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Digest of Education Statistics
2017 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 220.40. Fall 2010 first-time kindergartners' reading scale scores through spring of fourth grade, by selected child, family, and school characteristics during the kindergarten year: Fall 2010 and spring 2011 through spring 2015
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected child, family, or school characteristic during the kindergarten year Mean reading score1
Kindergarten First grade, spring 2012 Second grade, spring 2013 Third grade, spring 2014 Fourth grade, spring 2015
Fall 2010 Spring 2011
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Total 53.3 (0.31) 67.9 (0.39) 93.5 (0.50) 107.9 (0.39) 117.3 (0.33) 123.3 (0.31)
                         
Sex of child                        
Male 52.9 (0.37) 67.3 (0.47) 92.2 (0.57) 106.7 (0.47) 116.1 (0.40) 122.7 (0.38)
Female 53.8 (0.38) 68.6 (0.44) 94.9 (0.59) 109.1 (0.43) 118.4 (0.41) 123.9 (0.36)
                         
Age of child at kindergarten entry, fall 2010                        
Less than 5 years old 50.8 (1.06) 63.9 (1.51) 88.7 (1.83) 104.5 (1.27) 114.0 (1.23) 121.4 (1.11)
5 years old to 5 1/2 years old 51.8 (0.38) 66.2 (0.51) 91.6 (0.64) 106.5 (0.48) 116.1 (0.41) 122.5 (0.37)
More than 5 1/2 years old to 6 years old 54.3 (0.41) 69.2 (0.43) 95.0 (0.63) 109.0 (0.52) 118.4 (0.44) 124.1 (0.39)
More than 6 years old 56.4 (0.55) 70.9 (0.73) 96.6 (0.81) 109.8 (0.73) 118.6 (0.69) 124.3 (0.78)
                         
Race/ethnicity of child                        
White 55.1 (0.40) 70.0 (0.48) 96.8 (0.53) 110.7 (0.37) 120.3 (0.34) 125.8 (0.30)
Black 51.9 (0.61) 65.8 (0.82) 89.7 (1.18) 103.6 (0.95) 111.7 (0.82) 118.3 (0.95)
Hispanic 49.4 (0.45) 64.0 (0.49) 87.4 (0.85) 103.1 (0.84) 112.6 (0.67) 119.6 (0.65)
Asian 57.3 (1.12) 71.4 (1.34) 97.5 (1.99) 111.4 (1.43) 120.5 (1.27) 126.8 (1.61)
Pacific Islander (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
American Indian/Alaska Native 50.2 (0.86) 63.3 (1.38) 92.1 (1.65) 103.1 (1.79) 114.8 (0.92) 121.3 (1.11)
Two or more races 55.7 (1.07) 70.5 (1.29) 96.9 (1.47) 111.1 (1.25) 120.9 (1.02) 126.7 (0.78)
                         
How often child exhibited positive learning
behaviors, fall 20102
                       
Never 41.7 (0.86) 51.3 (1.69) 66.9 (1.60) 85.3 (1.67) 95.9 (1.81) 106.3 (2.01)
Sometimes 48.4 (0.44) 61.7 (0.50) 84.6 (0.79) 100.7 (0.65) 110.6 (0.48) 117.9 (0.51)
Often 53.4 (0.31) 68.3 (0.42) 94.5 (0.51) 108.9 (0.37) 118.2 (0.38) 124.1 (0.37)
Very often 58.3 (0.57) 73.9 (0.67) 101.2 (0.65) 113.9 (0.59) 122.7 (0.48) 127.5 (0.44)
                         
Primary type of nonparental care arrangement
prior to kindergarten entry3
                       
No regular nonparental arrangement 51.2 (0.67) 65.4 (0.72) 89.9 (0.86) 104.6 (0.78) 114.4 (0.67) 120.9 (0.57)
Home-based care                        
Relative care 51.1 (0.57) 66.3 (0.62) 91.3 (0.90) 106.1 (0.75) 115.5 (0.67) 122.0 (0.60)
Nonrelative care 53.9 (0.63) 69.6 (0.87) 96.4 (0.86) 109.9 (0.63) 119.4 (0.77) 125.4 (0.66)
Center-based care 54.7 (0.31) 69.1 (0.42) 95.1 (0.57) 109.4 (0.41) 118.6 (0.39) 124.3 (0.37)
Multiple arrangements 54.1 (0.75) 69.6 (0.96) 95.4 (1.53) 110.1 (1.16) 118.1 (1.09) 124.9 (0.81)
                         
Household type, fall 20104                        
Two-parent household 54.3 (0.36) 69.1 (0.41) 95.2 (0.52) 109.5 (0.39) 118.8 (0.32) 124.7 (0.30)
Mother-only household 50.3 (0.47) 64.1 (0.67) 88.1 (0.92) 103.1 (0.74) 112.6 (0.70) 119.3 (0.64)
Father-only household 49.4 (0.89) 62.2 (1.21) 86.8 (2.07) 101.6 (1.60) 111.0 (1.50) 117.8 (1.64)
Other household type 48.8 (0.93) 62.7 (1.19) 86.9 (1.57) 102.1 (1.47) 110.3 (1.38) 117.6 (1.45)
                         
