Digest of Education Statistics
2003 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 113. Percent of students at or above selected reading score levels, by age, sex, and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1971 to 1999 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 Score level,  |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
   sex, and    |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
race/ethnicity |   1971  |   1975  |   1980   |   1984   |   1988   |   1990   |   1992   |   1994   |   1996   | 1999
_______________|_________|_________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________
       1       |    2    |    3    |    4     |    5     |    6     |    7     |    8     |    9     |    10    |  11
_______________|_________|_________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________
  9-year-olds  |
Total          |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|90.6(0.5)|93.1(0.4)| 94.6(0.4)| 92.3(0.3)| 92.7(0.7)| 90.1(0.9)| 92.3(0.4)| 92.1(0.7)| 93.5(0.6)| 93.0(0.7)
  Level 200\2\.|58.7(1.0)|62.1(0.8)| 67.7(1.0)| 61.5(0.7)| 62.6(1.3)| 58.9(1.3)| 62.0(1.1)| 63.3(1.4)| 64.2(1.3)| 63.7(1.4)
  Level 250\3\.|15.6(0.6)|14.6(0.6)| 17.7(0.8)| 17.2(0.6)| 17.5(1.1)| 18.4(1.0)| 16.2(0.8)| 16.5(1.2)| 16.7(0.8)| 15.9(1.0)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Male           |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|87.9(0.7)|91.0(0.5)| 92.9(0.5)| 90.4(0.5)| 90.4(0.9)| 87.9(1.4)| 90.2(0.8)| 90.2(1.0)| 91.6(0.8)| 91.0(1.1)
  Level 200\2\.|52.7(1.2)|56.2(1.0)| 62.7(1.1)| 58.0(0.9)| 58.4(1.8)| 53.8(1.9)| 56.9(1.6)| 59.2(1.5)| 58.3(2.0)| 61.0(1.8)
  Level 250\3\.|12.0(0.6)|11.5(0.6)| 14.6(0.9)| 15.9(0.7)| 15.8(1.4)| 16.1(1.2)| 14.2(1.0)| 15.2(1.2)| 14.1(1.3)| 15.0(1.3)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Female         |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|93.2(0.5)|95.3(0.3)| 96.4(0.4)| 94.2(0.4)| 94.9(1.0)| 92.4(1.1)| 94.4(0.6)| 94.0(0.8)| 95.3(0.6)| 95.0(0.8)
  Level 200\2\.|64.6(1.1)|68.1(0.8)| 72.7(1.0)| 65.2(0.8)| 66.9(1.4)| 64.2(1.2)| 67.3(1.2)| 67.3(1.9)| 69.9(1.6)| 67.0(1.6)
  Level 250\3\.|19.2(0.8)|17.7(0.8)| 20.7(1.0)| 18.4(0.7)| 19.1(1.2)| 20.8(1.2)| 18.2(1.1)| 17.8(1.5)| 19.2(1.3)| 17.0(1.3)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
White\4\       |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|94.0(0.4)|96.0(0.3)| 97.1(0.2)| 95.4(0.3)| 95.1(0.7)| 93.5(0.9)| 95.8(0.5)| 95.7(0.5)| 96.4(0.6)| 97.0(0.4)
  Level 200\2\.|65.0(1.0)|69.0(0.8)| 74.2(0.7)| 68.6(0.8)| 68.4(1.6)| 66.0(1.4)| 69.3(1.2)| 70.1(1.5)| 71.4(1.5)| 73.0(1.6)
  Level 250\3\.|18.0(0.7)|17.4(0.7)| 21.0(0.9)| 20.9(0.7)| 20.3(1.5)| 22.6(1.2)| 19.6(1.0)| 19.7(1.5)| 20.4(1.1)| 20.0(1.4)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Black\4\       |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|69.7(1.7)|80.7(1.1)| 84.9(1.4)| 81.3(1.0)| 83.2(2.4)| 76.9(2.7)| 79.6(2.2)| 78.7(2.4)| 84.5(1.9)| 82.0(2.5)
  Level 200\2\.|22.0(1.5)|31.6(1.5)| 41.3(1.9)| 36.6(1.5)| 39.4(2.9)| 33.9(3.4)| 36.6(2.2)| 38.3(2.8)| 41.8(3.2)| 36.0(3.0)
  Level 250\3\.| 1.6(0.5)| 2.0(0.3)|  4.1(0.6)|  4.5(0.5)|  5.6(1.2)|  5.2(1.5)|  4.6(0.8)|  4.4(1.5)|  6.0(1.1)|  4.0(1.1)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Hispanic       |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|--- (---)|80.8(2.5)| 84.5(1.8)| 82.0(2.1)| 85.6(3.5)| 83.7(1.8)| 83.4(2.6)| 80.4(4.6)| 85.8(2.4)| 87.0(3.3)
  Level 200\2\.|--- (---)|34.6(3.0)| 41.6(2.6)| 39.6(2.2)| 45.9(3.3)| 40.9(2.7)| 43.1(3.5)| 37.1(4.6)| 48.0(3.8)| 44.0(3.4)
  Level 250\3\.|--- (---)| 2.6(0.5)|  5.0(1.4)|  4.3(0.6)|  8.6(2.3)|  5.8(2.0)|  7.2(2.3)|  6.4(1.6)|  7.1(3.2)|  6.0(1.7)
               |_________|_________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________
 13-year-olds  |
Total          |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|99.8 (#) |99.7(0.1)| 99.9(0.1)| 99.8 (#) | 99.9(0.1)| 99.8(0.1)| 99.5(0.3)| 99.3(0.2)| 99.6(0.2)| 99.6(0.2)
  Level 200\2\.|93.0(0.5)|93.2(0.4)| 94.8(0.4)| 93.9(0.3)| 94.9(0.6)| 93.8(0.6)| 92.7(0.7)| 91.7(0.6)| 92.1(0.7)| 93.2(0.7)
  Level 250\3\.|57.8(1.1)|58.6(1.0)| 60.7(1.1)| 59.0(0.6)| 58.7(1.3)| 58.7(1.0)| 61.6(1.4)| 60.4(1.2)| 59.9(1.3)| 60.9(1.5)
  Level 300\5\.| 9.8(0.5)|10.2(0.5)| 11.3(0.5)| 11.0(0.4)| 10.9(0.8)| 11.0(0.6)| 15.3(0.9)| 14.1(0.8)| 13.5(1.0)| 14.5(1.1)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Male           |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|99.6(0.1)|99.6(0.1)| 99.8(0.1)| 99.7(0.1)| 99.7(0.2)| 99.7(0.2)| 99.2(0.4)| 99.1(0.3)| 99.3(0.4)| 99.0(0.3)
  Level 200\2\.|90.7(0.7)|90.9(0.5)| 93.4(0.6)| 92.2(0.4)| 92.8(1.0)| 91.4(0.9)| 90.4(1.1)| 88.8(1.1)| 89.2(1.2)| 91.0(0.9)
  Level 250\3\.|51.6(1.2)|51.7(1.1)| 55.9(1.2)| 54.0(0.8)| 52.3(1.9)| 52.4(1.5)| 55.5(2.0)| 53.3(1.9)| 53.4(1.6)| 55.0(1.9)
  Level 300\5\.| 7.3(0.5)| 7.0(0.4)|  9.1(0.7)|  9.0(0.4)|  8.6(0.9)|  7.6(0.8)| 12.8(1.1)| 10.1(0.7)| 10.1(1.0)| 11.0(1.1)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Female         |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|99.9(0.1)|99.9(0.1)| 99.9 (#) | 99.9(0.1)|100.0(---)| 99.9(---)| 99.8(---)| 99.6(0.2)| 99.8(---)|100.0(---)
  Level 200\2\.|95.2(0.4)|95.5(0.4)| 96.1(0.4)| 95.8(0.3)| 96.9(0.6)| 96.3(0.6)| 95.0(0.7)| 94.9(0.6)| 94.9(0.6)| 96.0(0.7)
  Level 250\3\.|64.0(1.1)|65.5(1.2)| 65.4(1.1)| 64.0(0.7)| 65.0(1.4)| 65.0(1.5)| 67.5(1.4)| 67.9(1.7)| 66.2(1.6)| 66.0(1.9)
  Level 300\5\.|12.3(0.6)|13.5(0.7)| 13.5(0.6)| 13.2(0.5)| 13.2(0.9)| 14.5(0.9)| 17.7(1.1)| 18.4(1.1)| 16.8(1.3)| 18.0(1.7)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
White\5\       |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|99.9 (#) |99.9 (#) |100.0(---)| 99.9 (#) | 99.9(---)| 99.9(0.1)| 99.8(0.1)| 99.6(0.2)| 99.7(0.2)|100.0(0.1)
  Level 200\2\.|96.2(0.3)|96.4(0.2)| 97.1(0.2)| 96.2(0.3)| 96.0(0.6)| 96.0(0.6)| 95.9(0.6)| 95.0(0.7)| 95.5(0.5)| 96.0(0.6)
  Level 250\3\.|64.2(0.9)|65.5(0.9)| 67.8(0.8)| 65.3(0.7)| 63.7(1.5)| 64.8(1.2)| 68.5(1.4)| 68.1(1.3)| 68.7(1.4)| 69.0(1.7)
  Level 300\5\.|11.3(0.5)|12.1(0.5)| 13.6(0.6)| 13.1(0.5)| 12.4(0.9)| 13.3(0.9)| 18.1(1.1)| 17.2(1.0)| 16.9(1.3)| 18.0(1.4)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Black\4\       |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|98.6(0.3)|98.4(0.3)| 99.3(0.3)| 99.4(0.2)| 99.8(---)| 99.4(---)| 98.7(---)| 98.6(---)| 99.4(---)| 99.0(---)
  Level 200\2\.|74.2(1.7)|76.9(1.3)| 84.1(1.7)| 85.5(1.0)| 91.3(2.2)| 87.7(2.3)| 82.0(2.7)| 80.6(2.3)| 81.5(3.2)| 85.0(2.3)
  Level 250\3\.|21.1(1.2)|24.8(1.6)| 30.1(2.0)| 34.6(1.2)| 40.2(2.3)| 41.7(3.5)| 38.4(2.7)| 35.6(3.5)| 34.0(3.9)| 38.0(2.7)
  Level 300\5\.| 0.8(0.2)| 1.5(0.3)|  1.8(0.5)|  2.8(0.5)|  4.6(1.2)|  4.6(0.8)|  5.7(1.4)|  3.9(1.2)|  3.0(0.9)|  5.0(1.4)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Hispanic       |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|--- (---)|99.6(0.3)| 99.7(---)| 99.5(---)| 99.2(---)| 99.1(0.5)| 98.1(---)| 98.7(---)| 98.6(---)|100.0(---)
  Level 200\2\.|--- (---)|81.3(2.3)| 86.8(2.4)| 86.7(1.5)| 87.4(2.6)| 85.8(2.4)| 83.4(3.5)| 82.4(2.7)| 84.9(3.2)| 89.0(2.8)
  Level 250\3\.|--- (---)|32.0(3.6)| 35.4(2.6)| 39.0(2.1)| 38.0(4.4)| 37.2(2.9)| 40.9(5.1)| 33.9(3.9)| 38.1(3.7)| 43.0(3.8)
  Level 300\5\.|--- (---)| 2.2(1.0)|  2.3(0.6)|  4.1(0.7)|  4.4(1.9)|  3.9(1.2)|  6.0(1.9)|  4.3(1.8)|  5.4(1.7)|  6.0(1.8)
               |_________|_________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________
 17-year-olds  |
Total          |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|99.6(0.1)|99.7(0.1)| 99.9(0.1)|100.0(0.0)|100.0(---)| 99.9(---)| 99.8(0.1)| 99.8(0.1)|100.0(---)|100.0(---)
  Level 200\2\.|96.0(0.3)|96.4(0.3)| 97.2(0.3)| 98.3(0.1)| 98.9(0.3)| 98.1(0.3)| 97.1(0.4)| 96.8(0.5)| 97.5(0.5)| 97.6(0.4)
  Level 250\3\.|78.6(0.9)|80.1(0.7)| 80.7(0.9)| 83.1(0.5)| 85.7(0.8)| 84.1(1.0)| 82.5(0.8)| 80.8(1.0)| 81.8(0.8)| 82.0(1.0)
  Level 300\5\.|39.0(1.0)|38.7(0.8)| 37.8(1.1)| 40.3(0.8)| 40.9(1.5)| 41.4(1.0)| 43.2(1.1)| 41.0(1.2)| 39.4(1.4)| 39.6(1.4)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Male           |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|99.4(0.1)|99.5(0.2)| 99.8(0.1)| 99.9(0.0)|100.0(---)| 99.8(---)| 99.7(0.2)| 99.7(---)| 99.9(---)|100.0(---)
  Level 200\2\.|94.7(0.4)|95.3(0.4)| 96.3(0.5)| 97.6(0.2)| 98.5(0.5)| 97.0(0.6)| 96.3(0.7)| 95.5(0.9)| 96.4(0.8)| 97.0(0.6)
  Level 250\3\.|74.4(1.0)|75.6(0.8)| 77.9(1.0)| 79.6(0.6)| 82.9(1.4)| 79.7(1.4)| 78.4(1.2)| 76.2(1.5)| 77.0(1.2)| 77.0(1.5)
  Level 300\5\.|33.9(1.1)|33.7(1.0)| 35.0(1.3)| 35.4(0.8)| 37.1(2.3)| 36.1(1.5)| 38.4(1.6)| 35.6(1.9)| 33.6(1.9)| 34.0(1.7)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Female         |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|99.8(0.1)|99.8(0.1)| 99.9(---)| 99.9(---)|100.0(---)|100.0(---)| 99.9(---)| 99.9(---)|100.0(---)|100.0(---)
  Level 200\2\.|97.3(0.3)|97.5(0.4)| 98.1(0.3)| 99.0(0.1)| 99.3(0.3)| 99.2(0.3)| 97.9(0.4)| 98.0(0.5)| 98.6(0.5)| 99.0(0.4)
  Level 250\3\.|82.6(1.0)|84.3(0.9)| 83.6(1.0)| 86.8(0.6)| 88.2(1.1)| 88.6(1.0)| 86.8(1.1)| 85.6(1.2)| 86.8(1.0)| 87.0(1.0)
  Level 300\5\.|44.0(1.2)|43.6(0.9)| 40.7(1.2)| 45.0(0.9)| 44.4(2.0)| 46.8(1.3)| 48.5(1.5)| 46.5(1.5)| 45.4(1.7)| 45.0(1.8)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
White\5\       |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|99.9 0.0 |99.9(0.0)|100.0(---)|100.0(---)|100.0(---)|100.0(---)| 99.9(---)|100.0(---)|100.0(---)|100.0(---)
  Level 200\2\.|97.9(0.2)|98.6(0.1)| 99.1(0.1)| 99.0(0.1)| 99.3(0.3)| 98.8(0.2)| 98.6(0.3)| 98.1(0.4)| 98.5(0.4)| 98.0(0.4)
  Level 250\3\.|83.7(0.7)|86.2(0.6)| 86.9(0.6)| 88.0(0.5)| 88.7(0.9)| 88.3(1.1)| 88.0(0.9)| 86.2(1.1)| 87.0(0.8)| 87.0(1.3)
  Level 300\5\.|43.2(0.9)|43.9(0.8)| 43.3(1.1)| 46.3(0.9)| 45.4(1.6)| 47.5(1.2)| 50.1(1.4)| 47.7(1.4)| 46.0(1.5)| 46.0(1.5)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Black\4\       |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|97.6(0.4)|97.7(0.8)| 99.0(0.3)| 99.9(---)|100.0(---)| 99.6(---)| 99.1(---)| 99.5(---)| 99.8(---)|100.0(---)
  Level 200\2\.|81.9(1.5)|82.0(1.8)| 85.6(1.7)| 95.9(0.5)| 98.0(1.0)| 95.7(1.3)| 91.6(1.6)| 93.4(2.0)| 94.9(1.9)| 95.0(1.1)
  Level 250\3\.|40.1(1.6)|43.0(1.6)| 44.0(2.0)| 65.7(1.2)| 75.8(2.4)| 69.1(2.8)| 61.4(2.3)| 65.7(4.1)| 67.9(4.0)| 66.0(2.5)
  Level 300\5\.| 7.7(0.9)| 8.1(0.7)|  7.1(0.8)| 16.2(0.9)| 24.9(3.1)| 19.7(1.8)| 16.9(2.5)| 21.5(3.7)| 18.5(2.2)| 17.0(1.7)
               |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
Hispanic       |         |         |          |          |          |          |          |          |          |
  Level 150\1\.|--- (---)|99.3(0.4)| 99.8(---)| 99.8(---)| 99.9(---)| 99.7(---)| 99.8(---)| 99.0(---)| 99.9(---)|100.0(---)
  Level 200\2\.|--- (---)|88.7(2.4)| 93.3(1.8)| 95.6(0.7)| 96.3(2.4)| 95.9(2.1)| 93.4(2.3)| 91.1(3.4)| 94.1(1.9)| 97.0(---)
  Level 250\3\.|--- (---)|52.9(4.1)| 62.2(3.1)| 68.3(2.1)| 71.5(4.8)| 75.2(4.7)| 69.2(4.0)| 63.0(4.4)| 65.0(4.2)| 68.0(4.3)
  Level 300\5\.|--- (---)|12.6(2.7)| 16.5(2.1)| 21.2(2.3)| 23.3(3.7)| 27.1(3.3)| 27.3(3.2)| 20.1(3.0)| 20.5(4.8)| 24.0(3.8)
_______________|_________|_________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________|__________

---Not available.
\1\Able to follow brief written directions and carry out simple, discrete reading tasks.
\2\Able to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information.
\3\Able to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials.
\4\Data for 1971 include persons of Hispanic origin.
\5\Able to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material.

NOTE: Includes public and private schools. Reading proficiency levels measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Excludes persons not enrolled in school and those who were unable to be tested due to limited proficiency in English or due to a disability. 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 October 2001).


2003 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest