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


Table 143. Percentage of students at or above selected National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading achievement levels, by grade and selected student characteristics: Selected years, 1998 through 2011
  [Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Grade and selected student characteristic 1998 2000 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
At or above Basic1 At or above Profi-cient2 At or above Basic1 At or above Profi-cient2 At or above Basic1 At or above Profi-cient2 At or above Basic1 At or above Profi-cient2 At or above Basic1 At or above Profi-cient2 At or above Basic1 At or above Profi-cient2 At or above Basic1 At or above Profi-cient2 At or above Basic1 At or above Profi-cient2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
4th grade, all students 60 (1.2) 29 (0.9) 59 (1.4) 29 (1.1) 64 (0.5) 31 (0.4) 63 (0.3) 31 (0.3) 64 (0.3) 31 (0.2) 67 (0.3) 33 (0.3) 67 (0.3) 33 (0.4) 67 (0.3) 34 (0.4)
Sex                                                                
Male 57 (1.3) 27 (1.1) 55 (1.4) 25 (1.2) 61 (0.6) 28 (0.5) 60 (0.4) 28 (0.3) 61 (0.4) 29 (0.3) 64 (0.4) 30 (0.3) 64 (0.3) 30 (0.4) 64 (0.4) 31 (0.4)
Female 62 (1.5) 32 (1.2) 64 (1.6) 34 (1.4) 67 (0.6) 35 (0.5) 67 (0.4) 35 (0.4) 67 (0.3) 34 (0.3) 70 (0.3) 36 (0.4) 70 (0.4) 36 (0.4) 71 (0.4) 37 (0.5)
                                                                 
Race/ethnicity                                                                
White 70 (1.3) 37 (1.2) 70 (1.2) 38 (1.2) 75 (0.4) 41 (0.5) 75 (0.3) 41 (0.4) 76 (0.3) 41 (0.3) 78 (0.3) 43 (0.4) 78 (0.3) 42 (0.4) 78 (0.3) 44 (0.4)
Black 36 (1.8) 10 (1.1) 35 (1.6) 10 (1.0) 40 (0.7) 12 (0.5) 40 (0.5) 13 (0.4) 42 (0.5) 13 (0.3) 46 (0.6) 14 (0.4) 48 (0.8) 16 (0.5) 49 (0.6) 17 (0.5)
Hispanic 37 (3.2) 13 (1.7) 37 (3.0) 13 (1.8) 44 (1.4) 15 (0.7) 44 (0.7) 15 (0.5) 46 (0.7) 16 (0.5) 50 (0.6) 17 (0.6) 49 (0.7) 17 (0.5) 51 (0.8) 18 (0.5)
Asian/Pacific Islander 58 (6.1) 30 (4.5) 70 (5.0) 41 (5.7) 70 (2.2) 37 (1.9) 70 (1.5) 38 (1.4) 73 (0.9) 42 (0.9) 77 (1.0) 46 (1.4) 80 (1.0) 49 (1.3) 80 (1.2) 49 (1.7)
American Indian/Alaska Native (†) (†) 63 (10.9) 28 (8.9) 51 (2.8) 22 (2.4) 47 (2.0) 16 (1.5) 48 (1.5) 18 (1.0) 49 (1.4) 18 (1.1) 50 (1.7) 20 (1.4) 47 (1.7) 18 (1.4)
                                                                 
Eligibility for free or reduced-
   price lunch
                                                               
Eligible 39 (1.8) 13 (1.0) 38 (1.8) 13 (1.1) 46 (0.8) 16 (0.5) 45 (0.4) 15 (0.3) 46 (0.4) 16 (0.3) 50 (0.4) 17 (0.3) 51 (0.4) 17 (0.3) 52 (0.4) 18 (0.3)
Not eligible 73 (0.9) 40 (1.2) 73 (1.4) 39 (1.5) 77 (0.5) 42 (0.7) 76 (0.3) 42 (0.5) 77 (0.2) 42 (0.3) 79 (0.3) 44 (0.4) 80 (0.3) 45 (0.4) 82 (0.3) 48 (0.5)
Unknown 69 (3.0) 37 (3.8) 71 (2.4) 40 (2.4) 71 (1.9) 39 (1.6) 76 (0.9) 43 (1.1) 77 (1.1) 45 (1.4) 80 (1.3) 46 (1.8) 81 (1.9) 50 (1.9) 82 (1.0) 48 (1.3)
8th grade, all students 73 (0.8) 32 (1.1) (†) (†) 75 (0.5) 33 (0.5) 74 (0.3) 32 (0.3) 73 (0.2) 31 (0.2) 74 (0.2) 31 (0.2) 75 (0.3) 32 (0.4) 76 (0.3) 34 (0.3)
Sex                                                                
Male 67 (1.2) 26 (1.2) (†) (†) 71 (0.5) 28 (0.6) 69 (0.3) 27 (0.3) 68 (0.3) 26 (0.3) 69 (0.4) 26 (0.3) 71 (0.4) 28 (0.4) 72 (0.4) 29 (0.3)
Female 80 (0.9) 39 (1.3) (†) (†) 80 (0.5) 38 (0.6) 79 (0.3) 38 (0.3) 78 (0.2) 36 (0.3) 79 (0.3) 36 (0.3) 79 (0.4) 37 (0.5) 80 (0.3) 38 (0.4)
                                                                 
Race/ethnicity                                                                
White 81 (0.9) 39 (1.3) (†) (†) 84 (0.4) 41 (0.6) 83 (0.2) 41 (0.3) 82 (0.2) 39 (0.3) 84 (0.3) 40 (0.3) 84 (0.2) 41 (0.4) 85 (0.2) 43 (0.4)
Black 53 (1.8) 13 (1.5) (†) (†) 55 (1.0) 13 (0.7) 54 (0.6) 13 (0.4) 52 (0.6) 12 (0.4) 55 (0.6) 13 (0.4) 57 (0.6) 14 (0.5) 59 (0.7) 15 (0.5)
Hispanic 53 (2.4) 14 (1.0) (†) (†) 57 (1.3) 15 (0.8) 56 (0.9) 15 (0.6) 56 (0.6) 15 (0.4) 58 (0.5) 15 (0.4) 61 (0.8) 17 (0.6) 64 (0.8) 19 (0.5)
Asian/Pacific Islander 75 (8.8) 33 (5.6) (†) (†) 76 (2.0) 36 (1.9) 79 (1.2) 40 (1.6) 80 (0.8) 40 (1.2) 80 (1.1) 41 (1.1) 83 (1.1) 45 (1.7) 83 (1.0) 47 (1.4)
American Indian/Alaska Native (†) (†) (†) (†) 61 (4.6) 17 (2.3) 57 (3.3) 17 (1.7) 59 (2.1) 17 (1.7) 56 (1.9) 18 (1.3) 62 (2.0) 21 (1.2) 63 (1.4) 22 (1.7)
                                                                 
Eligibility for free or reduced-
   price lunch
                                                               
Eligible 56 (1.3) 14 (1.0) (†) (†) 60 (0.7) 17 (0.5) 57 (0.5) 16 (0.3) 57 (0.4) 15 (0.3) 58 (0.4) 15 (0.2) 60 (0.5) 16 (0.3) 63 (0.5) 18 (0.3)
Not eligible 80 (1.0) 38 (1.5) (†) (†) 84 (0.5) 40 (0.6) 82 (0.3) 40 (0.4) 81 (0.3) 39 (0.2) 83 (0.3) 40 (0.4) 85 (0.3) 42 (0.5) 86 (0.3) 45 (0.4)
Unknown 80 (1.9) 43 (2.5) (†) (†) 81 (1.0) 41 (1.7) 81 (0.9) 42 (1.2) 84 (1.0) 45 (1.3) 86 (1.0) 48 (1.6) 89 (1.3) 51 (1.8) 90 (0.8) 54 (1.4)
12th grade, all students 76 (0.7) 40 (0.7) (†) (†) 74 (0.8) 36 (0.8) (†) (†) 73 (0.8) 35 (0.7) (†) (†) 74 (0.6) 38 (0.8) (†) (†)
Sex                                                                
Male 70 (0.9) 32 (0.9) (†) (†) 67 (0.9) 28 (1.0) (†) (†) 67 (0.9) 29 (0.9) (†) (†) 69 (0.8) 32 (0.9) (†) (†)
Female 83 (0.8) 48 (1.1) (†) (†) 80 (1.0) 44 (1.0) (†) (†) 78 (0.9) 41 (0.9) (†) (†) 80 (0.6) 43 (1.0) (†) (†)
                                                                 
Race/ethnicity                                                                
White 82 (0.7) 47 (0.9) (†) (†) 79 (0.8) 42 (1.0) (†) (†) 79 (0.8) 43 (0.9) (†) (†) 81 (0.5) 46 (0.8) (†) (†)
Black 57 (1.9) 17 (1.4) (†) (†) 54 (2.3) 16 (1.2) (†) (†) 54 (1.5) 16 (1.2) (†) (†) 57 (1.3) 17 (1.2) (†) (†)
Hispanic 62 (2.5) 24 (1.5) (†) (†) 61 (2.3) 22 (1.8) (†) (†) 60 (1.9) 20 (1.3) (†) (†) 61 (1.1) 22 (1.3) (†) (†)
Asian/Pacific Islander 74 (3.1) 38 (2.9) (†) (†) 73 (2.9) 34 (2.9) (†) (†) 74 (2.3) 36 (2.3) (†) (†) 81 (1.5) 49 (2.9) (†) (†)
American Indian/Alaska Native (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 67 (10.1) 26 (8.6) (†) (†) 70 (6.4) 29 (5.5) (†) (†)
                                                                 
Eligibility for free or reduced-
   price lunch
                                                               
Eligible 56 (1.6) 19 (1.4) (†) (†) 60 (1.7) 22 (1.4) (†) (†) 59 (1.4) 20 (0.8) (†) (†) 61 (0.8) 21 (1.1) (†) (†)
Not eligible 79 (0.6) 43 (0.8) (†) (†) 76 (1.0) 38 (1.1) (†) (†) 76 (0.8) 39 (0.8) (†) (†) 79 (0.6) 44 (0.9) (†) (†)
Unknown 81 (1.6) 45 (2.0) (†) (†) 80 (1.7) 43 (2.0) (†) (†) 80 (2.0) 46 (2.1) (†) (†) 81 (2.3) 48 (3.0) (†) (†)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).
1 Basic denotes partial mastery of the knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at a given grade.
2 Proficient represents solid academic performance. Students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter.
NOTE: Includes public and private schools. 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), 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, and 2011 Reading Assessments, retrieved August 8, 2012, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared August 2012.)

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