Digest of Education Statistics
2001 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 126. Mathematics performance of 17-year-olds, by highest mathematics course taken, sex, and race/ethnicity: 1978 to 1999

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
            |           |  Average performance by highest mathematics course taken     | Percent of students at or above
   Year,    |Percent    |______________________________________________________________|_____________________________________________
  sex, and  |  of       | All       |Prealgebra|         |         |         |Precal-  |Level      |Level      |Level     |Level
   race/    |students   |areas      |or general|Algebra  |Geometry |Algebra  |culus    |200\1\     |250\2\     |300\3\    |350\4\
 ethnicity  |           |           |mathe-    | I       |         | II      | or      |           |           |          |
            |           |           |matics    |         |         |         |calculus |           |           |          |
____________|___________|___________|__________|_________|_________|_________|_________|___________|___________|__________|__________
     1      |    2      |    3      |    4     |    5    |    6    |    7    |    8    |    9      |    10     |    11    |    12
____________|___________|___________|__________|_________|_________|_________|_________|___________|___________|__________|__________
    1978    |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
Total ......|100.0 (0.0)|300.4 (1.0)| 267 (0.8)|286 (0.7)|307 (0.7)|321 (0.7)|334 (1.4)| 99.8 (0.1)| 92.0 (0.5)|51.5 (1.1)| 7.3 (0.4)
  Male .....| 48.7 (0.5)|303.8 (1.0)| 269 (1.0)|289 (0.9)|310 (1.0)|325 (0.8)|337 (2.0)| 99.9 (0.1)| 93.0 (0.5)|55.1 (1.2)| 9.5 (0.6)
  Female ...| 51.3 (0.5)|297.1 (1.0)| 265 (0.9)|284 (1.0)|304 (0.8)|318 (0.9)|329 (1.8)| 99.7 (0.1)| 91.0 (0.6)|48.2 (1.3)| 5.2 (0.7)
            |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
  White ....| 83.1 (1.3)|305.9 (0.9)| 272 (0.6)|291 (0.6)|310 (0.6)|325 (0.6)|338 (1.1)|100.0   ---| 95.6 (0.3)|57.6 (1.1)| 8.5 (0.5)
  Black ....| 11.8 (1.1)|268.4 (1.3)| 247 (1.6)|264 (1.5)|281 (1.9)|292 (1.4)|297 (6.5)| 98.8 (0.3)| 70.7 (1.7)|16.8 (1.6)| 0.5 (0.2)
  Hispanic .|  4.0 (0.5)|276.3 (2.3)| 256 (2.3)|273 (2.8)|294 (4.4)|303 (2.9)|306 (6.1)| 99.3 (0.4)| 78.3 (2.3)|23.4 (2.7)| 1.4 (0.6)
  Other\5\..|  1.1 (0.1)|312.9 (3.3)| ---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|100.0   ---| 94.5 (2.6)|64.7 (4.9)|15.4 (3.2)
            |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
    1990    |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
Total ......|100.0 (0.0)|304.6 (0.9)| 273 (1.1)|288 (1.2)|299 (1.5)|319 (1.0)|344 (2.6)|100.0   ---| 96.0 (0.5)|56.1 (1.4)| 7.2 (0.6)
  Male .....| 48.6 (0.9)|306.3 (1.1)| 274 (1.7)|291 (1.6)|302 (1.6)|323 (1.2)|347 (2.4)| 99.9   ---| 95.8 (0.8)|57.6 (1.4)| 8.8 (0.8)
  Female ...| 51.4 (0.9)|302.9 (1.1)| 271 (1.8)|285 (1.8)|296 (1.8)|316 (1.1)|341 (4.0)|100.0   ---| 96.2 (0.8)|54.7 (1.8)| 5.6 (0.8)
            |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
  White ....| 73.3 (0.5)|309.5 (1.0)| 277 (1.1)|292 (1.6)|304 (1.3)|323 (0.9)|347 (2.8)|100.0   ---| 97.6 (0.3)|63.2 (1.6)| 8.3 (0.7)
  Black ....| 15.6 (0.3)|288.5 (2.8)| 264 (2.2)|278 (4.0)|285 (3.5)|302 (3.2)|329 (7.6)| 99.9   ---| 92.4 (2.2)|32.8 (4.5)| 2.0 (1.0)
  Hispanic .|  6.9 (0.4)|283.5 (2.9)| 259 (4.0)|278 (4.1)|286 (3.5)|306 (3.3)|323 (9.6)| 99.6   ---| 85.8 (4.2)|30.1 (3.1)| 1.9 (0.8)
  Other\5\..|  4.2 (0.5)|312.5 (5.2)| ---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|100.0   ---| 97.9   ---|61.6 (7.0)|15.9 (4.3)
            |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
    1992    |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
Total ......|100.0 (0.0)|306.7 (0.9)| 271 (1.6)|289 (1.1)|302 (1.6)|320 (0.7)|343 (1.7)|100.0   ---| 96.6 (0.5)|59.1 (1.3)| 7.2 (0.6)
  Male .....| 50.7 (1.2)|308.9 (1.1)| 275 (2.3)|291 (1.7)|306 (2.0)|323 (1.1)|344 (2.7)|100.0   ---| 96.9 (0.6)|60.5 (1.8)| 9.1 (0.7)
  Female ...| 49.3 (1.2)|304.5 (1.1)| 267 (1.6)|287 (1.8)|297 (2.0)|317 (1.0)|341 (2.0)|100.0   ---| 96.3 (0.8)|57.7 (1.6)| 5.2 (0.8)
            |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
  White ....| 74.7 (0.5)|311.9 (0.8)| 276 (1.7)|293 (1.0)|306 (1.6)|323 (0.9)|347 (1.6)|100.0   ---| 98.3 (0.4)|66.4 (1.4)| 8.7 (0.9)
  Black ....| 14.8 (0.3)|285.8 (2.2)| 256 (4.8)|279 (3.4)|283 (3.4)|301 (2.2)|313 (5.7)|100.0   ---| 89.6 (2.5)|29.8 (3.9)| 0.9   ---
  Hispanic .|  7.4 (0.5)|292.2 (2.6)| 269 (3.1)|285 (3.1)|297 (3.9)|312 (2.0)|320 (7.3)|100.0   ---| 94.1 (2.2)|39.2 (4.9)| 1.2   ---
  Other\5\..|  3.1 (0.2)|317.1 (4.0)| ---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|100.0   ---| 96.5 (1.7)|69.8 (4.8)|16.9 (5.7)
            |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
    1994    |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
Total ......|100.0 (0.0)|306.2 (1.0)| 272 (1.2)|288 (1.4)|297 (1.7)|316 (1.0)|340 (2.2)|100.0   ---| 96.5 (0.5)|58.6 (1.4)| 7.4 (0.8)
  Male .....| 49.5 (1.3)|308.5 (1.4)| 274 (1.8)|289 (1.6)|301 (2.1)|320 (1.5)|343 (2.6)|100.0   ---| 97.3 (0.6)|60.2 (2.1)| 9.3 (1.0)
  Female ...| 50.5 (1.3)|304.1 (1.1)| 268 (1.9)|286 (1.9)|293 (1.8)|313 (1.1)|337 (2.8)|100.0   ---| 96.0 (0.6)|57.2 (1.4)| 5.5 (0.9)
            |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
  White ....| 72.5 (0.5)|312.3 (1.1)| 275 (1.4)|292 (1.7)|301 (1.5)|320 (1.0)|344 (2.0)|100.0   ---| 98.4 (0.4)|67.0 (1.4)| 9.4 (1.1)
  Black ....| 15.5 (0.3)|285.5 (1.8)| ---   ---|275 (3.3)|283 (3.8)|297 (2.5)|---   ---|100.0   ---| 90.6 (1.8)|29.8 (3.4)| 0.4   ---
  Hispanic .|  8.8 (0.3)|290.8 (3.7)| ---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|304 (4.1)|---   ---|100.0   ---| 91.8 (3.6)|38.3 (5.5)| 1.4   ---
  Other\5\..|  3.2 (0.3)|312.7 (4.5)| ---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|100.0   ---| 97.0   ---|66.4 (6.6)|12.1 (3.6)
            |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
    1996    |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
Total ......|100.0 (0.0)|307.2 (1.2)| 269 (1.9)|283 (1.3)|298 (1.3)|316 (1.3)|339 (1.7)|100.0   ---| 96.8 (0.4)|60.1 (1.7)| 7.4 (0.8)
  Male .....| 49.5 (1.2)|309.5 (1.3)| 272 (2.5)|287 (1.5)|302 (1.7)|320 (1.7)|342 (2.3)|100.0   ---| 97.0 (0.7)|62.7 (1.8)| 9.5 (1.3)
  Female ...| 50.5 (1.2)|304.9 (1.4)| 265 (2.2)|278 (2.2)|294 (1.5)|313 (1.4)|335 (2.2)|100.0   ---| 96.7 (0.6)|57.6 (2.2)| 5.3 (0.8)
            |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
  White ....| 71.0 (0.6)|313.4 (1.4)| 273 (2.3)|287 (2.0)|304 (1.6)|320 (1.4)|342 (1.9)|100.0   ---| 98.7 (0.4)|68.7 (2.2)| 9.2 (1.0)
  Black ....| 15.0 (0.3)|286.4 (1.7)| ---   ---|273 (2.4)|280 (3.0)|299 (2.2)|---   ---|100.0   ---| 90.6 (1.3)|31.2 (2.5)| 0.9   ---
  Hispanic .|  9.0 (0.7)|292.0 (2.1)| ---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|306 (2.8)|---   ---| 99.9   ---| 92.2 (2.2)|40.1 (3.5)| 1.8   ---
  Other\5\..|  5.0   ---|  ---   ---| ---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|100.0   ---| 97.4 (1.2)|63.5 (7.2)|13.7 (5.0)
            |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
       1999 |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
Total ......|100.0 (0.0)|308.2 (1.0)| 278 (2.8)|285 (1.7)|298 (1.2)|315 (0.8)|341 (1.4)|100.0   ---| 96.8 (0.5)|60.7 (1.6)| 8.4 (0.8)
  Male .....| 48.3 (1.0)|309.8 (1.4)| 281 (3.2)|288 (2.6)|301 (1.8)|317 (1.3)|343 (1.9)|100.0   ---| 96.0 (0.8)|63.0 (2.1)|10.0 (1.1)
  Female ...| 51.7 (1.0)|306.8 (1.0)| 274 (3.2)|282 (2.5)|295 (1.3)|314 (1.1)|340 (2.0)|100.0   ---| 97.0 (0.4)|58.0 (1.9)| 7.0 (1.1)
            |           |           |          |         |         |         |         |           |           |          |
  White ....| 71.7 (0.5)|314.8 (1.1)| 282 (3.4)|290 (2.2)|303 (1.5)|320 (0.9)|343 (1.5)|100.0   ---| 99.0 (0.4)|70.0 (2.0)|10.0 (1.1)
  Black ....| 14.6 (0.4)|283.3 (1.5)| ---   ---|267 (2.9)|281 (2.5)|293 (1.4)|---   ---|100.0   ---| 89.0 (2.0)|27.0 (2.7)| 1.0   ---
  Hispanic .|  9.8 (0.5)|292.7 (2.5)| ---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|308 (3.0)|---   ---|100.0   ---| 94.0 (2.2)|38.0 (4.1)| 3.0 (1.1)
  Other\5\..|  ---   ---|  ---   ---| ---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|---   ---|100.0   ---|100.0   ---|76.0 (6.3)|14.0 (4.1)
____________|___________|___________|__________|_________|_________|_________|_________|___________|___________|__________|__________

---Not available.
\1\Indicates ability to perform simple additive reasoning and problem solving.
\2\Indicates ability to perform simple multiplicative reasoning and 2-step problem solving.
\3\Indicates ability to perform reasoning and problem solving involving fractions, decimals, percents, elementary geometry, and simple algebra.
\4\Indicates ability to perform reasoning and problem solving involving geometry, algebra, and beginning statistics and probability.
\5\Includes Asian/Pacific Islanders and American Indians/Alaskan Natives.

NOTE: These test scores are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). 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 Trends in Academic Progress, various years, by Educational Testing Service. (This table was prepared September 2000.)


2001 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest