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Digest of Education Statistics
2006 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 122. Percentage of students at or above selected mathematics proficiency levels, by age, sex, and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1978 through 2004 
Selected characteristic 9-year-olds1  13-year-olds2  17-year-olds2 
Simple
arithmetic facts3 
Beginning
skills and understanding4 
Numerical operations
and beginning problem solving5 
Moderately complex procedures
and reasoning6 
Beginning
skills and understanding4 
Numerical operations
and beginning problem solving5 
Moderately complex procedures
and reasoning6 
Multistep problem
solving and algebra7 
Beginning
skills and understanding4 
Numerical operations
and beginning problem solving5 
Moderately complex procedures
and reasoning6 
Multistep problem
solving and algebra7 
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Total                                                
1978 96.7 (0.3) 70.4 (0.9) 19.6 (0.7) 0.8 (0.1) 94.6 (0.5) 64.9 (1.2) 18.0 (0.7) 1.0 (0.2) 99.8 (0.1) 92.0 (0.5) 51.5 (1.1) 7.3 (0.4)
1982 97.1 (0.3) 71.4 (1.2) 18.8 (1.0) 0.6 (0.1) 97.7 (0.4) 71.4 (1.2) 17.4 (0.9) 0.5 (0.1) 99.9 (‡ ) 93.0 (0.5) 48.5 (1.3) 5.5 (0.4)
1986 97.9 (0.3) 74.1 (1.2) 20.7 (0.9) 0.6 (0.2) 98.6 (0.2) 73.3 (1.6) 15.8 (1.0) 0.4 (0.1) 99.9 (‡ ) 95.6 (0.5) 51.7 (1.4) 6.5 (0.5)
1990 99.1 (0.2) 81.5 (1.0) 27.7 (0.9) 1.2 (0.3) 98.5 (0.2) 74.7 (1.0) 17.3 (1.0) 0.4 (0.1) 100.0 (‡ ) 96.0 (0.5) 56.1 (1.4) 7.2 (0.6)
1992 99.0 (0.2) 81.4 (0.8) 27.8 (0.9) 1.2 (0.3) 98.7 (0.3) 77.9 (1.1) 18.9 (1.0) 0.4 (0.2) 100.0 (‡ ) 96.6 (0.5) 59.1 (1.3) 7.2 (0.6)
1994 99.0 (0.2) 82.0 (0.7) 29.9 (1.1) 1.3 (0.4) 98.5 (0.3) 78.1 (1.1) 21.3 (1.4) 0.6 (0.2) 100.0 (‡ ) 96.5 (0.5) 58.6 (1.4) 7.4 (0.8)
1996 99.1 (0.2) 81.5 (0.8) 29.7 (1.0) 1.6 (0.3) 98.8 (0.2) 78.6 (0.9) 20.6 (1.2) 0.6 (0.1) 100.0 (‡ ) 96.8 (0.4) 60.1 (1.7) 7.4 (0.8)
1999 98.9 (0.2) 82.5 (0.8) 30.9 (1.1) 1.7 (0.3) 98.7 (0.2) 78.8 (1.0) 23.2 (1.0) 0.9 (0.2) 100.0 (‡ ) 96.8 (0.5) 60.7 (1.6) 8.4 (0.8)
2004 99.3 (0.1) 88.6 (0.8) 41.9 (1.2) (†) 98.6 (0.2) 83.5 (1.0) 29.0 (1.1) (†) (†) 96.7 (0.4) 58.6 (1.3) 6.9 (0.6)
                                                 
Male                                                
1978 96.2 (0.5) 68.9 (1.0) 19.2 (0.6) 0.7 (0.2) 93.9 (0.5) 63.9 (1.3) 18.4 (0.9) 1.1 (0.2) 99.9 (0.1) 93.0 (0.5) 55.1 (1.2) 9.5 (0.6)
1982 96.5 (0.5) 68.8 (1.3) 18.1 (1.1) 0.6 (0.1) 97.5 (0.6) 71.3 (1.4) 18.9 (1.2) 0.7 (0.2) 100.0 (‡ ) 93.9 (0.6) 51.9 (1.5) 6.9 (0.7)
1986 98.0 (0.5) 74.0 (1.4) 20.9 (1.1) 0.7 (0.3) 98.5 (0.3) 73.8 (1.8) 17.6 (1.1) 0.5 (0.2) 99.9 (‡ ) 96.1 (0.6) 54.6 (1.8) 8.4 (0.9)
1990 99.0 (0.3) 80.6 (1.0) 27.5 (1.0) 1.3 (0.4) 98.2 (0.3) 75.1 (1.8) 19.0 (1.2) 0.5 (0.2) 99.9 (‡ ) 95.8 (0.8) 57.6 (1.4) 8.8 (0.8)
1992 99.0 (0.3) 81.9 (1.0) 29.4 (1.2) 1.4 (0.3) 98.8 (0.4) 78.1 (1.6) 20.7 (1.1) 0.5 (0.2) 100.0 (‡ ) 96.9 (0.6) 60.5 (1.8) 9.1 (0.7)
1994 99.1 (0.3) 82.3 (0.9) 31.5 (1.6) 1.4 (0.4) 98.3 (0.4) 78.9 (1.5) 23.9 (1.6) 0.8 (0.3) 100.0 (‡ ) 97.3 (0.6) 60.2 (2.1) 9.3 (1.0)
1996 99.1 (0.2) 82.5 (1.1) 32.7 (1.7) 2.0 (0.5) 98.7 (0.3) 79.8 (1.4) 23.0 (1.6) 0.8 (0.2) 100.0 (‡ ) 97.0 (0.7) 62.7 (1.8) 9.5 (1.3)
1999 98.8 (0.3) 82.6 (0.9) 32.4 (1.3) 1.9 (0.4) 98.5 (0.3) 79.3 (1.1) 25.4 (1.2) 1.2 (0.2) 100.0 (‡ ) 96.5 (0.8) 63.1 (2.1) 9.8 (1.1)
2004 99.3 (0.2) 89.3 (0.9) 43.5 (1.2) (†) 98.3 (0.3) 82.8 (1.2) 32.6 (1.6) (†) (†) 96.6 (0.6) 60.6 (1.6) 8.8 (1.0)
                                                 
Female                                                
1978 97.2 (0.3) 72.0 (1.1) 19.9 (1.0) 0.8 (0.2) 95.2 (0.5) 65.9 (1.2) 17.5 (0.7) 0.9 (0.2) 99.7 (0.1) 91.0 (0.6) 48.2 (1.3) 5.2 (0.7)
1982 97.6 (0.3) 74.0 (1.3) 19.6 (1.1) 0.5 (0.1) 98.0 (0.3) 71.4 (1.3) 15.9 (1.0) 0.4 (0.2) 99.9 (‡ ) 92.1 (0.6) 45.3 (1.4) 4.1 (0.4)
1986 97.8 (0.4) 74.3 (1.3) 20.6 (1.3) 0.6 (0.3) 98.6 (0.3) 72.7 (1.9) 14.1 (1.3) 0.3 (0.1) 100.0 (‡ ) 95.1 (0.7) 48.9 (1.7) 4.7 (0.6)
1990 99.1 (0.3) 82.3 (1.3) 27.9 (1.3) 1.0 (0.3) 98.9 (0.2) 74.4 (1.3) 15.7 (1.0) 0.2 (0.1) 100.0 (‡ ) 96.2 (0.8) 54.7 (1.8) 5.6 (0.8)
1992 99.0 (0.3) 80.9 (1.1) 26.3 (1.5) 1.0 (0.4) 98.6 (0.2) 77.7 (1.1) 17.2 (1.4) 0.3 (‡ ) 100.0 (‡ ) 96.3 (0.8) 57.7 (1.6) 5.2 (0.8)
1994 98.9 (0.3) 81.7 (0.9) 28.3 (1.3) 1.1 (0.4) 98.7 (0.3) 77.3 (1.0) 18.7 (1.4) 0.5 (0.3) 100.0 (‡ ) 96.0 (0.6) 57.2 (1.4) 5.5 (0.9)
1996 99.1 (0.4) 80.7 (0.9) 26.7 (1.1) 1.2 (0.4) 98.8 (0.3) 77.4 (1.1) 18.4 (1.5) 0.5 (0.2) 100.0 (‡ ) 96.7 (0.6) 57.6 (2.2) 5.3 (0.8)
1999 99.0 (0.2) 82.5 (1.2) 29.4 (1.4) 1.6 (0.4) 99.0 (0.4) 78.4 (1.2) 21.0 (1.4) 0.6 (0.3) 100.0 (‡ ) 97.2 (0.4) 58.5 (1.9) 7.1 (1.1)
2004 99.3 (0.2) 87.9 (1.0) 40.3 (1.5) (†) 98.8 (0.3) 84.1 (1.1) 25.6 (1.1) (†) (†) 96.8 (0.5) 56.7 (1.6) 5.1 (0.6)
                                                 
White                                                
1978 98.3 (0.2) 76.3 (1.0) 22.9 (0.9) 0.9 (0.2) 97.6 (0.3) 72.9 (0.9) 21.4 (0.7) 1.2 (0.2) 100.0 (‡ ) 95.6 (0.3) 57.6 (1.1) 8.5 (0.5)
1982 98.5 (0.3) 76.8 (1.2) 21.8 (1.1) 0.6 (0.1) 99.1 (0.1) 78.3 (0.9) 20.5 (1.0) 0.6 (0.1) 100.0 (‡ ) 96.2 (0.3) 54.7 (1.4) 6.4 (0.5)
1986 98.8 (0.2) 79.6 (1.3) 24.6 (1.0) 0.8 (0.3) 99.3 (0.3) 78.9 (1.7) 18.6 (1.2) 0.4 (0.1) 100.0 (‡ ) 98.0 (0.4) 59.1 (1.7) 7.9 (0.7)
1990 99.6 (0.2) 86.9 (0.9) 32.7 (1.0) 1.5 (0.4) 99.4 (0.1) 82.0 (1.0) 21.0 (1.2) 0.4 (0.2) 100.0 (‡ ) 97.6 (0.3) 63.2 (1.6) 8.3 (0.7)
1992 99.6 (0.1) 86.9 (0.7) 32.4 (1.0) 1.4 (0.3) 99.6 (0.2) 84.9 (1.1) 22.8 (1.3) 0.4 (0.2) 100.0 (‡ ) 98.3 (0.4) 66.4 (1.4) 8.7 (0.9)
1994 99.6 (0.2) 87.0 (0.8) 35.3 (1.3) 1.5 (0.4) 99.3 (0.2) 85.5 (0.9) 25.6 (1.6) 0.7 (0.3) 100.0 (‡ ) 98.4 (0.4) 67.0 (1.4) 9.4 (1.1)
1996 99.6 (0.1) 86.6 (0.8) 35.7 (1.4) 2.0 (0.4) 99.6 (0.2) 86.4 (1.0) 25.4 (1.5) 0.8 (0.2) 100.0 (‡ ) 98.7 (0.4) 68.7 (2.2) 9.2 (1.0)
1999 99.6 (0.1) 88.6 (0.8) 37.1 (1.4) 2.2 (0.4) 99.4 (0.3) 86.7 (0.9) 29.0 (1.3) 1.2 (0.3) 100.0 (‡ ) 98.7 (0.4) 69.9 (2.0) 10.4 (1.1)
2004 99.7 (0.1) 92.6 (0.6) 49.0 (1.4) (†) 99.1 (0.2) 90.5 (0.8) 36.0 (1.3) (†) (†) 98.4 (0.4) 69.0 (1.3) 8.5 (0.8)
                                                 
Black                                                
1978 88.4 (1.0) 42.0 (1.4) 4.1 (0.6) # (†) 79.7 (1.5) 28.7 (2.1) 2.3 (0.5) # (†) 98.8 (0.3) 70.7 (1.7) 16.8 (1.6) # (†)
1982 90.2 (1.0) 46.1 (2.4) 4.4 (0.8) # (†) 90.2 (1.6) 37.9 (2.5) 2.9 (1.0) # (†) 99.7 (0.2) 76.4 (1.5) 17.1 (1.5) # (†)
1986 93.9 (1.4) 53.4 (2.5) 5.6 (0.9) # (†) 95.4 (0.9) 49.0 (3.7) 4.0 (1.4) # (†) 100.0 (‡ ) 85.6 (2.5) 20.8 (2.8) # (†)
1990 96.9 (0.9) 60.0 (2.8) 9.4 (1.7) # (†) 95.4 (1.1) 48.7 (3.6) 3.9 (1.6) # (†) 99.9 (‡ ) 92.4 (2.2) 32.8 (4.5) 2.0 (1.0)
1992 96.6 (1.1) 59.8 (2.8) 9.6 (1.4) # (†) 95.0 (1.4) 51.0 (2.7) 4.0 (0.7) # (†) 100.0 (‡ ) 89.6 (2.5) 29.8 (3.9) 0.9 (‡ )
1994 97.4 (1.0) 65.9 (2.6) 11.1 (1.7) # (†) 95.6 (1.6) 51.0 (3.9) 6.4 (2.4) # (†) 100.0 (‡ ) 90.6 (1.8) 29.8 (3.4) # (†)
1996 97.3 (0.8) 65.3 (2.4) 10.0 (1.2) # (†) 96.2 (1.3) 53.7 (2.6) 4.8 (1.1) # (†) 100.0 (‡ ) 90.6 (1.3) 31.2 (2.5) 0.9 (‡ )
