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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 223.30. Average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science scale scores of 12th-graders with various attitudes toward science and percentage reporting these attitudes, by selected student characteristics: 2015
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Student characteristic Like science Take science only because required Would like a job that involves science
Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
  Average scale score1 
All students 128 (1.2) 137 (0.9) 152 (0.7) 172 (1.0) 172 (1.1) 159 (0.7) 141 (0.9) 132 (1.1) 136 (0.9) 144 (0.8) 157 (0.7) 171 (1.1)
Sex                                                
Male 126 (1.7) 137 (1.5) 153 (0.8) 176 (1.1) 176 (1.5) 161 (1.0) 142 (1.1) 132 (1.6) 136 (1.3) 147 (1.0) 162 (1.0) 178 (1.6)
Female 129 (1.6) 137 (1.0) 150 (0.9) 167 (1.5) 167 (1.5) 156 (0.8) 139 (1.1) 132 (1.4) 137 (1.2) 141 (1.2) 153 (1.0) 165 (1.5)
                                                 
Race/ethnicity                                                
White 138 (1.5) 148 (1.4) 161 (0.8) 180 (1.2) 180 (1.4) 167 (0.9) 151 (1.2) 142 (1.3) 147 (1.1) 155 (1.1) 167 (0.9) 180 (1.1)
Black 112 (2.6) 115 (2.2) 130 (1.6) 142 (2.5) 142 (3.4) 135 (1.7) 120 (1.8) 114 (2.5) 115 (2.0) 123 (1.7) 134 (2.0) 140 (3.0)
Hispanic 118 (1.9) 125 (1.8) 138 (1.1) 157 (1.9) 153 (2.8) 145 (1.3) 129 (1.3) 124 (1.6) 126 (1.5) 131 (1.4) 145 (1.3) 152 (1.9)
Asian (†) 148 (3.6) 166 (2.4) 189 (4.0) 190 (3.2) 175 (2.7) 154 (3.5) 141 (5.0) 150 (4.2) 152 (3.7) 168 (3.0) 191 (3.8)
Pacific Islander (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
American Indian/Alaska
       Native
(†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Two or more races (†) (†) 156 (3.2) (†) (†) 170 (3.7) 148 (3.3) (†) 144 (4.3) 151 (4.0) 161 (3.7) (†)
                                                 
Eligibility for free or
      reduced-price lunch
                                               
Eligible 118 (1.8) 122 (1.3) 137 (1.1) 154 (1.4) 153 (1.8) 143 (1.1) 129 (1.1) 121 (1.6) 122 (1.4) 132 (1.1) 142 (1.2) 151 (1.7)
Not eligible 135 (1.7) 147 (1.3) 160 (0.8) 180 (1.1) 179 (1.4) 167 (0.9) 150 (1.2) 140 (1.3) 146 (1.1) 153 (1.0) 166 (1.0) 180 (1.3)
Unknown 143 (4.9) 154 (3.4) 162 (2.3) 185 (3.7) 186 (3.9) 171 (2.5) 152 (3.4) 146 (3.9) 154 (2.9) 158 (3.8) 170 (3.4) 183 (3.0)
                                                 
Parents' highest level
      of education
                                               
Did not finish high school 116 (2.9) 119 (2.5) 134 (1.7) 153 (3.1) 145 (4.2) 139 (2.2) 126 (1.9) 119 (2.9) 119 (2.2) 128 (1.7) 141 (2.5) 145 (3.7)
  Graduated high school 122 (2.2) 125 (2.1) 139 (1.4) 156 (2.2) 154 (2.5) 146 (1.4) 129 (1.7) 125 (2.3) 127 (1.9) 132 (1.7) 145 (2.0) 154 (2.5)
  Some education after
       high school
127 (2.6) 137 (1.6) 150 (1.1) 166 (2.0) 165 (2.2) 156 (1.4) 142 (1.1) 132 (1.7) 137 (1.5) 145 (1.4) 153 (1.3) 163 (1.9)
  Graduated college 138 (1.9) 148 (1.5) 162 (0.8) 181 (1.2) 182 (1.3) 169 (0.9) 151 (1.2) 140 (1.5) 146 (1.2) 156 (1.1) 167 (1.0) 181 (1.3)
  Percentage distribution of students
All students 10 (0.3) 19 (0.4) 51 (0.5) 20 (0.5) 16 (0.4) 35 (0.5) 32 (0.5) 17 (0.4) 24 (0.5) 32 (0.5) 26 (0.4) 18 (0.4)
Sex                                                
Male 9 (0.4) 17 (0.5) 51 (0.7) 23 (0.8) 17 (0.6) 37 (0.7) 30 (0.8) 15 (0.6) 23 (0.7) 33 (0.7) 27 (0.7) 16 (0.6)
Female 12 (0.6) 21 (0.6) 50 (0.8) 17 (0.6) 15 (0.5) 34 (0.7) 33 (0.6) 18 (0.6) 25 (0.8) 31 (0.8) 25 (0.6) 20 (0.6)
                                                 
Race/ethnicity                                                
White 9 (0.5) 18 (0.6) 50 (0.7) 23 (0.8) 19 (0.6) 38 (0.7) 28 (0.7) 15 (0.6) 24 (0.7) 31 (0.7) 26 (0.7) 19 (0.6)
Black 15 (1.0) 23 (1.0) 46 (1.5) 16 (1.0) 12 (0.8) 28 (1.3) 35 (1.2) 24 (1.1) 30 (1.2) 31 (1.1) 24 (1.0) 15 (1.0)
Hispanic 11 (0.6) 20 (0.8) 54 (1.1) 16 (0.7) 11 (0.7) 34 (0.9) 39 (1.1) 16 (0.7) 24 (0.9) 36 (1.0) 26 (1.0) 14 (0.8)
Asian 5 (1.0) 17 (2.0) 56 (2.7) 23 (2.0) 20 (1.8) 37 (2.0) 30 (2.3) 12 (1.9) 15 (1.6) 25 (1.7) 35 (2.2) 25 (1.8)
Pacific Islander (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
American Indian/Alaska
       Native
7 (2.3) 12 (4.6) 64 (5.4) 18 (3.4) 18 (3.5) 26 (5.8) 26 (6.0) 30 (4.3) 27 (4.5) 25 (6.0) 30 (4.4) 18 (5.7)
Two or more races 11 (2.1) 17 (2.3) 46 (3.1) 26 (3.3) 19 (3.5) 29 (3.5) 32 (3.2) 19 (2.7) 27 (3.0) 30 (3.3) 25 (2.7) 18 (3.0)
                                                 
Eligibility for free or
      reduced-price lunch
                                               
Eligible 12 (0.5) 21 (0.7) 50 (0.8) 17 (0.6) 12 (0.6) 32 (0.6) 36 (0.7) 20 (0.7) 26 (0.6) 35 (0.7) 25 (0.7) 14 (0.6)
Not eligible 9 (0.5) 17 (0.6) 51 (0.8) 22 (0.7) 19 (0.6) 37 (0.7) 29 (0.6) 15 (0.5) 23 (0.6) 30 (0.7) 27 (0.6) 20 (0.6)
Unknown 8 (1.0) 18 (1.8) 50 (1.8) 25 (2.4) 19 (1.8) 41 (1.7) 27 (2.0) 13 (1.4) 25 (2.1) 29 (2.4) 25 (1.5) 21 (1.8)
                                                 
Parents' highest level
      of education
                                               
Did not finish high school 13 (1.1) 22 (1.6) 52 (1.9) 13 (1.2) 10 (1.0) 33 (1.5) 37 (1.7) 19 (1.5) 24 (1.4) 38 (1.9) 26 (1.5) 12 (1.0)
  Graduated high school 13 (1.0) 19 (0.9) 53 (1.0) 15 (0.9) 12 (0.9) 33 (1.2) 36 (1.2) 19 (1.2) 27 (1.1) 36 (1.2) 22 (1.1) 14 (0.9)
  Some education after
       high school
10 (0.6) 20 (1.0) 50 (1.2) 20 (0.9) 13 (0.7) 35 (1.1) 34 (0.9) 18 (0.7) 25 (1.0) 33 (0.9) 27 (0.8) 16 (0.8)
  Graduated college 8 (0.4) 17 (0.6) 50 (0.7) 24 (0.7) 20 (0.6) 37 (0.7) 28 (0.7) 15 (0.5) 23 (0.6) 28 (0.9) 27 (0.6) 22 (0.6)
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).
1 Scale ranges from 0 to 300.
NOTE: Includes students tested with accommodations (9 percent of all 12th-graders); excludes only those students with disabilities and English language learners who were unable to be tested even with accommodations (2 percent of all 12th-graders). 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 Science Assessment, retrieved March 15, 2017, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared March 2017.)

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