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Digest of Education Statistics
2010 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 146. Average mathematics scale scores of 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-graders, by selected student and school characteristics: Selected years, 1990 through 2009
Selected student or
school characteristic
19901 19921 1996 2000 2003 2005 2007 2009
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
4th-graders, all students 213 (0.9) 220 (0.7) 224 (1.0) 226 (0.9) 235 (0.2) 238 (0.1) 240 (0.2) 240 (0.2)
Sex                                
Male 214 (1.2) 221 (0.8) 224 (1.1) 227 (1.0) 236 (0.3) 239 (0.2) 241 (0.2) 241 (0.3)
Female 213 (1.1) 219 (1.0) 223 (1.1) 224 (0.9) 233 (0.2) 237 (0.2) 239 (0.2) 239 (0.3)
                                 
Race/ethnicity                                
White 220 (1.0) 227 (0.8) 232 (1.0) 234 (0.8) 243 (0.2) 246 (0.1) 248 (0.2) 248 (0.2)
Black 188 (1.8) 193 (1.4) 198 (1.6) 203 (1.2) 216 (0.4) 220 (0.3) 222 (0.3) 222 (0.3)
Hispanic 200 (2.2) 202 (1.5) 207 (1.9) 208 (1.5) 222 (0.4) 226 (0.3) 227 (0.3) 227 (0.4)
Asian/Pacific Islander 225 (4.1) 231 (2.1) 229 (4.2) (†) 246 (1.1) 251 (0.7) 253 (0.8) 255 (1.0)
American Indian/Alaska Native (†) (†) 217 (5.6) 208 (3.5) 223 (1.0) 226 (0.9) 228 (0.7) 225 (0.9)
                                 
Eligibility for free or reduced-
   price lunch
                               
Eligible (†) (†) 207 (1.3) 208 (0.9) 222 (0.3) 225 (0.2) 227 (0.2) 227 (0.2)
Not eligible (†) (†) 232 (0.8) 235 (1.1) 244 (0.3) 248 (0.2) 249 (0.2) 250 (0.3)
Unknown (†) (†) 231 (2.8) 237 (1.6) 241 (0.7) 244 (0.7) 246 (0.9) 246 (1.1)
                                 
Control of school                                
Public 212 (1.1) 219 (0.8) 222 (1.1) 224 (1.0) 234 (0.2) (†) 239 (0.2) 239 (0.2)
Private 224 (2.6) 228 (1.1) 235 (1.9) 238 (0.8) 244 (0.7) (†) 246 (0.8) 246 (0.8)
                                 
Amount of math homework assigned                                
per day                                
None (†) (†) 227 (5.4) 227 (2.4) 234 (1.0) (†) 236 (0.9) 236 (0.9)
15 minutes (†) (†) 227 (1.6) 229 (1.2) 237 (0.4) (†) 242 (0.2) 242 (0.3)
30 minutes (†) (†) 223 (1.9) 225 (1.4) 234 (0.4) (†) 239 (0.3) 239 (0.4)
45 minutes (†) (†) 217 (4.7) 214 (2.7) 229 (1.2) (†) 233 (0.9) 235 (1.0)
1 hour (†) (†) (†) 225 (4.7) 225 (2.2) (†) 233 (2.5) 228 (3.0)
More than 1 hour (†) (†) (†) (†) 217 (3.0) (†) 233 (4.4) 222 (5.9)
                                 
8th-graders, all students 263 (1.3) 268 (0.9) 270 (0.9) 273 (0.8) 278 (0.3) 279 (0.2) 281 (0.3) 283 (0.3)
Sex                                
Male 263 (1.6) 268 (1.1) 271 (1.1) 274 (0.9) 278 (0.3) 280 (0.2) 282 (0.3) 284 (0.3)
Female 262 (1.3) 269 (1.0) 269 (1.1) 272 (0.9) 277 (0.3) 278 (0.2) 280 (0.3) 282 (0.4)
                                 
Race/ethnicity                                
White 270 (1.3) 277 (1.0) 281 (1.1) 284 (0.8) 288 (0.3) 289 (0.2) 291 (0.3) 293 (0.3)
Black 237 (2.7) 237 (1.3) 240 (1.9) 244 (1.2) 252 (0.5) 255 (0.4) 260 (0.4) 261 (0.5)
Hispanic 246 (4.3) 249 (1.2) 251 (1.7) 253 (1.3) 259 (0.6) 262 (0.4) 265 (0.4) 266 (0.6)
Asian/Pacific Islander 275 (5.0) 290 (5.9) (†) 288 (3.5) 291 (1.3) 295 (0.9) 297 (0.9) 301 (1.2)
American Indian/Alaska Native (†) (†) (†) 259 (7.5) 263 (1.8) 264 (0.9) 264 (1.2) 266 (1.1)
                                 