1999 96.4 (0.6) 63.3 (2.1) 12.3 (1.5) # (†) 96.5 (1.1) 50.8 (4.0) 4.4 (1.4) # (†) 99.9 (‡ ) 88.6 (2.0) 26.6 (2.7) 1.0 (‡ )
2004 97.6 (0.7) 77.0 (2.4) 23.6 (2.0) (†) 97.2 (0.6) 67.2 (2.2) 9.0 (1.1) (†) (†) 91.7 (1.9) 26.0 (2.6) 0.9 (0.5)
                                                 
Hispanic                                                
1978 93.0 (1.2) 54.2 (2.8) 9.2 (2.5) # (†) 86.4 (0.9) 36.0 (2.9) 4.0 (1.0) # (†) 99.3 (0.4) 78.3 (2.3) 23.4 (2.7) 1.4 (0.6)
1982 94.3 (1.2) 55.7 (2.3) 7.8 (1.7) # (†) 95.9 (0.9) 52.2 (2.5) 6.3 (1.0) # (†) 99.8 (‡ ) 81.4 (1.9) 21.6 (2.2) 0.7 (0.4)
1986 96.4 (1.3) 57.6 (2.9) 7.3 (2.8) # (†) 96.9 (1.4) 56.0 (5.0) 5.5 (1.1) # (†) 99.4 (‡ ) 89.3 (2.5) 26.5 (4.5) 1.1 (‡ )
1990 98.0 (0.8) 68.4 (3.0) 11.3 (3.5) # (†) 96.8 (1.1) 56.7 (3.3) 6.4 (1.7) # (†) 99.6 (‡ ) 85.8 (4.2) 30.1 (3.1) 1.9 (0.8)
1992 97.2 (1.3) 65.0 (2.9) 11.7 (2.5) # (†) 98.1 (0.7) 63.3 (2.7) 7.0 (1.2) # (†) 100.0 (‡ ) 94.1 (2.2) 39.2 (4.9) 1.2 (‡ )
1994 97.2 (1.2) 63.5 (3.1) 9.7 (1.8) # (†) 97.1 (1.3) 59.2 (2.2) 6.4 (1.8) # (†) 100.0 (‡ ) 91.8 (3.6) 38.3 (5.5) 1.4 (‡ )
1996 98.1 (0.7) 67.1 (2.1) 13.8 (2.3) # (†) 96.2 (0.8) 58.3 (2.3) 6.7 (1.2) # (†) 99.9 (‡ ) 92.2 (2.2) 40.1 (3.5) 1.8 (‡ )
1999 98.1 (0.7) 67.5 (2.5) 10.5 (1.6) # (†) 97.2 (0.6) 62.9 (2.5) 8.2 (1.4) # (†) 99.9 (‡ ) 93.6 (2.2) 37.7 (4.1) 3.1 (1.1)
2004 99.6 (0.2) 82.6 (2.4) 26.9 (2.7) (†) 97.3 (0.8) 68.4 (3.3) 14.3 (1.8) (†) (†) 92.1 (2.1) 32.3 (2.1) 1.3 (0.5)
—Not available.
† Not applicable.
# Rounds to zero.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
1 Virtually no students were able to perform multistep problems and algebra.
2 Virtually all students knew simple arithmetic facts.
3 Scale score of 150 or above.
4 Scale score of 200 or above.
5 Scale score of 250 or above.
6 Scale score of 300 or above.
7 Scale score of 350 or above.
NOTE: 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. Includes public and private schools. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic origin. Totals include other racial/ethnic groups not shown separately. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1999 NAEP Trends in Aca­demic Progress and NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/), retrieved July 2005. (This table was prepared February 2006.)

2006 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest