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Digest of Education Statistics
2012 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 142. Average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scale score, by grade and selected student and school characteristics: Selected years, 1992 through 2011
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Grade and selected student or
school characteristic
19921 19941 1998 2000 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
4th grade, all students 217 (0.9) 214 (1.0) 215 (1.1) 213 (1.3) 219 (0.4) 218 (0.3) 219 (0.2) 221 (0.3) 221 (0.3) 221 (0.3)
Sex                                        
Male 213 (1.2) 209 (1.3) 212 (1.3) 208 (1.3) 215 (0.4) 215 (0.3) 216 (0.2) 218 (0.3) 218 (0.3) 218 (0.3)
Female 221 (1.0) 220 (1.1) 217 (1.3) 219 (1.4) 222 (0.5) 222 (0.3) 222 (0.3) 224 (0.3) 224 (0.3) 225 (0.3)
Gap between female and male score 8 (1.6) 10 (1.7) 5 (1.8) 11 (1.9) 6 (0.6) 7 (0.4) 6 (0.4) 7 (0.4) 7 (0.4) 7 (0.5)
                                         
Race/ethnicity                                        
White 224 (1.2) 224 (1.3) 225 (1.0) 224 (1.1) 229 (0.3) 229 (0.2) 229 (0.2) 231 (0.2) 230 (0.3) 231 (0.2)
Black 192 (1.7) 185 (1.8) 193 (1.9) 190 (1.8) 199 (0.5) 198 (0.4) 200 (0.3) 203 (0.4) 205 (0.5) 205 (0.5)
Hispanic 197 (2.6) 188 (3.4) 193 (3.2) 190 (2.9) 201 (1.3) 200 (0.6) 203 (0.5) 205 (0.5) 205 (0.5) 206 (0.5)
Asian/Pacific Islander 216 (2.9) 220 (3.8) 215 (5.6) 225 (5.2) 224 (1.6) 226 (1.2) 229 (0.7) 232 (1.0) 235 (1.0) 235 (1.2)
American Indian/Alaska Native (†) 211 (6.6) (†) 214 (6.0) 207 (2.0) 202 (1.4) 204 (1.3) 203 (1.2) 204 (1.3) 202 (1.3)
                                         
Gap between White and Black score 32 (2.1) 38 (2.2) 32 (2.2) 34 (2.1) 30 (0.6) 31 (0.5) 29 (0.4) 27 (0.5) 26 (0.6) 25 (0.5)
Gap between White and Hispanic score 27 (2.9) 35 (3.6) 32 (3.3) 35 (3.1) 28 (1.4) 28 (0.6) 26 (0.5) 26 (0.5) 25 (0.6) 24 (0.6)
                                         
Percentage of students in school
eligible for free or reduced-price
lunch
                                       
0-25 percent (low poverty) (†) (†) 231 (1.4) 231 (1.5) 233 (0.4) 233 (0.4) 234 (0.3) 235 (0.4) 237 (0.4) 238 (0.5)
26-50 percent (†) (†) 218 (1.6) 218 (1.3) 221 (0.5) 221 (0.5) 221 (0.3) 223 (0.4) 223 (0.5) 226 (0.5)
51-75 percent (†) (†) 205 (1.8) 205 (2.1) 210 (0.7) 211 (0.5) 211 (0.4) 212 (0.4) 215 (0.5) 217 (0.4)
76-100 percent (high poverty) (†) (†) 187 (3.1) 184 (2.8) 196 (0.7) 194 (0.5) 197 (0.4) 200 (0.5) 202 (0.5) 203 (0.5)
Gap between low-poverty and high-
poverty score
(†) (†) 44 (3.4) 48 (3.2) 37 (0.9) 39 (0.7) 37 (0.5) 35 (0.7) 35 (0.6) 35 (0.7)
                                         
English language learner (ELL) status                                        
ELL (†) (†) 174 (5.2) 167 (5.2) 183 (2.1) 186 (0.8) 187 (0.5) 188 (0.6) 188 (0.8) 188 (0.8)
Non-ELL (†) (†) 217 (1.0) 216 (1.1) 221 (0.3) 221 (0.3) 222 (0.2) 224 (0.3) 224 (0.3) 225 (0.3)
Gap between non-ELL and ELL score (†) (†) 43 (5.3) 49 (5.3) 38 (2.1) 35 (0.8) 35 (0.6) 36 (0.6) 36 (0.8) 36 (0.9)
8th grade, all students 260 (0.9) 260 (0.8) 263 (0.8) (†) 264 (0.4) 263 (0.3) 262 (0.2) 263 (0.2) 264 (0.3) 265 (0.2)
Sex                                        
Male 254 (1.1) 252 (1.0) 256 (1.0) (†) 260 (0.5) 258 (0.3) 257 (0.2) 258 (0.3) 259 (0.3) 261 (0.3)
Female 267 (1.0) 267 (1.0) 270 (0.8) (†) 269 (0.5) 269 (0.3) 267 (0.2) 268 (0.3) 269 (0.3) 270 (0.2)
Gap between female and male score 13 (1.5) 15 (1.4) 14 (1.3) (†) 9 (0.7) 11 (0.4) 10 (0.3) 10 (0.4) 9 (0.5) 9 (0.4)
                                         
Race/ethnicity                                        
White 267 (1.1) 267 (1.0) 270 (0.9) (†) 272 (0.4) 272 (0.2) 271 (0.2) 272 (0.2) 273 (0.2) 274 (0.2)
Black 237 (1.7) 236 (1.8) 244 (1.2) (†) 245 (0.7) 244 (0.5) 243 (0.4) 245 (0.4) 246 (0.4) 249 (0.5)
Hispanic 241 (1.6) 243 (1.2) 243 (1.7) (†) 247 (0.8) 245 (0.7) 246 (0.4) 247 (0.4) 249 (0.6) 252 (0.5)
Asian/Pacific Islander 268 (3.9) 265 (3.0) 264 (7.1) (†) 267 (1.7) 270 (1.1) 271 (0.8) 271 (1.1) 274 (1.1) 275 (1.0)
American Indian/Alaska Native (†) 248 (4.7) (†) (†) 250 (3.5) 246 (3.0) 249 (1.4) 247 (1.2) 251 (1.2) 252 (1.2)
                                         
Gap between White and Black score 30 (2.0) 30 (2.1) 26 (1.5) (†) 27 (0.9) 28 (0.5) 28 (0.5) 27 (0.5) 26 (0.5) 25 (0.5)
Gap between White and Hispanic score 26 (2.0) 24 (1.5) 27 (1.9) (†) 26 (0.9) 27 (0.7) 25 (0.5) 25 (0.5) 24 (0.7) 22 (0.5)
                                         
Percentage of students in school
eligible for free or reduced-price
lunch
                                       
0-25 percent (low poverty) (†) (†) 273 (1.1) (†) 276 (0.6) 275 (0.4) 274 (0.3) 275 (0.4) 277 (0.5) 279 (0.4)
26-50 percent (†) (†) 262 (1.3) (†) 264 (0.6) 263 (0.4) 262 (0.3) 263 (0.4) 265 (0.4) 268 (0.4)
51-75 percent (†) (†) 252 (2.1) (†) 254 (0.8) 253 (0.6) 252 (0.4) 253 (0.5) 256 (0.6) 258 (0.5)
76-100 percent (high poverty) (†) (†) 240 (1.8) (†) 240 (1.1) 239 (1.0) 240 (0.6) 241 (0.7) 243 (0.7) 247 (0.5)
Gap between low-poverty and high-
poverty score
(†) (†) 33 (2.1) (†) 36 (1.3) 36 (1.1) 34 (0.7) 34 (0.8) 34 (0.8) 32 (0.7)
                                         
English language learner (ELL) status                                        
ELL (†) (†) 218 (2.5) (†) 224 (1.4) 222 (1.5) 224 (0.9) 223 (1.1) 219 (1.0) 224 (1.0)
Non-ELL (†) (†) 264 (0.7) (†) 266 (0.4) 265 (0.3) 264 (0.2) 265 (0.2) 266 (0.2) 267 (0.2)
Gap between non-ELL and ELL score (†) (†) 46 (2.6) (†) 42 (1.4) 43 (1.5) 40 (0.9) 42 (1.1) 47 (1.0) 44 (1.0)
12th grade, all students 292 (0.6) 287 (0.7) 290 (0.6) (†) 287 (0.7) (†) 286 (0.6) (†) 288 (0.7) (†)
Sex                                        
Male 287 (0.7) 280 (0.8) 282 (0.8) (†) 279 (0.9) (†) 279 (0.8) (†) 282 (0.7) (†)
Female 297 (0.7) 294 (0.8) 298 (0.8) (†) 295 (0.7) (†) 292 (0.7) (†) 294 (0.8) (†)
Gap between female and male score 10 (1.0) 14 (1.2) 16 (1.1) (†) 16 (1.1) (†) 13 (1.1) (†) 12 (1.1) (†)
                                         
Race/ethnicity                                        
White 297 (0.6) 293 (0.7) 297 (0.7) (†) 292 (0.7) (†) 293 (0.7) (†) 296 (0.6) (†)
Black 273 (1.4) 265 (1.6) 269 (1.4) (†) 267 (1.3) (†) 267 (1.2) (†) 269 (1.1) (†)
Hispanic 279 (2.7) 270 (1.7) 275 (1.5) (†) 273 (1.5) (†) 272 (1.2) (†) 274 (1.0) (†)
Asian/Pacific Islander 290 (3.2) 278 (2.4) 287 (2.7) (†) 286 (2.0) (†) 287 (1.9) (†) 298 (2.4) (†)
American Indian/Alaska Native (†) 274 (5.8) (†) (†) (†) (†) 279 (6.3) (†) 283 (3.7) (†)
                                         
Gap between White and Black score 24 (1.5) 29 (1.7) 27 (1.6) (†) 25 (1.5) (†) 26 (1.4) (†) 27 (1.3) (†)
Gap between White and Hispanic score 19 (2.8) 23 (1.8) 22 (1.7) (†) 20 (1.7) (†) 21 (1.4) (†) 22 (1.2) (†)
                                         
Percentage of students in school
eligible for free or reduced-price
lunch
                                       
0-25 percent (low poverty) (†) (†) 296 (0.9) (†) 293 (0.9) (†) 292 (1.1) (†) 299 (1.1) (†)
26-50 percent (†) (†) 284 (1.7) (†) 282 (1.6) (†) 282 (1.1) (†) 286 (0.8) (†)
51-75 percent (†) (†) 275 (2.0) (†) 275 (2.6) (†) 273 (1.8) (†) 276 (1.1) (†)
76-100 percent (high poverty) (†) (†) 272 (3.3) (†) 268 (2.4) (†) 266 (2.0) (†) 266 (1.0) (†)
Gap between low-poverty and high-
poverty score
(†) (†) 23 (3.4) (†) 25 (2.6) (†) 26 (2.3) (†) 33 (1.5) (†)
                                         
English language learner (ELL) status                                        
ELL (†) (†) 244 (2.6) (†) 245 (2.4) (†) 247 (2.4) (†) 240 (2.1) (†)
Non-ELL (†) (†) 291 (0.6) (†) 288 (0.7) (†) 288 (0.6) (†) 290 (0.7) (†)
Gap between non-ELL and ELL score (†) (†) 46 (2.7) (†) 43 (2.5) (†) 40 (2.4) (†) 50 (2.2) (†)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).
1 Accommodations were not permitted for this assessment.
NOTE: Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Includes public and private schools. For 1998 and later years, includes students tested with accommodations (1 to 10 percent of all students, depending on grade level and year); excludes only those students with disabilities and English language learners who were unable to be tested even with accommodations (2 to 6 percent of all students). Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2011 Reading Assessments, retrieved June 12, 2012, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared June 2012.)

2012 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest