Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics: 2008
Digest of Education Statistics: 2008

NCES 2009-020
March 2009


Table 131. Average mathematics scale score, by age and selected student and school characteristics: Selected years, 1973 through 2004
Selected student and school characteristic 1973 1978 1982 1986 1990 1992 1994 1996 1999 2004
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
9-year-olds                                        
All students 219 (0.8) 219 (0.8) 219 (1.1) 222 (1.0) 230 (0.8) 230 (0.8) 231 (0.8) 231 (0.8) 232 (0.8) 241 (0.9)
Sex                                        
Male 218 (0.7) 217 (0.7) 217 (1.2) 222 (1.1) 229 (0.9) 231 (1.0) 232 (1.0) 233 (1.2) 233 (1.0) 243 (1.1)
Female 220 (1.1) 220 (1.0) 221 (1.2) 222 (1.2) 230 (1.1) 228 (1.0) 230 (0.9) 229 (0.7) 231 (0.9) 240 (1.1)
                                         
Race/ethnicity                                        
White 225 (1.0) 224 (0.9) 224 (1.1) 227 (1.1) 235 (0.8) 235 (0.8) 237 (1.0) 237 (1.0) 239 (0.9) 247 (0.9)
Black 190 (1.8) 192 (1.1) 195 (1.6) 202 (1.6) 208 (2.2) 208 (2.0) 212 (1.6) 212 (1.4) 211 (1.6) 224 (2.1)
Hispanic 202 (2.4) 203 (2.2) 204 (1.3) 205 (2.1) 214 (2.1) 212 (2.3) 210 (2.3) 215 (1.7) 213 (1.9) 230 (2.0)
                                         
Region                                        
Northeast 227 (1.9) 227 (1.9) 226 (1.8) 226 (2.7) 236 (2.1) 235 (1.9) 238 (2.2) 236 (2.0) 242 (1.7) 245 (2.0)
Southeast 208 (1.3) 209 (1.2) 210 (2.5) 218 (2.5) 224 (2.4) 221 (1.7) 229 (1.4) 227 (2.0) 226 (2.6) 240 (2.2)
Central 224 (1.5) 224 (1.5) 221 (2.7) 226 (2.3) 231 (1.3) 234 (1.6) 233 (1.8) 233 (2.3) 233 (1.4) 240 (1.5)
West 216 (2.2) 213 (1.3) 219 (1.8) 217 (2.4) 228 (1.8) 229 (2.3) 226 (1.6) 229 (1.3) 228 (1.7) 241 (1.8)
                                         
13-year-olds                                        
All students 266 (1.1) 264 (1.1) 269 (1.1) 269 (1.2) 270 (0.9) 273 (0.9) 274 (1.0) 274 (0.8) 276 (0.8) 281 (1.0)
Sex                                        
Male 265 (1.3) 264 (1.3) 269 (1.4) 270 (1.1) 271 (1.2) 274 (1.1) 276 (1.3) 276 (0.9) 277 (0.9) 283 (1.2)
Female 267 (1.1) 265 (1.1) 268 (1.1) 268 (1.5) 270 (0.9) 272 (1.0) 273 (1.0) 272 (1.0) 274 (1.1) 279 (1.0)
                                         
Race/ethnicity                                        
White 274 (0.9) 272 (0.8) 274 (1.0) 274 (1.3) 276 (1.1) 279 (0.9) 281 (0.9) 281 (0.9) 283 (0.8) 288 (0.9)
Black 228 (1.9) 230 (1.9) 240 (1.6) 249 (2.3) 249 (2.3) 250 (1.9) 252 (3.5) 252 (1.3) 251 (2.6) 262 (1.6)
Hispanic 239 (2.2) 238 (2.0) 252 (1.7) 254 (2.9) 255 (1.8) 259 (1.8) 256 (1.9) 256 (1.6) 259 (1.7) 265 (2.0)
                                         
Parents' highest level of education                                        
Not high school graduate (†) 245 (1.2) 251 (1.4) 252 (2.3) 253 (1.8) 256 (1.0) 255 (2.1) 254 (2.4) 256 (2.8) 262 (2.2)
Graduated high school (†) 263 (1.0) 263 (0.8) 263 (1.2) 263 (1.2) 263 (1.2) 266 (1.1) 267 (1.1) 264 (1.1) 271 (1.7)
Some education after high school (†) 273 (1.2) 275 (0.9) 274 (0.8) 277 (1.0) 278 (1.0) 277 (1.6) 277 (1.4) 279 (0.9) 283 (1.0)
Graduated college (†) 284 (1.2) 282 (1.5) 280 (1.4) 280 (1.0) 283 (1.0) 285 (1.2) 283 (1.2) 286 (1.0) 292 (0.9)
                                         
Region                                        
Northeast 275 (2.4) 273 (2.4) 277 (2.0) 277 (2.2) 275 (2.3) 274 (2.2) 284 (1.5) 275 (2.1) 279 (2.7) 284 (2.1)
Southeast 255 (3.2) 253 (3.3) 258 (2.2) 263 (1.4) 266 (1.9) 271 (2.5) 269 (2.0) 270 (1.8) 270 (2.3) 278 (2.1)
Central 271 (1.8) 269 (1.8) 273 (2.1) 266 (4.5) 272 (2.4) 275 (1.5) 275 (3.4) 280 (1.3) 278 (1.8) 283 (2.2)
West 262 (1.9) 260 (1.9) 266 (2.4) 270 (2.1) 269 (1.6) 272 (1.4) 272 (1.7) 273 (1.9) 276 (1.4) 280 (1.4)
                                         
17-year-olds                                        
All students 304 (1.1) 300 (1.0) 298 (0.9) 302 (0.9) 305 (0.9) 307 (0.9) 306 (1.0) 307 (1.2) 308 (1.0) 307 (0.8)
Sex                                        
Male 309 (1.2) 304 (1.0) 301 (1.0) 305 (1.2) 306 (1.1) 309 (1.1) 309 (1.4) 310 (1.3) 310 (1.4) 308 (1.0)
Female 301 (1.1) 297 (1.0) 296 (1.0) 299 (1.0) 303 (1.1) 305 (1.1) 304 (1.1) 305 (1.4) 307 (1.0) 305 (0.9)
                                         
Race/ethnicity                                        
White 310 (1.1) 306 (0.9) 304 (0.9) 308 (1.0) 309 (1.0) 312 (0.8) 312 (1.1) 313 (1.4) 315 (1.1) 313 (0.7)
Black 270 (1.3) 268 (1.3) 272 (1.2) 279 (2.1) 289 (2.8) 286 (2.2) 286 (1.8) 286 (1.7) 283 (1.5) 285 (1.6)
Hispanic 277 (2.2) 276 (2.3) 277 (1.8) 283 (2.9) 284 (2.9) 292 (2.6) 291 (3.7) 292 (2.1) 293 (2.5) 289 (1.8)
                                         
Parents' highest level of education                                        
Not high school graduate (†) 280 (1.2) 279 (1.0) 279 (2.3) 285 (2.2) 285 (2.3) 284 (2.4) 281 (2.4) 289 (1.8) 287 (2.4)
Graduated high school (†) 294 (0.8) 293 (0.8) 293 (1.0) 294 (0.9) 298 (1.7) 295 (1.1) 297 (2.4) 299 (1.6) 295 (1.1)
Some education after high school (†) 305 (0.9) 304 (0.9) 305 (1.2) 308 (1.0) 308 (1.1) 305 (1.3) 307 (1.5) 308 (1.6) 306 (1.1)
Graduated college (†) 317 (1.0) 312 (1.0) 314 (1.4) 316 (1.3) 316 (1.0) 318 (1.4) 317 (1.3) 317 (1.2) 317 (0.9)
                                         
Region                                        
Northeast 312 (1.8) 307 (1.8) 304 (2.0) 307 (1.9) 304 (2.1) 311 (2.0) 313 (2.9) 309 (3.0) 313 (2.4) 310 (1.4)
Southeast 296 (1.8) 292 (1.7) 292 (2.1) 297 (1.4) 301 (2.3) 301 (1.9) 301 (1.6) 303 (2.1) 300 (1.4) 302 (1.3)
Central 306 (1.8) 305 (1.9) 302 (1.4) 304 (1.9) 311 (2.1) 312 (2.0) 307 (2.2) 314 (2.0) 310 (2.0) 313 (1.0)
West 303 (2.0) 295 (1.8) 294 (1.9) 299 (2.7) 302 (1.5) 303 (2.3) 305 (2.4) 304 (2.3) 310 (2.0) 303 (1.9)
— Not available.
† Not applicable.
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. Scale ranges from 0 to 500. A score of 150 implies the knowledge of some basic addition and subtraction facts, and most students at this level can add two-digit numbers without regrouping. They recognize simple situations in which addition and subtraction apply. A score of 200 implies considerable understanding of two-digit numbers and knowledge of some basic multiplication and division facts. A score of 250 implies an initial under-standing of the four basic operations. Students at this level can also compare information from graphs and charts and are developing an ability to analyze simple logical relations. A score of 300 implies an ability to compute decimals, simple fractions, and percents. Student at this level can identify geometric figures, measure lengths and angles, and calculate areas of rectangles. They are developing the skills to operate with signed numbers, exponents, and square roots. A score of 350 implies an ability to apply a range of reasoning skills to solve multistep problems. Students at this level can solve routine problems involving fractions and percents, recognize properties of basic geometric figures, and work with exponents and square roots. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Totals include other racial/ethnic groups not shown separately. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress; and unpublished tabulations, NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nde/), retrieved July 2005. (This table was prepared July 2005.)