Eligibility for free or reduced-
   price lunch
                               
Eligible (†) (†) 250 (1.7) 253 (1.1) 259 (0.4) 262 (0.3) 265 (0.3) 266 (0.3)
Not eligible (†) (†) 277 (1.3) 283 (1.1) 287 (0.3) 288 (0.2) 291 (0.3) 294 (0.3)
Unknown (†) (†) 279 (2.3) 276 (1.6) 285 (1.0) 289 (1.2) 291 (1.7) 295 (1.4)
                                 
Parents' highest level of education                                
Did not finish high school 242 (2.0) 249 (1.7) 250 (2.0) 253 (1.4) 257 (0.6) 259 (0.5) 263 (0.5) 265 (0.6)
Graduated high school 255 (1.6) 257 (1.2) 260 (1.3) 261 (1.0) 267 (0.4) 267 (0.3) 270 (0.4) 270 (0.5)
Some education after high school 267 (1.6) 271 (1.1) 277 (1.2) 277 (1.1) 280 (0.4) 280 (0.3) 283 (0.4) 284 (0.4)
Graduated college 274 (1.5) 281 (1.2) 281 (1.2) 286 (1.0) 288 (0.3) 290 (0.2) 292 (0.3) 295 (0.3)
                                 
Control of school                                
Public (†) 267 (1.0) 269 (1.0) 272 (0.9) 276 (0.3) (†) 280 (0.3) 282 (0.3)
Private (†) 281 (2.2) 285 (1.8) 286 (1.2) 292 (1.2) (†) 293 (1.3) 296 (1.2)
                                 
Amount of math homework assigned
   per day
                               
None (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 263 (2.0)
Less than 1 hour (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 284 (0.3)
About 1 hour (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 284 (0.8)
About 2-3 hours (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 274 (3.0)
More than 3 hours (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 269 (5.0)
                                 
12th-graders, all students [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 150 (0.6) (†) 153 (0.7)
Sex                                
Male [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 151 (0.7) (†) 155 (0.9)
Female [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 149 (0.7) (†) 152 (0.7)
                                 
Race/ethnicity                                
White [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 157 (0.6) (†) 161 (0.6)
Black [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 127 (1.1) (†) 131 (0.8)
Hispanic [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 133 (1.3) (†) 138 (0.8)
Asian/Pacific Islander [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 163 (2.0) (†) 175 (2.7)
American Indian/Alaska Native [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 134 (4.1) (†) 144 (2.8)
                                 
Eligibility for free or reduced-
   price lunch
                               
Eligible [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 132 (1.1) (†) 137 (0.8)
Not eligible [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 155 (0.7) (†) 160 (0.8)
Unknown [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 162 (1.8) (†) 159 (2.6)
                                 
Parents' highest level of education                                
Did not finish high school [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 130 (1.5) (†) 135 (1.0)
Graduated high school [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 138 (1.1) (†) 142 (0.7)
Some education after high school [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 148 (0.8) (†) 150 (0.7)
Graduated college [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) 161 (0.6) (†) 164 (0.8)
                                 
Control of school                                
Public [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) (†) (†) (†)
Private [2]   [2]   [2]   [2]   (†) (†) (†) (†)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met.
1 Accommodations were not permitted for this assessment.
2 Because of major changes to the framework and content of the grade 12 assessment, scores from 2005 and 2009 cannot be compared with scores from earlier assessment years. Therefore, this table does not include scores from the earlier grade 12 assessment years (1990, 1992, 1996, and 2000). For data pertaining to comparisons between earlier years, see Digest of Education Statistics 2009, table 138 (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d09/tables/dt09_138.asp).
NOTE: For the grade 4 and grade 8 assessments, scale ranges from 0 to 500. For the grade 12 assessment, scale ranges from 0 to 300. Includes public and private schools. Excludes persons not enrolled in school and students who were unable to be tested due to limited proficiency in English or due to a disability. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. 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), 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009 Mathematics Assessments, retrieved September 2 and November 23, 2010, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared November 2010.)

2010 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest