Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
1997 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 120.Average proficiency in mathematics content areas for 8th graders in public schools, by region and state: 1996

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    
                      |            |Percent attaining mathematics                |Percent of students by highest level of
                      |            |achievement levels\1\                        |education attained by parents\2\
                      |            |_____________________________________________|______________________________________
        State         |Average     |         |           |           |           |        |        |          |
                      |proficiency |         |           |           |           |Did not |Gradu-  |Some edu- |Gradu-
                      |            |Below    |Basic      |Profi-     |Advanced   |finish  |ated    |cation    |ated
                      |            |basic    |or above\3\|cient      |or above\5\|high    |high    |after high|college
                      |            |         |           |or above\4\|           |school  |school  |school    |
______________________|____________|_________|___________|___________|___________|________|________|__________|_________
          1           |   2        | 3       |  4        |  5        |  6        | 7      | 8      |  9       | 10
______________________|____________|_________|___________|___________|___________|________|________|__________|_________
     United States ...|   271 (1.1)| 38 (1.1)|  62  (1.1)|   24 (1.1)|    4 (0.5)| 8 (0.5)|23 (0.8)|  19 (0.8)| 39 (1.4)
                      |____________|_________|___________|___________|___________|________|________|__________|_________
        Region        |            |         |           |           |           |        |        |          |
  Northeast ..........|   277 (3.1)| 33 (3.1)|  67  (3.1)|   27 (3.7)|    5 (1.9)|     ---|     ---|       ---|      ---
  Southeast ..........|   266 (2.6)| 44 (3.2)|  56  (3.2)|   18 (1.8)|    3 (0.6)|     ---|     ---|       ---|      ---
  Central ............|   277 (3.1)| 31 (3.4)|  69  (3.4)|   29 (2.5)|    5 (1.0)|     ---|     ---|       ---|      ---
  West ...............|   269 (2.2)| 41 (2.2)|  59  (2.2)|   22 (1.9)|    3 (0.6)|     ---|     ---|       ---|      ---
                      |============|=========|===========|===========|===========|========|========|==========|=========
        State         |            |         |           |           |           |        |        |          |
Alabama ..............|   257 (2.1)| 55 (2.6)|  45  (2.6)|   12 (1.8)|    1 (0.4)|10 (0.8)|30 (1.5)|  15 (0.8)| 37 (2.1)
Alaska ...............|   278 (1.8)| 32 (2.3)|  68  (2.3)|   30 (1.6)|    7 (1.1)| 4 (0.7)|19 (1.1)|  20 (1.1)| 43 (1.5)
Arizona ..............|   268 (1.6)| 43 (1.9)|  57  (1.9)|   18 (1.2)|    2 (0.3)| 9 (0.9)|18 (1.1)|  21 (1.0)| 38 (1.8)
Arkansas .............|   262 (1.5)| 48 (1.8)|  52  (1.8)|   13 (1.0)|    2 (0.4)|10 (0.8)|30 (1.6)|  19 (1.0)| 30 (1.4)
California ...........|   263 (1.9)| 49 (2.1)|  51  (2.1)|   17 (1.5)|    3 (0.5)|10 (0.8)|17 (0.8)|  16 (1.0)| 38 (1.7)
                      |            |         |           |           |           |        |        |          |
Colorado .............|   276 (1.1)| 33 (1.3)|  67  (1.3)|   25 (1.3)|    3 (0.5)| 6 (0.6)|19 (0.9)|  20 (0.8)| 45 (1.5)
Connecticut ..........|   280 (1.1)| 30 (1.4)|  70  (1.4)|   31 (1.5)|    5 (0.6)| 5 (0.6)|19 (0.9)|  17 (0.8)| 51 (1.3)
Delaware .............|   267 (0.9)| 45 (1.3)|  55  (1.3)|   19 (1.0)|    3 (0.6)| 5 (0.5)|27 (1.2)|  19 (0.9)| 38 (1.2)
District of Columbia .|   233 (1.3)| 80 (1.2)|  20  (1.2)|    5 (0.8)|    1 (0.3)| 7 (0.6)|28 (1.1)|  18 (0.9)| 33 (1.3)
Florida ..............|   264 (1.8)| 46 (2.1)|  54  (2.1)|   17 (1.3)|    2 (0.4)| 8 (0.7)|23 (1.1)|  18 (0.9)| 40 (1.6)
                      |            |         |           |           |           |        |        |          |
Georgia ..............|   262 (1.6)| 49 (2.0)|  51  (2.0)|   16 (1.8)|    2 (0.5)| 8 (0.7)|27 (1.4)|  18 (1.0)| 39 (2.0)
Hawaii ...............|   262 (1.0)| 49 (1.5)|  51  (1.5)|   16 (0.9)|    2 (0.4)| 4 (0.5)|26 (1.1)|  16 (0.8)| 38 (1.0)
Indiana...............|   276 (1.4)| 32 (2.0)|  68  (2.0)|   24 (1.7)|    3 (0.5)| 7 (0.7)|30 (1.2)|  21 (1.1)| 36 (1.4)
Iowa .................|   284 (1.3)| 22 (1.4)|  78  (1.4)|   31 (1.8)|    4 (0.6)| 5 (0.5)|24 (1.6)|  19 (0.9)| 46 (1.7)
Kentucky .............|   267 (1.1)| 44 (1.6)|  56  (1.6)|   16 (1.2)|    1 (0.3)|13 (0.8)|31 (0.9)|  17 (0.8)| 30 (1.3)
                      |            |         |           |           |           |        |        |          |
Louisiana ............|   252 (1.6)| 62 (2.0)|  38  (2.0)|    7 (1.1)|    0 (0.2)| 9 (0.7)|33 (1.0)|  19 (0.8)| 30 (1.3)
Maine ................|   284 (1.3)| 23 (1.5)|  77  (1.5)|   31 (1.7)|    6 (0.7)| 5 (0.5)|23 (0.9)|  21 (1.1)| 44 (1.6)
Maryland .............|   270 (2.1)| 43 (2.2)|  57  (2.2)|   24 (2.3)|    5 (1.0)| 5 (0.6)|24 (1.3)|  17 (1.0)| 45 (1.6)
Massachusetts ........|   278 (1.7)| 32 (2.3)|  68  (2.3)|   28 (1.8)|    5 (0.8)| 6 (0.6)|18 (1.0)|  15 (0.8)| 51 (1.7)
Michigan .............|   277 (1.8)| 33 (2.1)|  67  (2.1)|   28 (1.8)|    4 (0.8)| 5 (0.5)|22 (1.5)|  21 (0.9)| 42 (1.6)
                      |            |         |           |           |           |        |        |          |
Minnesota ............|   284 (1.3)| 25 (1.5)|  75  (1.5)|   34 (1.8)|    6 (0.8)| 3 (0.3)|21 (1.1)|  19 (1.1)| 50 (1.6)
Mississippi ..........|   250 (1.2)| 64 (1.3)|  36  (1.3)|    7 (0.8)|    0 (0.2)|11 (0.6)|29 (1.1)|  15 (0.7)| 36 (1.2)
Missouri .............|   273 (1.4)| 36 (2.0)|  64  (2.0)|   22 (1.4)|    2 (0.5)| 8 (0.6)|27 (1.0)|  19 (0.9)| 37 (1.6)
Montana ..............|   283 (1.3)| 25 (1.7)|  75  (1.7)|   32 (1.5)|    5 (0.5)| 6 (0.8)|21 (1.1)|  20 (1.2)| 48 (1.5)
Nebraska .............|   283 (1.0)| 24 (1.1)|  76  (1.1)|   31 (1.5)|    5 (0.7)| 6 (0.7)|19 (1.5)|  18 (1.2)| 49 (2.4)
                      |            |         |           |           |           |        |        |          |
New Mexico ...........|   262 (1.2)| 49 (1.6)|  51  (1.6)|   14 (1.1)|    2 (0.3)|11 (0.9)|25 (1.1)|  19 (1.0)| 34 (1.3)
New York .............|   270 (1.7)| 39 (2.0)|  61  (2.0)|   22 (1.5)|    3 (0.5)| 6 (0.6)|20 (1.1)|  17 (1.0)| 45 (1.5)
North Carolina .......|   268 (1.4)| 44 (1.8)|  56  (1.8)|   20 (1.3)|    3 (0.6)| 7 (0.5)|24 (1.1)|  20 (0.9)| 40 (1.5)
North Dakota .........|   284 (0.9)| 23 (1.2)|  77  (1.2)|   33 (1.5)|    4 (0.7)| 3 (0.4)|19 (1.0)|  16 (0.7)| 55 (1.2)
Oregon ...............|   276 (1.5)| 33 (1.7)|  67  (1.7)|   26 (1.6)|    4 (0.7)| 7 (0.6)|18 (0.9)|  20 (1.0)| 44 (1.7)
                      |            |         |           |           |           |        |        |          |
Rhode Island .........|   269 (0.9)| 40 (1.6)|  60  (1.6)|   20 (1.3)|    3 (0.4)| 8 (0.5)|22 (0.9)|  17 (0.7)| 40 (0.9)
South Carolina .......|   261 (1.5)| 52 (1.7)|  48  (1.7)|   14 (1.2)|    2 (0.4)| 9 (0.7)|28 (1.1)|  17 (0.9)| 37 (1.4)
Tennessee ..........  |   263 (1.4)| 47 (1.8)|  53  (1.8)|   15 (1.3)|    2 (0.3)|10 (0.7)|32 (1.4)|  19 (0.8)| 31 (1.6)
Texas ................|   270 (1.4)| 41 (1.8)|  59  (1.8)|   21 (1.5)|    3 (0.4)|13 (1.1)|21 (1.0)|  15 (1.0)| 38 (2.0)
Utah .................|   277 (1.0)| 30 (1.5)|  70  (1.5)|   24 (1.3)|    3 (0.4)| 3 (0.4)|17 (0.8)|  18 (0.8)| 53 (1.3)
                      |            |         |           |           |           |        |        |          |
Vermont ..............|   279 (1.0)| 28 (1.7)|  72  (1.7)|   27 (1.4)|    4 (0.6)| 5 (0.5)|25 (1.1)|  16 (0.9)| 49 (1.4)
Virginia .............|   270 (1.6)| 42 (2.0)|  58  (2.0)|   21 (1.2)|    3 (0.4)| 8 (0.8)|26 (1.1)|  16 (0.9)| 42 (1.7)
Washington ...........|   276 (1.3)| 33 (1.6)|  67  (1.6)|   26 (1.2)|    4 (0.7)| 6 (0.6)|16 (0.9)|  21 (0.8)| 46 (1.4)
West Virginia ........|   265 (1.0)| 46 (1.6)|  54  (1.6)|   14 (0.9)|    1 (0.4)|11 (0.8)|33 (0.9)|  19 (0.8)| 30 (1.1)
Wisconsin ............|   283 (1.5)| 25 (2.0)|  75  (2.0)|   32 (2.0)|    5 (0.8)| 5 (0.7)|26 (1.1)|  21 (0.9)| 40 (1.6)
Wyoming ..............|   275 (0.9)| 32 (1.2)|  68  (1.2)|   22 (1.0)|    2 (0.6)| 5 (0.5)|21 (0.9)|  20 (0.8)| 44 (1.2)
                      |============|=========|===========|===========|===========|========|========|==========|=========
    Outlying area     |            |         |           |           |           |        |        |          |
Guam .................|   239 (1.7)| 71 (1.6)|  29  (1.6)|    6 (0.8)|    0   ---| 2 (0.6)|21 (1.5)|  22 (1.7)| 43 (2.1)
______________________|____________|_________|___________|___________|___________|________|________|__________|_________

\1\Achievement levels are in development status.

\2\Excludes students who responded ``I don't know'' to the question about educational level of parents.

\3\This level denotes partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at the 8th grade.

\4\This level represents solid academic performance for 8th graders. Students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter, including subject-matter knowledge, application of such knowledge to real-world situations, and analytical skills appropriate to the subject matter.

\5\This level signifies superior performance.

---Data not available.

NOTE.--These test scores are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Forty-four states, the District of Columbia, and one outlying area participated in the 1996 Trial State Assessment of 8th graders. Results are not shown for states with a school participation rate of less than 70 percent. Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Standard errors appear in parentheses.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP 1996 Mathematics Report Card for the Nation and the States, prepared by Educational Testing Service. (This table was prepared August 1997.)



1997 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest