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Digest of Education Statistics
2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 220.41. Fall 2010 first-time kindergartners’ mathematics scale scores through spring of third grade, by selected child, family, and school characteristics during the kindergarten year: Fall 2010 and spring 2011 through spring 2014
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected child, family, or school characteristic
during the kindergarten year
Mean mathematics score1
Kindergarten First grade,
spring 2012
Second grade,
spring 2013
Third grade,
spring 2014
Fall 2010 Spring 2011
1 2 3 4 5 6
Total 34.4 (0.30) 48.3 (0.34) 71.8 (0.39) 87.6 (0.37) 98.9 (0.33)
                     
Sex of child                    
Male 34.8 (0.34) 48.6 (0.38) 72.9 (0.47) 88.9 (0.39) 100.5 (0.34)
Female 33.9 (0.36) 47.9 (0.38) 70.6 (0.44) 86.2 (0.46) 97.2 (0.42)
                     
Age of child at kindergarten entry, fall 2010                    
Less than 5 years old 29.4 (1.06) 42.6 (1.27) 64.2 (1.41) 83.1 (1.39) 95.0 (1.24)
5 years old to 5 1/2 years old 32.0 (0.37) 46.0 (0.41) 69.3 (0.50) 85.9 (0.53) 97.6 (0.47)
More than 5 1/2 years old to 6 years old 36.2 (0.35) 50.0 (0.39) 73.7 (0.45) 89.1 (0.38) 100.1 (0.34)
More than 6 years old 39.2 (0.76) 53.1 (0.81) 77.0 (0.86) 90.3 (0.88) 100.9 (0.75)
                     
Race/ethnicity of child                    
White 37.1 (0.35) 51.2 (0.42) 76.2 (0.42) 91.6 (0.34) 102.4 (0.33)
Black 30.6 (0.54) 42.9 (0.55) 63.5 (0.97) 78.0 (1.08) 89.9 (1.06)
Hispanic 29.5 (0.38) 44.0 (0.45) 65.3 (0.71) 82.5 (0.75) 94.5 (0.47)
Asian 38.9 (0.97) 51.5 (0.73) 76.1 (0.90) 94.1 (0.77) 104.6 (0.65)
Pacific Islander (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
American Indian/Alaska Native 32.0 (1.17) 47.6 (1.15) 71.8 (1.59) 87.3 (1.72) 99.5 (1.49)
Two or more races 36.8 (0.79) 51.1 (1.03) 75.0 (1.09) 90.9 (1.10) 101.9 (0.82)
                     
How often child exhibited positive learning
      behaviors, fall 20102
                   
Never 20.6 (0.84) 31.0 (1.24) 48.6 (1.82) 63.6 (2.42) 79.5 (1.82)
Sometimes 28.6 (0.42) 41.9 (0.46) 64.1 (0.55) 80.9 (0.54) 93.3 (0.52)
Often 34.7 (0.34) 49.0 (0.41) 72.6 (0.46) 88.6 (0.46) 99.7 (0.43)
Very often 39.6 (0.42) 53.7 (0.45) 78.5 (0.52) 93.2 (0.43) 103.7 (0.35)
                     
Primary type of nonparental care arrangement
      prior to kindergarten entry3
                   
No regular nonparental arrangement 31.6 (0.54) 45.9 (0.56) 68.2 (0.70) 85.0 (0.64) 96.6 (0.52)
Home-based care                    
Relative care 32.5 (0.55) 46.6 (0.49) 70.2 (0.69) 85.6 (0.72) 97.1 (0.61)
Nonrelative care 36.6 (0.63) 50.7 (0.80) 75.1 (0.83) 90.2 (0.82) 101.6 (0.70)
Center-based care 35.7 (0.33) 49.4 (0.39) 73.1 (0.44) 88.7 (0.43) 99.9 (0.38)
Multiple arrangements 35.4 (0.67) 49.5 (0.89) 74.5 (1.16) 89.6 (1.04) 101.3 (1.16)
                     
Household type, fall 20104                    
Two-parent household 35.6 (0.33) 49.7 (0.37) 73.6 (0.40) 89.4 (0.38) 100.6 (0.30)
Mother-only household 30.8 (0.52) 44.2 (0.52) 66.5 (0.76) 81.7 (0.79) 93.6 (0.80)
Father-only household 30.9 (1.20) 44.1 (1.31) 67.0 (1.79) 82.1 (1.48) 93.5 (1.62)
Other household type 27.8 (1.09) 40.9 (1.12) 60.6 (1.96) 76.5 (2.12) 88.3 (1.83)
                     
Primary home language                    
English 35.5 (0.30) 49.4 (0.35) 73.3 (0.39) 88.6 (0.37) 99.7 (0.37)
Non-English 28.5 (0.60) 43.1 (0.65) 64.4 (0.84) 82.3 (0.94) 94.7 (0.66)
Primary language not identified 31.0 (1.53) 43.3 (1.60) 65.9 (2.17) 85.1 (2.38) 96.7 (2.02)
                     
Parents’ highest level of education5                    
Less than high school 26.0 (0.69) 40.4 (0.75) 60.7 (0.70) 77.6 (0.88) 90.4 (0.85)
High school completion 29.7 (0.44) 43.2 (0.41) 65.4 (0.54) 81.9 (0.51) 93.5 (0.53)
Some college/vocational 33.3 (0.34) 47.2 (0.40) 70.5 (0.53) 86.5 (0.47) 98.0 (0.39)
Bachelor’s degree 38.0 (0.30) 52.3 (0.38) 76.7 (0.45) 92.0 (0.44) 103.0 (0.42)
Any graduate education 41.2 (0.41) 55.1 (0.45) 80.7 (0.48) 95.5 (0.41) 105.8 (0.35)
                     
Poverty status, spring 20116                    
Below poverty threshold 28.7 (0.50) 42.8 (0.48) 63.8 (0.63) 80.2 (0.75) 92.5 (0.66)
100 to 199 percent of poverty threshold 32.5 (0.43) 46.1 (0.53) 69.8 (0.67) 86.0 (0.59) 97.2 (0.60)
200 percent or more of poverty threshold 38.1 (0.31) 52.1 (0.36) 76.8 (0.36) 92.1 (0.36) 102.9 (0.31)
                     
Two risk factors7                    
Both risk factors: No parent completed
      high school8  and family below poverty
      threshold6 
25.6 (0.73) 40.0 (0.77) 59.8 (0.82) 76.4 (1.12) 88.9 (1.02)
One risk factor: No parent completed high
      school
27.1 (1.16) 41.2 (1.50) 63.3 (1.58) 81.9 (2.00) 94.6 (1.57)
One risk factor: Family below poverty
      threshold
29.7 (0.55) 43.7 (0.54) 65.0 (0.73) 81.4 (0.86) 93.7 (0.75)
Neither risk factor 36.6 (0.30) 50.5 (0.36) 75.0 (0.40) 90.5 (0.36) 101.3 (0.34)
                     
Socioeconomic status9                    
Lowest 20 percent 27.4 (0.54) 41.2 (0.59) 62.1 (0.66) 78.9 (0.73) 91.3 (0.71)
Middle 60 percent 34.2 (0.28) 48.2 (0.34) 71.9 (0.40) 87.7 (0.37) 98.9 (0.32)
Highest 20 percent 41.4 (0.37) 55.4 (0.42) 80.6 (0.48) 95.4 (0.38) 106.0 (0.30)
                     
School control, fall 2010                    
Public 33.9 (0.34) 47.8 (0.37) 71.3 (0.42) 87.2 (0.39) 98.6 (0.36)
Private 38.3 (0.77) 52.4 (1.09) 75.6 (1.29) 91.0 (1.01) 101.0 (0.99)
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).
1 Reflects performance on questions on number sense, properties, and operations; measurement; geometry and spatial sense; data analysis, statistics, and probability (measured with a set of simple questions assessing children’s ability to read a graph); and prealgebra skills such as identification of patterns. Possible scores for the mathematics assessment range from 0 to 135.
2 Derived from child’s approaches to learning scale score in fall of the kindergarten year. This score is based on teachers’ reports on how often students exhibit positive learning behaviors in seven areas: attentiveness, task persistence, eagerness to learn, learning independence, ability to adapt easily to changes in routine, organization, and ability to follow classroom rules. Possible scores range from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating that a child exhibits positive learning behaviors more often. Fall 2010 scores were categorized into the four anchor points on the original scale--1 (never), 2 (sometimes), 3 (often), and 4 (very often)--by rounding the mean score to the nearest whole number.
3 The type of nonparental care in which the child spent the most hours. "Multiple arrangements" refers to children who spent an equal amount of time in each of two or more arrangements.
4 A two-parent household may have two biological parents, two adoptive parents, or one biological/adoptive parent and one other parent/partner. A mother-only or father-only household has one biological or adoptive parent only, without another parent/partner. In other household types, which do not include biological or adoptive parents, the guardian or guardians may be related or unrelated to the child.
5 Parents’ highest level of education is the highest level of education achieved by either of the parents or guardians in a two-parent household, by the only parent in a single-parent household, or by any guardian in a household with no parents.
6 Poverty status is based on preliminary U.S. Census income thresholds for 2010, which identify incomes determined to meet household needs, given family size and composition. For example, a family of three with one child was below the poverty threshold if its income was less than $17,552 in 2010.
7 Includes only children for whom information about both risk factors is available. Excludes children with missing information about parental education or family poverty.
8 High school not completed by any parent or guardian living with the child.
9 Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured by a composite score based on parental education and occupations and household income during the child’s kindergarten year.
NOTE: Estimates weighted by W7C17P_7T170. Estimates pertain to a sample of children who were enrolled in kindergarten for the first time in the 2010-11 school year. Most of the children were in first grade in 2011-12, second grade in 2012-13, and third grade in 2013-14, but some of the children were in other grades. In 2013-14, for example, 6 percent of the children were not in third grade (e.g., were in second grade, fourth grade, or ungraded classrooms). Estimates differ from previously published figures because scale scores were recalculated to represent the kindergarten through third-grade assessment item pools and weights were adjusted to account for survey nonresponse at each data collection wave. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding and survey item nonresponse.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K:2011), Kindergarten–Third Grade Restricted-Use Data File. (This table was prepared October 2016.)

2016 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest