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


Table 221.65. Average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading scale score of 8th-grade public school students, by race/ethnicity, parents' highest level of education, and state: 2017
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
State Race/ethnicity Highest level of education attained by either parent1
White Black Hispanic Asian Pacific Islander American Indian/ Alaska Native Two or more races Did not finish high school Graduated high school Some education after high school Graduated college
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
United States 274 (0.3) 248 (0.5) 255 (0.5) 283 (1.0) 254 (2.6) 253 (1.3) 270 (0.9) 250 (0.7) 254 (0.4) 266 (0.5) 275 (0.3)
                                             
Alabama 268 (1.1) 241 (2.0) 243 (4.1) (†) (†) (†) (†) 245 (3.5) 244 (2.2) 262 (2.0) 266 (1.4)
Alaska 270 (1.2) 246 (4.2) 262 (2.8) 258 (2.5) 246 (4.3) 234 (2.1) 260 (2.3) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Arizona 274 (1.2) 254 (3.2) 254 (1.4) 278 (4.5) (†) 254 (3.4) (†) 252 (3.0) 252 (2.0) 270 (2.1) 272 (1.2)
Arkansas 266 (1.0) 241 (1.9) 255 (2.2) (†) (†) (†) (†) 252 (3.1) 251 (1.9) 266 (2.1) 268 (1.3)
California 278 (2.2) 250 (3.2) 251 (1.0) 283 (3.1) (†) (†) 280 (4.0) 246 (2.3) 252 (2.3) 265 (1.9) 275 (1.8)
                                             
Colorado 279 (1.7) 250 (3.7) 257 (1.8) 285 (3.9) (†) (†) 279 (4.3) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Connecticut 283 (1.0) 249 (3.0) 253 (2.1) 289 (4.2) (†) (†) 281 (5.7) 250 (4.4) 256 (2.2) 269 (2.8) 282 (1.2)
Delaware 273 (1.2) 248 (1.4) 254 (2.1) 291 (4.4) (†) (†) (†) 252 (3.2) 252 (2.2) 265 (2.1) 272 (1.0)
District of Columbia 300 (3.6) 240 (1.2) 242 (3.2) (†) (†) (†) (†) 243 (4.2) 234 (2.6) 244 (3.2) 260 (1.5)
Florida 274 (1.6) 254 (1.9) 262 (1.5) 289 (4.9) (†) (†) 273 (3.6) 251 (2.9) 258 (2.2) 267 (2.0) 273 (1.1)
                                             
Georgia 276 (1.7) 255 (1.5) 260 (2.1) 292 (4.3) (†) (†) 270 (4.3) 253 (3.0) 258 (1.8) 269 (2.9) 273 (1.4)
Hawaii 271 (2.4) (†) 265 (2.4) 267 (1.2) 248 (1.5) (†) 272 (2.6) 246 (4.3) 251 (2.0) 265 (1.8) 269 (1.2)
Idaho 273 (0.9) (†) 255 (1.5) (†) (†) (†) (†) 253 (2.3) 258 (2.3) 272 (1.9) 276 (0.9)
Illinois 275 (1.6) 246 (1.5) 258 (1.5) 292 (5.2) (†) (†) 279 (3.6) 250 (3.5) 252 (2.3) 267 (1.8) 277 (1.3)
Indiana 275 (1.2) 255 (2.9) 265 (2.7) 281 (5.1) (†) (†) 266 (3.4) 258 (3.2) 262 (2.1) 270 (2.2) 281 (1.1)
                                             
Iowa 270 (1.3) 243 (4.2) 258 (2.4) (†) (†) (†) 272 (4.5) 247 (4.7) 256 (2.4) 267 (2.6) 275 (1.2)
Kansas 273 (1.1) 246 (3.7) 257 (2.1) 286 (5.7) (†) (†) 260 (3.6) 253 (2.5) 256 (2.4) 268 (2.1) 276 (1.1)
Kentucky 268 (0.9) 246 (2.7) 261 (3.5) 289 (5.2) (†) (†) 262 (4.4) 250 (3.6) 256 (2.0) 269 (1.9) 273 (1.2)
Louisiana 269 (1.6) 242 (1.9) 253 (4.5) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Maine 270 (0.9) 235 (5.3) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 249 (4.1) 257 (2.3) 272 (2.2) 277 (1.2)
                                             
Maryland 280 (1.7) 251 (1.2) 255 (2.7) 293 (3.6) (†) (†) 274 (4.3) 250 (4.3) 251 (2.0) 266 (2.4) 276 (1.2)
Massachusetts 283 (1.1) 258 (2.6) 259 (2.3) 292 (2.9) (†) (†) 291 (4.4) 257 (3.6) 261 (2.5) 277 (2.2) 286 (1.1)
Michigan 270 (1.3) 245 (2.1) 259 (2.8) 280 (5.4) (†) (†) 266 (6.3) 249 (4.4) 253 (2.3) 265 (1.8) 273 (1.3)
Minnesota 275 (1.0) 245 (3.2) 252 (3.4) 266 (3.9) (†) (†) 270 (4.6) 250 (3.8) 252 (2.8) 268 (2.2) 277 (1.1)
Mississippi 271 (1.1) 242 (1.2) 253 (5.1) (†) (†) (†) (†) 247 (3.2) 244 (1.7) 262 (2.2) 263 (1.1)
                                             