Primary home language                        
English 54.3 (0.31) 69.1 (0.41) 95.0 (0.47) 109.2 (0.35) 118.5 (0.32) 124.3 (0.28)
Non-English 48.2 (0.68) 62.0 (0.82) 85.4 (1.27) 101.1 (1.05) 110.8 (0.85) 118.1 (0.87)
Primary language not identified5 50.8 (1.83) 66.4 (1.99) 90.1 (2.66) 106.2 (2.50) 113.1 (2.13) 121.9 (2.46)
                         
Parents' highest level of education6                        
Less than high school 45.8 (0.76) 59.2 (0.85) 80.5 (1.19) 96.5 (1.15) 106.1 (1.03) 113.0 (1.19)
High school completion 49.1 (0.38) 63.2 (0.46) 86.7 (0.65) 101.4 (0.60) 111.1 (0.50) 118.6 (0.50)
Some college/vocational 52.1 (0.32) 66.9 (0.48) 92.7 (0.54) 107.4 (0.42) 116.7 (0.39) 122.7 (0.39)
Bachelor's degree 56.6 (0.40) 71.6 (0.48) 98.2 (0.58) 112.2 (0.37) 121.5 (0.34) 127.0 (0.32)
Any graduate education 60.0 (0.54) 75.0 (0.58) 103.1 (0.57) 116.2 (0.42) 125.4 (0.44) 130.1 (0.35)
                         
Poverty status, spring 20117                        
Below poverty threshold 48.5 (0.45) 62.2 (0.54) 84.6 (0.79) 100.0 (0.71) 110.0 (0.60) 117.2 (0.61)
100 to 199 percent of poverty threshold 51.7 (0.37) 66.2 (0.60) 91.5 (0.78) 106.0 (0.61) 115.3 (0.59) 121.5 (0.60)
200 percent or more of poverty threshold 56.5 (0.33) 71.4 (0.41) 98.6 (0.44) 112.4 (0.31) 121.6 (0.30) 127.0 (0.24)
                         
Two risk factors8                        
Both risk factors: No parent completed
high school9 and family below poverty
threshold7
45.7 (0.75) 58.7 (0.96) 79.8 (1.31) 95.8 (1.30) 105.1 (1.11) 111.9 (1.32)
One risk factor: No parent completed
high school
46.7 (1.34) 60.2 (1.33) 82.3 (1.75) 98.4 (1.71) 108.5 (1.60) 116.2 (1.62)
One risk factor: Family below poverty
threshold
49.4 (0.48) 63.3 (0.60) 86.2 (0.83) 101.4 (0.72) 111.6 (0.59) 118.9 (0.59)
Neither risk factor 55.2 (0.31) 70.1 (0.43) 96.8 (0.43) 110.8 (0.34) 120.0 (0.31) 125.6 (0.27)
                         
Socioeconomic status10                        
Lowest 20 percent 47.2 (0.54) 60.8 (0.60) 82.7 (0.83) 98.3 (0.79) 108.1 (0.67) 115.6 (0.66)
Middle 60 percent 53.0 (0.29) 67.9 (0.43) 93.8 (0.49) 108.2 (0.38) 117.5 (0.31) 123.5 (0.30)
Highest 20 percent 60.0 (0.51) 74.9 (0.56) 102.7 (0.65) 115.9 (0.41) 125.2 (0.40) 129.9 (0.31)
                         
School control, fall 2010                        
Public 53.0 (0.34) 67.6 (0.42) 93.1 (0.54) 107.4 (0.43) 116.8 (0.37) 122.9 (0.33)
Private 56.6 (1.01) 70.6 (1.17) 97.2 (1.25) 112.4 (0.89) 121.2 (0.97) 127.2 (0.79)
† Not applicable.
‡ Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).
1 Reflects performance on questions measuring basic skills (e.g., word recognition); vocabulary knowledge; and reading comprehension, including identifying information specifically stated in text (e.g., definitions, facts, and supporting details), making complex inferences from texts, and considering the text objectively and judging its appropriateness and quality. Possible scores for the reading assessment range from 0 to 155.
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 Two or more languages (which could include English) were spoken in the child's home, and the parent respondent was unable to specify which language was the primary one (the one spoken most of the time).
6 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.
7 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.
8 Includes only children for whom information about both risk factors is available. Excludes children with missing information about parental education or poverty status.
9 High school not completed by any parent or guardian living with the child.
10 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 W8C8P_20. Estimates pertain to a sample of children who were enrolled in kindergarten for the first time in the 2010-11 school year. The same children were assessed in spring 2012 (when the majority were in first grade), spring 2013 (when the majority were in second grade), spring 2014 (when the majority were in third grade), and spring 2015 (when the majority were in fourth grade). Estimates differ from previously published figures because reading scale scores were recalculated to represent the kindergarten through fourth-grade assessment item pools and because weights were adjusted to account for survey nonresponse at each data collection wave, including the latest round of data collection (spring 2015). Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K:2011), Kindergarten–Fourth Grade Restricted-Use Data File. (This table was prepared April 2018.)

2017 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest