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Digest of Education Statistics
2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 223.25. Average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science scale scores of 8th-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 136 (0.7) 145 (0.5) 156 (0.3) 167 (0.5) 166 (0.5) 161 (0.4) 147 (0.4) 141 (0.4) 143 (0.4) 151 (0.4) 163 (0.4) 168 (0.6)
Sex                                                
Male 135 (1.0) 145 (0.8) 157 (0.4) 168 (0.6) 168 (0.6) 163 (0.5) 148 (0.6) 142 (0.6) 143 (0.6) 153 (0.5) 165 (0.5) 170 (1.0)
Female 137 (0.9) 145 (0.7) 154 (0.4) 165 (0.6) 164 (0.8) 160 (0.5) 147 (0.5) 140 (0.7) 143 (0.7) 150 (0.5) 160 (0.5) 166 (0.6)
                                                 
Race/ethnicity                                                
White 147 (0.9) 157 (0.5) 166 (0.3) 176 (0.5) 175 (0.5) 170 (0.4) 159 (0.4) 152 (0.6) 154 (0.5) 162 (0.4) 172 (0.4) 177 (0.6)
Black 121 (1.6) 126 (1.0) 134 (0.6) 143 (0.9) 142 (1.4) 139 (0.8) 127 (0.8) 125 (0.9) 127 (0.7) 129 (1.0) 139 (1.0) 144 (1.2)
Hispanic 125 (1.8) 131 (1.1) 142 (0.7) 154 (1.4) 152 (1.2) 147 (0.8) 135 (0.9) 131 (1.0) 132 (0.9) 139 (0.7) 148 (0.8) 153 (1.6)
Asian 147 (2.6) 154 (2.4) 167 (1.0) 179 (1.7) 180 (1.8) 172 (1.3) 159 (1.5) 150 (2.2) 153 (2.2) 161 (1.3) 172 (1.5) 179 (1.6)
Pacific Islander 109 (15.3) 131 (5.9) 139 (4.7) 153 (4.9) 146 (9.8) 144 (5.3) 130 (4.7) 136 (6.1) 127 (6.9) 137 (3.0) 138 (6.2) 159 (7.5)
American Indian/
      Alaska Native
129 (2.1) 135 (3.9) 141 (2.8) 151 (3.2) 146 (2.7) 151 (2.6) 136 (2.8) 130 (5.4) 135 (3.1) 136 (3.4) 149 (2.2) 153 (5.5)
Two or more races 139 (3.1) 156 (2.5) 159 (2.0) 171 (1.6) 167 (2.6) 165 (2.8) 155 (1.8) 147 (2.2) 148 (2.3) 155 (2.5) 169 (2.0) 173 (3.3)
                                                 
Eligibility for free or
      reduced-price lunch
                                               
Eligible 126 (1.0) 133 (0.6) 142 (0.4) 152 (0.7) 151 (0.7) 147 (0.5) 135 (0.6) 132 (0.6) 132 (0.7) 139 (0.5) 148 (0.5) 151 (0.8)
Not eligible 148 (1.0) 158 (0.6) 168 (0.4) 179 (0.5) 177 (0.6) 172 (0.4) 160 (0.5) 153 (0.7) 155 (0.6) 164 (0.4) 174 (0.5) 179 (0.6)
Unknown 148 (3.2) 158 (2.0) 168 (1.0) 178 (1.4) 175 (1.8) 173 (1.3) 159 (1.4) 153 (2.2) 156 (2.0) 165 (1.2) 173 (1.5) 176 (1.8)
                                                 
Parents' highest level
      of education
                                               
Did not finish high school 124 (1.9) 129 (1.4) 140 (1.0) 149 (1.8) 147 (2.0) 144 (1.1) 133 (1.2) 131 (1.4) 129 (1.3) 137 (1.1) 145 (1.4) 146 (2.6)
Graduated high school 130 (1.4) 135 (1.0) 144 (0.6) 153 (1.1) 152 (1.1) 149 (0.9) 137 (0.9) 134 (1.0) 135 (0.8) 142 (0.8) 148 (0.9) 153 (1.4)
Some education after
         high school
141 (1.6) 147 (1.1) 155 (0.8) 166 (0.9) 164 (1.0) 159 (1.0) 149 (0.9) 145 (0.9) 146 (0.9) 152 (0.9) 161 (0.8) 165 (1.4)
Graduated college 146 (0.8) 156 (0.6) 165 (0.4) 175 (0.5) 175 (0.6) 170 (0.4) 158 (0.5) 149 (0.7) 152 (0.5) 162 (0.4) 172 (0.4) 176 (0.7)
  Percent of students
All students 9 (0.2) 16 (0.2) 52 (0.3) 23 (0.2) 20 (0.2) 36 (0.3) 29 (0.2) 16 (0.2) 22 (0.2) 35 (0.3) 27 (0.2) 15 (0.2)
Sex                                                
Male 8 (0.2) 14 (0.3) 52 (0.4) 26 (0.4) 22 (0.3) 37 (0.5) 26 (0.3) 14 (0.3) 21 (0.4) 36 (0.3) 28 (0.4) 15 (0.3)
Female 9 (0.2) 19 (0.3) 52 (0.4) 20 (0.3) 18 (0.3) 35 (0.4) 31 (0.3) 17 (0.3) 23 (0.3) 35 (0.3) 26 (0.3) 16 (0.3)
                                                 
Race/ethnicity                                                
White 8 (0.2) 16 (0.2) 52 (0.4) 24 (0.3) 22 (0.3) 37 (0.4) 27 (0.4) 14 (0.2) 20 (0.3) 35 (0.4) 28 (0.3) 16 (0.3)
Black 12 (0.4) 19 (0.5) 47 (0.6) 22 (0.6) 18 (0.6) 30 (0.7) 29 (0.7) 23 (0.5) 31 (0.6) 33 (0.6) 22 (0.6) 15 (0.5)
Hispanic 9 (0.4) 17 (0.5) 54 (0.7) 20 (0.7) 17 (0.5) 34 (0.6) 33 (0.6) 16 (0.5) 23 (0.5) 38 (0.6) 26 (0.6) 13 (0.4)
Asian 5 (0.4) 13 (0.7) 57 (1.2) 25 (1.2) 22 (1.3) 40 (1.1) 26 (1.0) 12 (0.8) 13 (0.6) 31 (1.3) 37 (1.1) 20 (1.0)
Pacific Islander 8 (2.3) 18 (3.4) 52 (3.8) 22 (3.4) 20 (4.2) 29 (3.7) 37 (3.4) 14 (2.2) 28 (4.4) 29 (3.9) 26 (4.3) 17 (3.4)
American Indian/
      Alaska Native
9 (0.9) 18 (1.6) 52 (2.3) 22 (2.2) 15 (1.7) 33 (2.6) 35 (2.4) 18 (1.4) 23 (2.0) 41 (2.5) 24 (1.3) 12 (1.5)
Two or more races 8 (0.7) 15 (1.1) 54 (2.0) 23 (1.5) 18 (1.2) 40 (2.0) 26 (1.5) 16 (1.4) 23 (1.3) 34 (1.8) 29 (1.9) 14 (1.3)
                                                 
Eligibility for free or
      reduced-price lunch
                                               
Eligible 10 (0.2) 17 (0.3) 51 (0.4) 21 (0.3) 18 (0.3) 33 (0.4) 31 (0.4) 19 (0.3) 25 (0.4) 37 (0.4) 25 (0.4) 13 (0.3)
Not eligible 7 (0.2) 15 (0.3) 53 (0.5) 25 (0.4) 22 (0.3) 38 (0.5) 27 (0.4) 13 (0.3) 19 (0.3) 34 (0.4) 29 (0.4) 18 (0.4)
Unknown 8 (0.8) 16 (0.9) 52 (1.2) 23 (1.1) 22 (1.1) 38 (1.2) 27 (1.1) 13 (0.8) 21 (1.2) 34 (1.2) 29 (1.0) 16 (0.9)
                                                 
Parents' highest level
      of education
                                               
Did not finish high school 12 (0.6) 19 (1.0) 49 (1.1) 19 (0.8) 15 (0.9) 32 (1.2) 31 (0.9) 22 (0.9) 27 (1.0) 36 (0.9) 25 (1.1) 12 (0.6)
Graduated high school 10 (0.5) 18 (0.6) 52 (0.7) 19 (0.6) 16 (0.5) 33 (0.5) 32 (0.6) 18 (0.6) 27 (0.7) 38 (0.7) 24 (0.7) 11 (0.5)
Some education after
         high school
9 (0.4) 16 (0.5) 52 (0.8) 23 (0.6) 21 (0.7) 36 (0.8) 28 (0.5) 16 (0.6) 22 (0.6) 36 (0.6) 27 (0.7) 15 (0.5)
Graduated college 7 (0.2) 15 (0.3) 52 (0.4) 26 (0.4) 22 (0.3) 38 (0.5) 26 (0.4) 13 (0.3) 19 (0.3) 33 (0.4) 29 (0.3) 18 (0.3)
1 Scale ranges from 0 to 300.
NOTE: Includes public and private schools. Includes students tested with accommodations (12 percent of all 8th-graders); excludes only those students with disabilities and English language learners who were unable to be tested even with accommodations (2 percent of all 8th-graders). Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. 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 January 13, 2017, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared January 2017.)

2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest