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Digest of Education Statistics: 2004
Digest of Education Statistics: 2004

NCES 2006-005
October 2005


Table 112. Average student scale score in reading, by age, and amount of time spent on reading and homework: Selected years, 1984 to 2004

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                          |                     9-year-olds            |                    13-year-olds            |                    17-year-olds
Time spent on             |____________________________________________|____________________________________________|____________________________________________
reading and homework      |   1984 |   1994 |   1996 |   1999 |   2004 |   1984 |   1994 |   1996 |   1999 |   2004 |   1984 |   1994 |   1996 |   1999 |   2004
__________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
1                         |       2|      3 |      4 |      5 |      6 |      7 |      8 |      9 |     10 |     11 |     12 |     13 |     14 |     15 |     16
__________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
                          |Average scale score
                          |______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Materials read a few      |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   times a year or more   |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Poems ..................|211(1.9)|210(2.9)|215(2.8)|213(2.7)|--- (†) |260(1.2)|261(2.3)|262(2.5)|263(1.9)|--- (†) |290(1.5)|293(2.1)|294(2.8)|292(2.6)|--- (†)
  Plays ..................|211(2.5)|207(3.0)|214(4.1)|211(3.7)|--- (†) |260(1.3)|263(2.1)|262(2.4)|264(2.3)|--- (†) |290(1.7)|294(2.4)|293(2.3)|294(2.7)|--- (†)
  Biographies ............|213(2.4)|210(3.4)|220(3.2)|215(3.0)|--- (†) |261(1.3)|261(2.1)|262(2.3)|263(2.1)|--- (†) |292(1.4)|293(2.4)|293(2.3)|291(2.8)|--- (†)
  Science books ..........|212(1.6)|211(2.6)|214(2.0)|213(2.1)|--- (†) |259(1.2)|260(2.1)|261(2.2)|261(1.7)|--- (†) |289(1.4)|293(2.4)|290(2.2)|291(2.3)|--- (†)
  Books about other       |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
     times ...............|211(1.7)|211(2.6)|213(2.3)|213(2.5)|--- (†) |259(1.1)|260(2.2)|262(2.2)|262(2.1)|--- (†) |289(1.4)|293(2.3)|292(2.8)|292(2.0)|--- (†)
                          |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Frequency of reading      |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   for fun                |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Daily ..................|214(1.1)|215(2.3)|213(2.0)|215(2.4)|220(1.5)|264(1.4)|272(3.2)|269(3.3)|272(3.2)|271(2.8)|297(1.5)|302(4.2)|302(5.2)|301(4.9)|305(3.7)
  Weekly .................|212(1.7)|214(3.1)|212(2.6)|215(2.6)|224(2.2)|255(1.4)|255(3.1)|258(3.2)|263(3.2)|261(2.3)|290(1.7)|286(4.1)|293(4.0)|289(2.9)|288(4.3)
  Monthly ................|204(3.3)|213(5.8)|210(5.0)|211(4.2)|216(4.6)|255(2.1)|255(5.7)|259(4.6)|260(3.7)|256(3.9)|290(1.8)|286(4.5)|290(5.6)|286(4.8)|287(4.7)
  Yearly .................|197(4.2)|--- (†) |--- (†) |--- (†) |209(4.6)|252(3.6)|252(5.4)|--- (†) |253(4.4)| ‡  (†) |279(2.7)|281(8.2)|285(5.6)|283(4.4)|272(5.0)
  Never ..................|198(2.7)|193(3.9)|199(4.3)|195(3.3)|203(4.4)|239(2.5)|237(5.1)|236(4.8)|242(5.3)|236(3.9)|269(2.4)|258(5.2)|270(5.0)|262(5.0)|268(5.8)
                          |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Reading of books, news-   |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   papers, and magazines  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Yearly/monthly .........|207(1.6)|206(3.8)|208(3.1)|209(2.9)|--- (†) |244(1.7)|245(3.7)|249(3.4)|252(2.9)|--- (†) |270(2.0)|279(4.0)|275(4.5)|276(3.8)|--- (†)
  Weekly .................|219(2.5)|216(3.7)|221(4.7)|220(3.5)|--- (†) |261(1.6)|262(2.6)|262(3.0)|261(3.3)|--- (†) |288(1.5)|295(2.8)|294(3.2)|292(2.2)|--- (†)
  Daily ..................|211(3.8)|--- (†) |--- (†) |214(6.3)|--- (†) |269(2.2)|275(3.9)|270(3.4)|271(4.0)|--- (†) |299(1.9)|296(4.0)|295(4.8)|299(6.5)|--- (†)
                          |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Time spent on homework    |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  None ...................|212(0.9)|213(2.0)|210(1.9)|210(1.9)|217(2.0)|254(0.8)|250(1.7)|254(1.3)|251(2.0)|248(1.7)|276(0.7)|273(2.3)|274(1.9)|275(2.3)|270(2.0)
  Didn't do assignment ...|199(2.1)|200(4.3)|196(5.2)|204(4.4)|204(4.1)|247(1.7)|243(5.6)|249(3.3)|249(4.2)|245(3.4)|287(1.2)|285(2.1)|281(2.2)|282(3.1)|279(2.7)
  Less than 1 hour .......|217(0.7)|212(1.4)|215(1.0)|214(1.5)|221(1.0)|261(0.6)|261(1.3)|258(1.6)|262(1.2)|261(1.2)|290(0.8)|288(1.6)|289(1.5)|291(2.3)|287(1.6)
  1 to 2 hours ...........|216(1.3)|214(3.0)|219(2.1)|215(3.2)|221(2.3)|266(0.7)|268(1.7)|266(1.6)|269(1.6)|268(1.6)|296(0.8)|297(1.7)|296(2.1)|296(2.0)|295(1.7)
  More than 2 hours ......|201(1.8)|193(6.1)|199(4.5)|197(3.5)|207(3.2)|265(1.2)|270(2.4)|268(2.3)|269(3.0)|272(2.0)|303(1.1)|306(3.1)|307(3.4)|300(2.8)|304(2.4)
                          |________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
                          |Percent
                          |______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Materials read a few      |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   times a year or more   |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Poems ..................| 70(1.5)| 62(2.3)| 60(1.9)| 64(2.4)|--- (†) | 68(1.3)| 79(1.4)| 80(1.9)| 77(1.6)|--- (†) | 76(1.1)| 85(2.2)| 80(1.8)| 85(2.0)|--- (†)
  Plays ..................| 56(1.4)| 45(2.2)| 42(2.3)| 44(2.2)|--- (†) | 59(1.4)| 63(2.3)| 67(2.1)| 61(1.8)|--- (†) | 63(1.0)| 70(2.1)| 67(1.6)| 72(2.0)|--- (†)
  Biographies ............| 45(1.5)| 47(2.1)| 46(2.4)| 49(3.0)|--- (†) | 62(1.3)| 68(1.7)| 65(2.6)| 72(2.1)|--- (†) | 59(1.2)| 69(1.8)| 66(1.7)| 70(1.9)|--- (†)
  Science books ..........| 84(1.3)| 87(1.8)| 83(2.2)| 80(1.6)|--- (†) | 90(1.1)| 92(1.4)| 90(1.9)| 89(1.2)|--- (†) | 70(1.1)| 84(1.9)| 82(2.0)| 84(1.3)|--- (†)
  Books about other       |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
     times ...............| 79(1.2)| 79(2.0)| 78(1.6)| 79(1.9)|--- (†) | 83(1.1)| 83(1.8)| 84(1.8)| 84(1.3)|--- (†) | 81(0.9)| 82(2.0)| 81(1.9)| 81(2.0)|--- (†)
                          |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Frequency of reading      |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   for fun                |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Total ..................|100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†)
    Daily ................| 53(1.0)| 58(1.6)| 54(1.9)| 54(1.6)| 54(1.6)| 35(1.0)| 32(1.8)| 32(1.9)| 28(1.7)| 30(2.0)| 31(0.8)| 30(2.6)| 23(2.0)| 25(1.7)| 22(2.0)
    Weekly ...............| 28(0.8)| 25(1.5)| 27(1.8)| 26(1.5)| 26(1.2)| 35(1.2)| 32(2.1)| 31(2.1)| 36(1.7)| 34(1.9)| 34(1.1)| 31(1.9)| 32(2.7)| 28(2.7)| 30(1.9)
    Monthly ..............|  7(0.6)|  5(0.6)|  8(1.0)|  6(0.6)|  7(0.5)| 14(0.8)| 14(1.7)| 15(1.4)| 17(1.6)| 15(1.2)| 17(0.5)| 15(1.5)| 17(1.5)| 19(1.7)| 15(1.6)
    Yearly ...............|  3(0.3)|  3(0.6)|  3(0.5)|  4(0.7)|  5(0.7)|  7(0.5)| 10(1.2)|  9(1.2)| 10(1.2)|  9(1.1)| 10(0.5)| 12(1.5)| 12(1.6)| 12(1.4)| 14(1.5)
    Never ................|  9(0.5)|  9(0.8)|  8(0.8)| 10(0.8)|  8(0.8)|  8(0.6)| 12(1.7)| 13(1.5)|  9(1.4)| 13(1.3)|  9(0.6)| 12(1.4)| 16(2.1)| 16(2.4)| 19(1.8)
                          |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Reading of books, news-   |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
   papers, and magazines  |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Total ..................|100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |--- (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |--- (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |--- (†)
    Yearly/monthly .......| 59(1.5)| 64(1.8)| 67(2.3)| 63(2.6)|--- (†) | 30(1.5)| 34(2.5)| 32(2.6)| 32(2.3)|--- (†) | 20(1.0)| 22(1.7)| 25(2.1)| 26(2.1)|--- (†)
    Weekly ...............| 31(1.5)| 27(1.8)| 22(1.9)| 27(2.4)|--- (†) | 49(1.1)| 47(2.5)| 47(2.2)| 49(2.2)|--- (†) | 53(1.2)| 55(2.3)| 52(2.6)| 52(2.2)|--- (†)
    Daily ................| 11(0.9)|  9(1.3)| 10(1.2)| 11(1.2)|--- (†) | 21(1.1)| 19(1.7)| 21(1.7)| 19(1.9)|--- (†) | 27(1.3)| 23(1.8)| 23(1.9)| 21(2.1)|--- (†)
                          |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Time spent on homework    |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  Total ..................|100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†) |100 (†)
    None .................| 36(1.3)| 32(2.1)| 26(1.6)| 26(1.6)| 21(1.5)| 23(0.8)| 23(1.4)| 22(1.8)| 24(1.2)| 20(1.3)| 22(0.9)| 23(1.4)| 23(1.4)| 26(1.0)| 26(1.0)
    Didn't do assignment .|  4(0.3)|  4(0.4)|  4(0.3)|  4(0.3)|  3(0.3)|  4(0.2)|  6(0.6)|  5(0.5)|  5(0.4)|  6(0.4)| 11(0.3)| 11(0.6)| 13(0.6)| 13(0.7)| 13(0.6)
    Less than 1 hour .....| 41(1.0)| 48(1.7)| 53(1.5)| 53(1.4)| 59(1.4)| 36(0.7)| 34(1.0)| 37(1.2)| 37(1.4)| 40(1.2)| 26(0.4)| 27(0.9)| 28(0.9)| 26(1.0)| 28(0.7)
    1 to 2 hours .........| 13(0.5)| 12(0.7)| 13(0.7)| 12(0.7)| 13(0.6)| 29(0.5)| 28(1.0)| 27(1.2)| 26(1.0)| 26(1.0)| 27(0.5)| 26(1.2)| 24(1.0)| 23(0.8)| 22(0.9)
    More than 2 hours ....|  6(0.2)|  4(0.4)|  4(0.3)|  5(0.5)|  5(0.3)|  9(0.3)|  9(0.7)|  8(0.9)|  8(0.8)|  8(0.5)| 13(0.6)| 13(0.9)| 11(0.7)| 12(0.9)| 11(0.6)
__________________________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________

---Not available.
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met.

NOTE: All age groups exclude persons not enrolled in school and those who were unable to be tested due to limited proficiency in English or due to a disability. Includes public and private schools. The NAEP scores have been evaluated at certain performance levels. A score of 300 implies an ability to find, understand, summarize and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material. A score of 250 implies an ability to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials. A score of 200 implies an ability to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information. A score of 150 implies an ability to follow brief written directions and carry out simple, discrete reading tasks. Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. 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. (This table was prepared July 2005.)