Missouri 270 (1.4) 250 (3.1) 257 (3.8) (†) (†) (†) 271 (4.3) 252 (2.9) 251 (2.6) 269 (2.6) 273 (1.2)
Montana 270 (0.8) (†) 259 (4.3) (†) (†) 246 (2.3) 261 (4.1) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Nebraska 275 (0.8) 245 (2.6) 254 (2.1) (†) (†) (†) 260 (4.5) 257 (3.2) 253 (2.3) 272 (2.1) 276 (0.9)
Nevada 270 (1.4) 246 (2.4) 253 (1.1) 274 (3.0) (†) (†) 266 (3.9) 255 (2.5) 254 (2.1) 262 (1.8) 268 (1.4)
New Hampshire 276 (1.0) (†) 261 (3.9) 277 (4.6) (†) (†) (†) 259 (4.3) 262 (2.5) 273 (2.0) 282 (1.1)
                                             
New Jersey 285 (1.1) 257 (2.8) 259 (2.1) 298 (2.6) (†) (†) (†) 255 (3.6) 263 (2.4) 271 (2.3) 284 (1.1)
New Mexico 271 (1.7) (†) 251 (0.9) (†) (†) 242 (3.0) (†) 248 (2.4) 244 (1.7) 260 (1.7) 267 (1.5)
New York 272 (1.3) 251 (2.3) 253 (2.0) 277 (3.6) (†) (†) (†) 250 (3.0) 254 (2.7) 264 (2.7) 274 (1.1)
North Carolina 272 (1.3) 248 (1.6) 255 (2.3) 281 (5.6) (†) (†) 258 (5.0) 250 (3.1) 252 (2.0) 265 (2.2) 270 (1.5)
North Dakota 269 (0.9) 252 (4.4) 259 (3.9) (†) (†) 246 (2.5) (†) 251 (4.7) 250 (2.5) 268 (2.1) 271 (1.0)
                                             
Ohio 274 (1.6) 244 (3.3) 260 (4.2) 281 (5.6) (†) (†) 264 (3.8) 248 (5.2) 256 (2.7) 268 (2.5) 278 (1.6)
Oklahoma 266 (1.3) 247 (3.4) 255 (2.0) (†) (†) 258 (1.9) 267 (2.7) 250 (2.5) 255 (1.8) 263 (1.8) 268 (1.2)
Oregon 273 (1.4) (†) 250 (1.7) 281 (4.6) (†) (†) 274 (3.9) 252 (2.5) 253 (2.4) 273 (2.2) 277 (1.5)
Pennsylvania 276 (1.2) 250 (2.1) 245 (2.6) 289 (4.8) (†) (†) 265 (6.1) 255 (3.9) 259 (2.0) 267 (2.2) 278 (1.4)
Rhode Island 275 (1.0) 248 (2.4) 247 (1.6) 268 (5.3) (†) (†) (†) 246 (4.0) 253 (2.6) 263 (2.4) 277 (1.2)
                                             
South Carolina 272 (1.2) 241 (1.3) 256 (3.5) (†) (†) (†) 267 (3.6) 254 (3.0) 245 (2.5) 264 (2.2) 267 (1.2)
South Dakota 271 (0.7) (†) 255 (3.9) (†) (†) 246 (2.1) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Tennessee 269 (1.3) 243 (1.4) 251 (2.8) (†) (†) (†) 261 (5.4) 250 (2.8) 255 (1.7) 266 (2.0) 270 (1.4)
Texas 271 (1.8) 247 (1.8) 254 (1.4) 288 (3.0) (†) (†) 268 (5.3) 250 (1.9) 251 (1.8) 263 (1.8) 270 (1.4)
Utah 274 (1.1) (†) 252 (2.0) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
                                             
Vermont 274 (0.9) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 271 (6.1) (†) 257 (2.3) 273 (2.4) 283 (1.0)
Virginia 275 (1.5) 251 (2.2) 259 (2.6) 284 (3.6) (†) (†) 272 (3.9) 252 (3.5) 253 (2.2) 266 (2.4) 276 (1.5)
Washington 276 (1.7) 255 (3.9) 258 (2.0) 283 (3.6) (†) (†) 277 (3.6) 254 (3.1) 258 (3.1) 270 (1.9) 281 (1.5)
West Virginia 259 (0.9) 245 (4.1) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 250 (3.6) 251 (2.1) 263 (1.9) 265 (1.3)
Wisconsin 275 (1.1) 239 (2.0) 255 (2.8) 273 (4.2) (†) (†) (†) 251 (3.6) 255 (2.1) 270 (1.9) 278 (1.2)
Wyoming 272 (0.7) (†) 261 (1.8) (†) (†) 251 (3.8) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Department of Defense
    dependents schools
284 (1.2) 268 (2.1) 277 (1.8) 285 (3.5) (†) (†) 285 (2.5) (†) 270 (3.0) 281 (2.1) 284 (1.0)
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or item response rates fell below the required standards for reporting.
1 Excludes students who responded "I don't know" to the question about educational level of parents.
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), 2017 Reading Assessment, retrieved April 16, 2018, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared April 2018.)

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