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

Table 124.Percent of students at or above selected science proficiency levels,\1\ by sex, race/ethnicity, control of school, and age: 1977 to 1996

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    
  Sex,  |               9-year-olds\2\             |          13-year-olds\3\                 |                 17-year-olds\3\
 race/  |__________________________________________|__________________________________________|_____________________________________________
 ethni- |  Know    |Understand|  Apply   | Analyze |Understand|  Apply   | Analyze  |Integrate|Understand |  Apply   | Analyze   |Integrate
 city,  | everyday |  simple  | general  |scienti- |  simple  | general  |scientific| specia- |  simple   | general  |scientific | specia-
  con-  |  science |scientific|scientific|fic pro- |scientific|scientific|procedures|  lized  |scientific |scientific|procedures |  lized
 trol,  | facts\4\ |  princi- |  infor-  |cedures  |  princi- |  infor-  |  and     |scientif-|  princi-  |  infor-  |  and      |scientific
  and   |          |  ples\5\ | mation\6\|  and    |  ples\5\ | mation\6\|  data\7\ |ic infor-|  ples\5\  | mation\6\|  data\7\  | infor-
  year  |          |          |          | data\7\ |          |          |          |mation\8\|           |          |           |mation\8\
________|__________|__________|__________|_________|__________|__________|__________|_________|___________|__________|___________|__________
   1    |  2       |  3       |  4       | 5       |  6       |  7       |  8       | 9       |  10       | 11       | 12        |  13
________|__________|__________|__________|_________|__________|__________|__________|_________|___________|__________|___________|__________
 Total  |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
1977 ...|93.5 (0.6)|68.0 (1.1)|25.7 (0.7)|3.2 (0.3)|86.0 (0.7)|48.8 (1.1)|11.1 (0.5)|0.7 (0.1)| 97.1 (0.2)|81.6 (0.7)|41.7  (0.9)| 8.5 (0.4)
1982 ...|95.2 (0.7)|70.7 (1.9)|24.3 (1.8)|2.3 (0.7)|89.8 (0.8)|50.9 (1.6)| 9.6 (0.7)|0.4 (0.1)| 95.7 (0.5)|76.6 (1.0)|37.3  (0.9)| 7.1 (0.4)
1986 ...|96.2 (0.3)|72.0 (1.1)|27.5 (1.4)|3.0 (0.5)|91.6 (1.0)|52.5 (1.6)| 9.1 (0.9)|0.2 (0.1)| 97.1 (0.5)|80.7 (1.3)|41.3  (1.4)| 7.9 (0.7)
1990 ...|97.0 (0.3)|76.4 (0.9)|31.1 (0.8)|3.1 (0.3)|92.3 (0.7)|56.5 (1.0)|11.2 (0.6)|0.4 (0.1)| 96.7 (0.3)|81.2 (0.9)|43.3  (1.3)| 9.2 (0.5)
