The Nation's Report Card: Reading 2009

March 2010

Author: National Center for Education Statistics

Download The Nation's Report Card: Reading 2009 PDF for viewing and printing (6758K PDF)

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Executive Summary

Reading scores up since 2007 at grade 8 and unchanged at grade 4

Gains for some student groups but gaps persist

Scores increase in three states/jurisdictions at grade 4 and nine states at grade 8

Examples of Student Reading Skills

Reading scores up since 2007 at grade 8 and unchanged at grade 4

Nationally representative samples of more than 178,000 fourth-graders and 160,000 eighth-graders participated in the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in reading. At each grade, students responded to questions designed to measure their knowledge of reading comprehension across two types of texts: literary and informational.

At grade 4, the average reading score in 2009 was unchanged from the score in 2007 but was higher than the scores in other earlier assessment years from 1992 to 2005. About two-thirds (67 percent) of fourth-graders performed at or above the Basic level in 2009, and one-third (33 percent) performed at or above Proficient. Both percentages were unchanged from 2007 but were higher than previous assessment years. Eight percent of fourth-graders performed at the Advanced level, which was the same as in 2007 but higher than in 1992.

At grade 8, the average reading score in 2009 was one point higher than in 2007 and four points higher than in 1992 but was not consistently higher than in all the assessment years in between. Gains since 2007 were seen for lower- and middle-performing students at the 10th, 25th, and 50th percentiles, while scores for higher-performing students at the 75th and 90th percentiles showed no significant change. In 2009, about three-quarters (75 percent) of eighth-graders performed at or above the Basic level, and one-third (32 percent) performed at or above Proficient. Both percentages were higher in 2009 than in 2007 and 1992. Three percent of eighth-graders performed at the Advanced level in 2009, which was the same as the percentages in 2007 and 1992.

Trend in fourth- and eighth-grade NAEP reading average scores

* Significantly different (p < .05) from 2009.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), various years, 1992–2009 Reading Assessments.

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Gains for some student groups but gaps persist

Trends in scores for student groups were generally similar to those for students overall. At grade 4, there were no significant changes in the average reading scores from 2007 to 2009 for student groups by race/ethnicity, gender, or type of school. Scores for most of the student groups were, however, higher in 2009 than in 1992.

At grade 8, average scores were higher in 2009 than in both 2007 and 1992 for most racial/ethnic groups, male students, and public school students. There were no significant changes compared to either 2007 or 1992 for female students or private school students, and no significant change for Asian/Pacific Islander students compared to 1992.

Even with gains for most student groups from 1992 to 2009 at both grades, and since 2007 at grade 8, score gaps have changed little. Compared to 2007, there have been no significant changes in the racial/ethnic gaps, gender gaps, or gaps by type of school at either grade. Compared to 1992, only the White – Black gap at grade 4 and the female – male gap at grade 8 have narrowed.

Student groups	Grade 4		Grade 8
	Since 1992	Since 2007	Since 1992	Since 2007
Overall
White
Black
Hispanic
Asian/Pacific Islander
American Indian/ Alaska Native

Gender	Grade 4		Grade 8
	Since 1992	Since 2007	Since 1992	Since 2007
Male
Female

Type of school	Grade 4		Grade 8
	Since 1992	Since 2007	Since 1992	Since 2007
Public
Private

Gaps	Grade 4		Grade 8
	Since 1992	Since 2007	Since 1992	Since 2007
White – Black	Narrowed
White – Hispanic
Female – Male			Narrowed
Private – Public

	Indicates the score was higher in 2009.
	Indicates no significant change in the score or the gap in 2009.
	Reporting standards not met. Sample size insufficient to permit a reliable estimate.

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Scores increase in three states/jurisdictions at grade 4 and nine states at grade 8 Compared to 2007, average reading scores for public school students in 2009 increased at both grades in Kentucky; increased at grade 4 only in the District of Columbia and Rhode Island; decreased at grade 4 only in Alaska, Iowa, and Wyoming; increased at grade 8 only in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Utah; decreased at grade 4 but increased at grade 8 in New Mexico; and showed no significant change at either grade in 38 states and jurisdictions. 1Department of Defense Education Activitiy (overseas and domestic schools).

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Examples of Student Reading Skills

Fourth-graders at the Proficient level were likely to be able to recognize the author’s technique in  developing a character, or use information from an article to provide and support an opinion.

Eighth-graders at the Proficient level were likely to be able to recognize an interpretation of the author’s point in a persuasive essay, or interpret lines of a poem to explain the speaker’s perspective.

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Download the complete report in a PDF file for viewing and printing:

The Nation's Report Card: Reading 2009 PDF (6758K PDF)

NCES 2010-458  Ordering information


Suggested Citation
National Center for Education Statistics (2009). The Nation's Report Card: Reading 2009  (NCES 2010–458). Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.

For more information, see the results of the 2009 Reading assessment on the Nation's Report Card website.

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