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Digest of Education Statistics
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Table 221.50. Average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scale score of 4th-grade public school students, by race/ethnicity, school's level of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, and state: 2015
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
State Race/ethnicity Percent of students in school eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
White Black Hispanic Asian Pacific Islander American Indian/ Alaska Native Two or more races 0-25 percent eligible
(low poverty)
26-50 percent eligible 51-75 percent eligible 76-100 percent eligible
(high poverty)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
United States 232 (0.3) 206 (0.5) 208 (0.8) 240 (1.7) 212 (2.2) 206 (1.5) 226 (1.0) 241 (0.5) 228 (0.5) 219 (0.7) 205 (0.7)
Alabama 226 (1.6) 204 (2.0) 199 (3.1) (†) (†) (†) (†) 232 (3.5) 226 (3.0) 218 (2.0) 205 (2.2)
Alaska 228 (1.6) 209 (5.4) 215 (3.0) 210 (3.8) 211 (5.0) 184 (3.4) 217 (3.1) 232 (2.4) 219 (2.0) 213 (3.3) 190 (4.7)
Arizona 229 (1.7) 217 (3.7) 204 (1.7) (†) (†) 191 (4.1) (†) 241 (3.2) 232 (2.7) 212 (3.0) 200 (1.7)
Arkansas 224 (1.2) 202 (2.2) 210 (2.9) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 227 (2.7) 219 (1.3) 209 (2.0)
California 231 (1.8) 198 (4.0) 201 (2.1) 237 (4.3) (†) (†) 228 (7.5) 243 (2.6) 220 (2.5) 212 (2.9) 197 (2.5)
                                             
Colorado 236 (1.4) 214 (5.0) 206 (1.9) (†) (†) (†) 232 (4.7) 243 (2.1) 225 (2.5) 222 (3.3) 201 (2.5)
Connecticut 240 (1.5) 205 (2.3) 210 (1.8) 235 (3.5) (†) (†) (†) 241 (1.8) 225 (2.2) 216 (2.9) 204 (2.5)
Delaware 236 (1.1) 210 (1.7) 210 (2.2) 240 (4.4) (†) (†) 229 (5.1) 246 (2.1) 229 (1.7) 223 (1.6) 210 (1.6)
District of Columbia 260 (2.3) 204 (1.0) 207 (2.8) (†) (†) (†) (†) 243 (2.1) 235 (4.0) 211 (3.6) 201 (1.2)
Florida 235 (1.5) 213 (1.9) 224 (1.4) 250 (3.2) (†) (†) 226 (3.1) 243 (2.2) 234 (2.5) 232 (1.5) 216 (1.7)
                                             
Georgia 232 (1.4) 212 (1.8) 211 (2.3) 241 (4.5) (†) (†) 222 (4.5) 243 (5.2) 232 (1.8) 224 (1.6) 211 (1.9)
Hawaii 233 (2.2) (†) 212 (4.2) 220 (1.4) 201 (1.5) (†) 225 (2.9) 241 (2.5) 221 (2.0) 211 (1.8) 195 (2.6)
Idaho 227 (1.0) (†) 200 (2.4) (†) (†) (†) (†) 232 (3.2) 230 (1.4) 218 (1.6) 207 (3.2)
Illinois 233 (1.5) 202 (2.2) 211 (1.5) 248 (4.5) (†) (†) 224 (4.4) 240 (3.2) 229 (2.5) 222 (2.4) 204 (2.4)
Indiana 231 (1.1) 212 (2.3) 216 (3.0) (†) (†) (†) 228 (4.3) 241 (1.8) 229 (1.5) 227 (1.6) 214 (2.8)
                                             
Iowa 228 (1.2) 195 (3.8) 209 (2.3) 233 (5.7) (†) (†) 227 (4.5) 239 (1.8) 226 (1.5) 216 (1.4) 205 (4.5)
Kansas 227 (1.4) 198 (5.4) 208 (1.9) 237 (5.4) (†) (†) 218 (4.3) 245 (2.9) 228 (1.9) 219 (1.6) 200 (2.3)
Kentucky 231 (1.3) 212 (2.4) 216 (2.8) (†) (†) (†) 225 (4.7) (†) 238 (2.0) 226 (1.4) 218 (1.3)
Louisiana 226 (1.6) 204 (1.8) 217 (4.3) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 229 (3.0) 223 (1.8) 210 (2.1)
Maine 225 (0.9) 196 (8.4) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 238 (2.1) 227 (1.4) 219 (1.5) 207 (4.8)
                                             
Maryland 235 (1.7) 208 (1.4) 210 (3.2) 238 (3.9) (†) (†) 236 (4.0) 242 (2.5) 228 (2.9) 213 (2.5) 202 (1.9)
Massachusetts 242 (1.1) 217 (2.9) 215 (1.8) 249 (3.9) (†) (†) 233 (4.3) 248 (1.6) 236 (2.0) 221 (5.2) 212 (2.5)
Michigan 221 (1.5) 192 (2.3) 206 (3.3) 236 (4.2) (†) (†) 223 (5.2) 233 (2.1) 222 (2.3) 212 (1.8) 198 (2.6)
Minnesota 232 (1.2) 195 (4.0) 199 (4.5) 222 (6.0) (†) 198 (6.8) 218 (4.0) 237 (2.3) 225 (1.8) 221 (2.5) 197 (4.8)
Mississippi 227 (1.2) 202 (1.4) 210 (3.9) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 230 (2.3) 218 (1.6) 206 (1.7)
                                             
Missouri 229 (1.1) 202 (3.0) 209 (4.6) (†) (†) (†) 215 (5.8) 239 (1.9) 228 (1.9) 221 (2.0) 207 (2.3)
Montana 229 (0.8) (†) 219 (3.9) (†) (†) 199 (3.1) 222 (3.3) 235 (1.7) 229 (1.3) 224 (1.9) 204 (2.5)
Nebraska 234 (1.0) 208 (3.1) 208 (2.1) (†) (†) (†) 219 (4.7) 240 (1.8) 228 (1.6) 226 (1.9) 210 (2.5)
Nevada 228 (1.9) 200 (2.9) 204 (1.5) 234 (3.6) (†) (†) 223 (3.6) 236 (2.7) 222 (2.2) 215 (3.0) 201 (2.2)
New Hampshire 233 (1.0) (†) 217 (3.1) 241 (3.5) (†) (†) (†) 238 (1.1) 229 (1.7) 218 (3.1) (†)
                                             
New Jersey 239 (1.7) 213 (2.3) 216 (2.7) 250 (3.7) (†) (†) (†) 243 (2.6) 229 (1.9) 218 (2.9) 210 (4.1)
New Mexico 225 (1.6) (†) 202 (1.2) (†) (†) 184 (4.9) (†) (†) 216 (2.7) 213 (1.9) 196 (2.1)
New York 234 (1.4) 208 (2.5) 209 (1.5) 236 (3.6) (†) (†) (†) 238 (2.6) 229 (2.9) 222 (2.7) 208 (2.4)
North Carolina 236 (1.3) 214 (1.6) 212 (2.0) 242 (5.2) (†) 198 (7.4) 228 (4.6) 245 (2.2) 233 (2.4) 221 (2.0) 213 (1.6)
North Dakota 229 (0.7) 208 (3.8) 205 (4.0) (†) (†) 204 (2.9) (†) 230 (1.1) 225 (1.1) 221 (2.5) 202 (3.9)
                                             
Ohio 230 (1.3) 205 (1.8) 210 (4.5) (†) (†) (†) 221 (3.8) 241 (2.3) 228 (1.4) 221 (2.0) 209 (2.8)
Oklahoma 226 (1.3) 205 (3.1) 213 (2.3) (†) (†) 223 (2.1) 225 (2.9) 242 (4.5) 227 (1.6) 223 (2.2) 212 (1.8)
Oregon 227 (1.4) (†) 202 (2.4) 232 (4.2) (†) 192 (7.5) 223 (3.4) 239 (2.4) 232 (3.0) 217 (2.1) 208 (2.2)
Pennsylvania 234 (1.4) 205 (2.8) 201 (2.9) 233 (5.9) (†) (†) 222 (4.7) 244 (1.8) 229 (1.7) 222 (2.4) 197 (3.0)
Rhode Island 234 (1.0) 215 (2.9) 207 (1.7) 223 (4.1) (†) (†) 221 (3.8) 240 (1.1) 231 (1.5) 224 (2.4) 205 (2.2)
                                             
South Carolina 230 (1.6) 200 (1.8) 203 (4.6) (†) (†) (†) 219 (4.9) 241 (3.3) 230 (2.9) 218 (2.0) 204 (2.0)
South Dakota 227 (1.0) 202 (5.4) 202 (4.0) (†) (†) 192 (3.2) 220 (3.8) 233 (1.5) 225 (1.3) 213 (2.7) 194 (2.9)
Tennessee 225 (1.6) 199 (2.2) 214 (3.5) (†) (†) (†) 225 (5.2) 236 (6.1) 235 (3.2) 216 (2.4) 204 (2.1)
Texas 235 (2.3) 205 (2.9) 210 (1.8) 248 (6.1) (†) (†) 225 (5.5) 241 (2.7) 229 (2.1) 218 (2.8) 206 (1.6)
Utah 231 (1.2) (†) 204 (2.3) (†) (†) (†) (†) 234 (1.5) 226 (2.5) 219 (3.0) 203 (3.5)
                                             
Vermont 231 (0.8) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 239 (1.9) 233 (1.3) 225 (1.5) 211 (4.0)
Virginia 238 (1.5) 208 (2.6) 217 (3.1) 248 (3.8) (†) (†) 237 (3.7) 246 (2.3) 230 (3.0) 219 (2.0) 205 (3.6)
Washington 234 (1.6) 215 (4.2) 203 (2.0) 248 (3.7) (†) 198 (8.9) 225 (3.5) 243 (2.7) 231 (2.8) 217 (2.1) 207 (3.5)
West Virginia 217 (1.3) 210 (4.6) (†) (†) (†) (†) 211 (4.4) (†) 227 (2.1) 215 (1.8) 208 (2.1)
Wisconsin 231 (1.0) 193 (3.0) 209 (2.7) 222 (5.0) (†) 207 (7.1) (†) 238 (2.0) 228 (2.0) 214 (2.5) 198 (2.3)
Wyoming 232 (0.8) (†) 216 (1.9) (†) (†) 204 (4.5) (†) 233 (1.7) 231 (0.9) 221 (1.7) 214 (4.1)
Department of Defense
      dependents schools
237 (1.1) 228 (2.1) 228 (1.6) 236 (2.9) (†) (†) 237 (2.0) 237 (1.4) 234 (1.2) 228 (2.3) (†)
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).
NOTE: Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Includes public school students who were tested with accommodations; excludes only those students with disabilities (SD) and English language learners (ELL) who were unable to be tested even with accommodations. SD and ELL populations, accommodation rates, and exclusion rates vary from state to state. Race/ethnicity based on school records. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2015 Reading Assessment, retrieved November 4, 2015, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared November 2015.)

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