1992 ...|97.4 (0.3)|78.0 (1.2)|32.8 (1.0)|3.4 (0.3)|93.1 (0.5)|61.3 (1.1)|12.0 (0.8)|0.2 (0.1)| 97.8 (0.5)|83.3 (1.2)|46.6  (1.5)|10.1 (0.7)
1994 ...|97.2 (0.4)|77.4 (1.0)|33.7 (1.2)|3.8 (0.4)|92.4 (0.6)|59.5 (1.1)|11.8 (0.9)|0.2 (0.1)| 97.1 (0.7)|83.1 (1.2)|47.5  (1.3)|10.0 (0.8)
1996 ...|96.8 (0.5)|76.0 (1.0)|32.4 (1.2)|4.4 (0.5)|92.2 (0.6)|57.7 (1.2)|12.3 (0.6)|0.4 (0.2)| 97.8 (0.3)|83.6 (0.9)|48.5  (1.3)|10.8 (0.9)
        |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
  Male  |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
1977 ...|94.3 (0.5)|69.5 (1.2)|27.4 (0.9)|3.7 (0.3)|87.2 (0.8)|52.3 (1.3)|13.1 (0.6)|0.9 (0.2)| 97.8 (0.2)|85.2 (0.7)|48.8  (1.1)|11.8 (0.6)
1982 ...|95.0 (1.0)|69.7 (2.0)|25.6 (2.6)|2.5 (1.0)|91.9 (0.8)|56.2 (1.8)|12.6 (1.1)|0.5 (0.2)| 96.8 (0.5)|81.2 (1.2)|45.2  (1.2)|10.4 (0.8)
1986 ...|96.8 (0.5)|74.1 (1.4)|29.9 (2.0)|3.8 (0.6)|92.9 (1.0)|57.3 (2.1)|11.9 (1.3)|0.3 (0.2)| 97.4 (0.7)|82.4 (1.4)|48.8  (2.1)|11.4 (1.3)
1990 ...|96.8 (0.5)|76.3 (1.2)|33.1 (1.1)|4.2 (0.6)|92.7 (0.8)|59.8 (1.3)|14.0 (0.9)|0.6 (0.2)| 96.8 (0.5)|82.5 (1.2)|48.2  (1.6)|13.0 (0.8)
1992 ...|97.7 (0.3)|80.4 (1.4)|37.2 (1.7)|4.6 (0.6)|93.1 (0.8)|62.9 (1.4)|14.2 (1.1)|0.3 (0.1)| 98.0 (0.6)|85.0 (1.4)|50.9  (2.0)|13.6 (1.0)
1994 ...|97.1 (0.4)|77.6 (0.9)|35.3 (1.4)|4.5 (0.7)|92.2 (0.8)|62.0 (1.3)|14.8 (1.1)|0.3 (0.2)| 97.1 (0.6)|84.9 (1.3)|52.9  (1.8)|13.8 (1.2)
1996 ...|96.9 (0.5)|77.0 (1.7)|34.4 (1.8)|5.4 (0.8)|93.2 (0.9)|61.9 (1.4)|15.7 (0.8)|0.7 (0.3)| 97.6 (0.5)|83.9 (1.1)|53.3  (1.7)|14.3 (1.5)
        |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
 Female |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
1977 ...|92.8 (0.7)|66.5 (1.1)|24.0 (0.9)|2.6 (0.3)|84.7 (0.8)|45.4 (1.2)| 9.0 (0.5)|0.4 (0.1)| 96.4 (0.3)|78.0 (1.0)|34.8  (1.0)| 5.3 (0.4)
1982 ...|95.5 (1.2)|71.8 (2.2)|23.0 (2.0)|2.1 (0.6)|87.9 (1.0)|46.0 (1.6)| 6.9 (0.7)|0.2 (0.1)| 94.6 (0.8)|72.2 (1.3)|29.9  (1.2)| 3.9 (0.4)
1986 ...|95.6 (0.6)|70.0 (1.3)|25.1 (1.4)|2.2 (0.5)|90.3 (1.2)|47.7 (1.7)| 6.3 (1.1)|0.1 (0.1)| 96.9 (0.5)|79.1 (1.7)|34.1  (1.5)| 4.5 (0.8)
1990 ...|97.1 (0.4)|76.4 (1.1)|29.1 (1.0)|2.0 (0.3)|92.0 (0.8)|53.3 (1.4)| 8.5 (0.6)|0.2   ---| 96.6 (0.6)|79.9 (1.4)|38.7  (1.7)| 5.5 (0.5)
1992 ...|97.1 (0.5)|75.7 (1.2)|28.6 (1.1)|2.2 (0.3)|93.1 (0.7)|59.6 (1.4)| 9.9 (0.8)|0.2   ---| 97.5 (0.7)|81.6 (1.4)|42.0  (1.7)| 6.6 (1.0)
1994 ...|97.3 (0.5)|77.2 (1.4)|32.2 (1.5)|3.2 (0.4)|92.6 (0.6)|57.1 (1.4)| 8.8 (1.0)|0.1   ---| 97.2 (1.0)|81.6 (1.6)|42.4  (1.8)| 6.4 (0.6)
1996 ...|96.6 (0.6)|75.0 (0.9)|30.5 (1.8)|3.5 (0.6)|91.1 (0.9)|53.8 (1.7)| 9.1 (0.8)|0.2   ---| 98.0 (0.5)|83.4 (1.2)|43.9  (1.9)| 7.4 (0.9)
        |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
 White, |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
non-His-|          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
 panic  |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
1977 ...|97.7 (0.3)|76.8 (0.7)|30.8 (0.7)|3.9 (0.3)|92.2 (0.5)|56.5 (0.9)|13.4 (0.5)|0.8 (0.1)| 99.2 (0.1)|88.2 (0.4)|47.5  (0.7)|10.0 (0.4)
1982 ...|98.3 (0.4)|78.4 (2.0)|29.4 (2.1)|2.9 (0.9)|94.4 (0.6)|58.3 (1.4)|11.5 (0.8)|0.4 (0.1)| 98.6 (0.2)|84.9 (0.9)|43.9  (1.1)| 8.6 (0.6)
1986 ...|98.2 (0.3)|78.9 (1.0)|32.7 (1.5)|3.8 (0.6)|96.1 (0.8)|61.0 (1.7)|11.3 (1.2)|0.3 (0.1)| 98.8 (0.3)|87.8 (1.4)|48.7  (1.7)| 9.6 (0.9)
1990 ...|99.2 (0.2)|84.4 (0.7)|37.5 (1.1)|3.9 (0.4)|96.9 (0.4)|66.5 (1.2)|14.2 (0.8)|0.5 (0.1)| 99.0 (0.2)|89.6 (0.8)|51.2  (1.5)|11.4 (0.7)
1992 ...|99.2 (0.1)|85.5 (0.9)|39.4 (1.1)|4.3 (0.4)|97.9 (0.4)|71.1 (1.3)|15.0 (1.0)|0.3 (0.1)| 99.3 (0.3)|90.5 (1.0)|55.4  (1.7)|12.8 (0.9)
1994 ...|99.1 (0.3)|85.6 (1.0)|40.8 (1.5)|4.9 (0.6)|97.6 (0.4)|70.5 (1.1)|14.8 (1.0)|0.3 (0.1)| 99.3 (0.3)|91.5 (0.9)|57.5  (1.6)|13.2 (1.1)
1996 ...|98.7 (0.4)|83.9 (1.1)|39.9 (1.5)|6.0 (0.7)|97.2 (0.5)|68.7 (1.4)|15.9 (0.9)|0.6 (0.3)| 99.4 (0.3)|91.3 (0.6)|58.7  (1.6)|14.0 (1.3)
        |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
 Black, |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
non-His-|          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
 panic  |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
1977 ...|72.4 (1.8)|27.2 (1.5)| 3.5 (0.6)|0.2   ---|57.3 (2.4)|14.9 (1.7)| 1.2 (0.4)|0.0   ---| 83.6 (1.3)|40.5 (1.5)| 7.7  (1.0)| 0.4 (0.2)
1982 ...|82.1 (3.0)|38.9 (2.7)| 3.9 (1.3)|0.1   ---|68.6 (2.4)|17.1 (1.9)| 0.8 (0.3)|0.0   ---| 79.7 (1.9)|35.0 (2.1)| 6.5  (1.1)| 0.2 (0.2)
1986 ...|88.6 (1.4)|46.2 (2.3)| 8.3 (1.5)|0.3   ---|73.6 (3.0)|19.6 (2.8)| 1.1 (0.4)|0.0   ---| 90.9 (2.1)|52.2 (3.2)|12.5  (2.2)| 0.9 (0.6)
1990 ...|88.0 (1.3)|46.4 (3.1)| 8.5 (1.1)|0.1   ---|77.6 (3.6)|24.3 (3.3)| 1.5 (0.5)|0.1   ---| 88.3 (1.9)|51.4 (3.7)|15.7  (4.0)| 1.5 (0.8)
1992 ...|90.7 (1.8)|51.3 (3.5)| 9.2 (1.4)|0.3   ---|73.8 (2.8)|26.2 (2.8)| 1.8 (0.8)|0.0   ---| 92.1 (1.8)|55.7 (3.7)|14.1  (2.5)| 0.8   ---
1994 ...|91.0 (1.5)|51.6 (2.3)|11.1 (1.4)|0.2   ---|73.5 (3.2)|22.4 (4.3)| 2.2   ---|0.0   ---| 91.1 (1.9)|58.1 (3.7)|15.4  (2.3)| 0.5 (0.3)
1996 ...|90.7 (1.5)|51.3 (3.0)|10.6 (1.9)|0.3   ---|76.3 (2.7)|25.3 (2.1)| 2.0 (0.9)|0.0   ---| 92.7 (1.4)|59.0 (3.4)|17.2  (2.1)| 0.9 (0.5)
        |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
Hispan- |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
   ic   |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
1977 ...|84.6 (1.8)|42.0 (3.1)| 8.8 (1.7)|0.3   ---|62.2 (2.4)|18.1 (1.8)| 1.8 (0.8)|0.0   ---| 93.1 (1.7)|61.5 (1.7)|18.5  (2.1)| 1.8 (0.6)
1982 ...|85.1 (3.1)|40.2 (6.1)| 4.2 (2.7)|0.0   ---|75.5 (3.3)|24.1 (5.1)| 2.4 (0.9)|0.0   ---| 86.9 (2.9)|48.0 (2.7)|11.1  (2.0)| 1.4 (0.9)
1986 ...|89.6 (2.4)|50.1 (3.7)|10.7 (2.4)|0.2   ---|76.7 (3.2)|24.9 (4.3)| 1.5 (0.7)|0.0   ---| 93.3 (2.4)|60.0 (7.2)|14.8  (2.9)| 1.1 (0.7)
1990 ...|93.6 (1.5)|56.3 (3.7)|11.6 (2.1)|0.4   ---|80.2 (2.9)|30.0 (2.8)| 3.3 (0.8)|0.1   ---| 91.9 (2.2)|59.9 (5.0)|21.1  (3.3)| 2.1   ---
1992 ...|92.4 (1.7)|55.5 (4.3)|11.7 (1.8)|0.4   ---|86.2 (2.6)|36.5 (2.9)| 3.3 (1.3)|0.0   ---| 94.6 (2.6)|68.3 (6.6)|23.0  (3.8)| 2.5 (1.2)
1994 ...|91.1 (2.3)|49.9 (3.1)|10.8 (2.5)|0.7 (0.5)|81.2 (2.5)|31.6 (3.3)| 2.4 (0.9)|0.0   ---| 89.9 (3.3)|58.6 (7.4)|21.7  (4.1)| 1.5 (0.7)
1996 ...|92.5 (1.8)|57.1 (2.5)|12.7 (2.9)|0.3   ---|80.9 (2.3)|30.7 (3.3)| 3.2 (0.8)|0.0   ---| 93.8 (2.1)|66.2 (4.0)|24.0  (3.1)| 2.8 (1.3)
        |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
 Public |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
1977 ...|93.0 (0.7)|66.4 (1.3)|24.5 (0.9)|2.9 (0.3)|84.9 (0.8)|46.7 (1.2)|10.2 (0.5)|0.6 (0.1)| 97.0 (0.2)|80.8 (0.7)|40.5  (0.8)| 8.1 (0.4)
1982 ...|94.9 (0.8)|69.5 (2.1)|23.9 (2.1)|2.3 (0.7)|89.2 (0.9)|49.2 (1.8)| 8.9 (0.8)|0.3 (0.1)| 95.4 (0.6)|75.8 (1.0)|36.6  (0.9)| 6.9 (0.4)
1986 ...|95.8 (0.4)|70.5 (1.3)|26.3 (1.5)|2.8 (0.6)|91.3 (1.0)|51.9 (1.7)| 8.9 (0.9)|0.2 (0.1)| 97.0 (0.5)|80.1 (1.4)|39.9  (1.5)| 7.2 (0.7)
1990 ...|96.7 (0.4)|75.5 (1.0)|30.3 (0.8)|3.0 (0.4)|91.6 (0.8)|54.7 (1.2)|10.7 (0.7)|0.4 (0.1)| 96.5 (0.4)|80.4 (0.9)|42.0  (1.3)| 8.7 (0.5)
1992 ...|97.1 (0.4)|76.7 (1.3)|31.5 (1.0)|3.2 (0.3)|92.7 (0.5)|60.2 (1.2)|11.9 (0.9)|0.3 (0.1)| 97.5 (0.5)|82.0 (1.2)|44.8  (1.5)| 9.6 (0.8)
1994 ...|96.9 (0.4)|76.1 (1.2)|32.5 (1.4)|3.6 (0.5)|91.9 (0.6)|57.8 (1.2)|11.3 (0.9)|0.2 (0.1)| 96.8 (0.7)|81.7 (1.3)|45.3  (1.1)| 9.4 (0.5)
1996 ...|96.7 (0.5)|75.1 (1.2)|31.1 (1.3)|4.2 (0.4)|91.6 (0.7)|56.1 (1.3)|11.5 (0.8)|0.4 (0.2)| 97.7 (0.3)|83.1 (1.1)|47.8  (1.4)|10.7 (1.0)
        |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
Private |          |          |          |         |          |          |          |         |           |          |           |
1977 ...|98.1 (0.6)|80.3 (1.7)|35.6 (1.9)|5.1 (1.1)|95.7 (1.0)|68.8 (2.6)|19.6 (1.9)|1.6 (0.3)| 99.5 (0.2)|92.9 (1.2)|58.9  (2.8)|14.8 (1.9)
1982 ...|98.9   ---|82.6 (3.5)|28.2 (5.6)|2.1 (1.2)|95.0 (1.5)|65.8 (4.1)|16.0 (2.4)|0.8 (0.5)| 97.9 (0.7)|83.5 (2.8)|44.2  (2.6)| 8.5 (2.3)
1986 ...|98.2 (0.7)|79.7 (2.3)|33.8 (2.8)|4.0 (0.7)|97.3 (1.8)|66.8 (8.2)|12.8 (3.6)|0.3   ---| 99.8   ---|96.5 (2.2)|74.6 (10.9)|23.1 (7.7)
1990 ...|98.7   ---|83.6 (2.4)|37.2 (3.0)|3.9 (1.0)|98.4 (0.8)|72.0 (2.6)|16.2 (1.5)|0.5   ---| 99.5   ---|90.6 (4.1)|59.8  (6.7)|15.8 (3.2)
1992 ...|99.2   ---|86.2 (2.0)|40.6 (3.4)|4.6 (1.3)|96.4 (1.1)|68.9 (3.1)|13.2 (2.0)|0.1   ---|100.0   ---|95.5 (2.0)|63.1  (5.3)|14.1 (2.7)
1994 ...|99.3 (0.4)|87.1 (2.4)|42.7 (2.8)|5.6 (1.0)|96.5 (1.4)|72.7 (3.2)|15.5 (2.6)|0.1   ---| 99.3 (0.4)|93.1 (2.3)|62.7  (5.2)|14.8 (4.0)
1996 ...|97.2 (1.3)|81.3 (3.2)|40.6 (3.6)|6.4 (1.9)|96.2 (2.1)|70.9 (5.2)|18.5 (3.2)|1.0   ---| 98.8   ---|89.6 (3.2)|56.5  (6.4)|12.6 (3.2)
________|__________|__________|__________|_________|__________|__________|__________|_________|___________|__________|___________|__________

\1\As measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

\2\Virtually no students were able to integrate specialized scientific information.

\3\Virtually all students knew everyday science facts. Data exclude persons not enrolled in school.

\4\Scale score of 150 or above.

\5\Scale score of 200 or above.

\6\Scale score of 250 or above.

\7\Scale score of 300 or above.

\8\Scale score of 350 or above.

---Data not available or not applicable.

NOTE.--Standard errors appear in parentheses.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP 1996 Trends in Academic Progress, prepared by Educational Testing Service. (This table was prepared September 1997.)



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