.4 (0.98) 54.0 (1.16) (†) 73.4 (0.74) 68.9 (1.06)
Child attending private school 73.7 (1.58) 74.2 (2.09) 75.2 (2.51) 71.6 (1.64) 72.1 (1.94) 74.8 (2.76) 58.2 (1.68) 58.1 (2.17) 50.6 (2.72) (†) 69.1 (1.99) 69.6 (2.40)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met (too few cases).
1 GED = General Educational Development.
NOTE: The respondent was the parent most knowledgeable about the child's education. Responding parents reported on their own activities and the activities of their spouse/other adults in the household. Excludes homeschooled children. Totals include other racial/ethnic groups not separately shown. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. 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, Parent Survey (Parent:1999) and Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey (PFI:2003 and 2007) of the National Household Education Surveys Program. (This table was prepared August 2010.)

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