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Digest of Education Statistics
2019 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: 2019
[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
chool
Graduated
high
school
Some
education
after high
school
Graduated
college
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
United States 271 (0.3) 244 (0.5) 251 (0.6) 284 (1.0) 252 (2.4) 249 (1.7) 266 (0.9) 247 (0.8) 249 (0.5) 265 (0.5) 272 (0.4)
Alabama 261 (1.5) 239 (2.5) 246 (5.2) (†) (†) (†) (†) 245 (3.8) 241 (2.7) 259 (2.5) 260 (1.5)
Alaska 265 (1.3) 243 (4.8) 251 (4.1) 257 (3.7) 234 (5.8) 229 (2.5) 260 (2.3) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Arizona 273 (1.3) 239 (4.4) 251 (1.6) (†) (†) 240 (3.9) (†) 247 (2.8) 249 (2.7) 263 (2.1) 270 (1.7)
Arkansas 266 (1.3) 237 (1.9) 256 (3.0) (†) (†) (†) (†) 252 (3.7) 246 (2.5) 262 (2.1) 266 (1.8)
California 274 (2.4) 236 (4.0) 249 (1.7) 284 (3.0) (†) (†) 268 (5.2) 249 (2.8) 246 (2.1) 265 (2.1) 273 (1.8)

Colorado
277 (1.2) 246 (4.3) 251 (1.5) 281 (4.4) (†) (†) 275 (4.0) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Connecticut 279 (1.2) 251 (2.8) 253 (2.2) 286 (4.0) (†) (†) (†) 251 (4.4) 252 (2.7) 264 (3.0) 280 (1.1)
Delaware 271 (1.2) 246 (1.5) 249 (2.4) 292 (4.4) (†) (†) 267 (5.1) 253 (3.7) 249 (2.5) 262 (1.9) 270 (1.2)
District of Columbia 299 (3.0) 241 (1.1) 250 (2.7) (†) (†) (†) (†) 240 (3.9) 239 (2.5) 248 (2.1) 262 (1.6)
Florida 273 (1.5) 248 (2.4) 259 (1.5) 285 (4.1) (†) (†) 277 (4.3) 244 (3.8) 248 (2.5) 270 (2.0) 271 (1.1)

Georgia
272 (1.5) 249 (1.5) 256 (2.1) 286 (4.2) (†) (†) 277 (4.1) 251 (3.1) 251 (2.1) 267 (2.4) 268 (1.4)
Hawaii 271 (2.4) (†) 255 (2.9) 266 (1.6) 243 (1.6) (†) 267 (3.2) 245 (4.6) 246 (2.4) 263 (2.4) 267 (1.2)
Idaho 271 (1.0) (†) 249 (2.2) (†) (†) (†) (†) 251 (3.4) 253 (2.7) 272 (2.2) 275 (1.1)
Illinois 274 (1.4) 246 (1.8) 255 (1.8) 290 (3.2) (†) (†) 263 (4.8) 251 (3.2) 253 (2.4) 264 (1.8) 275 (1.3)
Indiana 271 (1.4) 245 (2.9) 259 (3.1) (†) (†) (†) 257 (4.7) 255 (5.1) 255 (2.6) 270 (2.3) 274 (1.4)

Iowa
266 (1.1) 236 (3.7) 250 (2.8) (†) (†) (†) 259 (3.9) 241 (4.9) 246 (2.8) 268 (2.3) 270 (1.2)
Kansas 268 (1.2) 244 (3.2) 255 (2.0) (†) (†) (†) 256 (4.0) 249 (3.3) 252 (2.9) 264 (2.2) 272 (1.2)
Kentucky 266 (1.1) 239 (2.3) 258 (4.4) 268 (7.9) (†) (†) 269 (3.8) 247 (3.6) 254 (2.3) 268 (2.1) 271 (1.3)
Louisiana 268 (1.5) 242 (2.0) 258 (4.0) (†) (†) (†) (†) 245 (3.8) 247 (2.6) 266 (2.2) 262 (1.9)
Maine 267 (0.9) 236 (5.0) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 243 (5.5) 253 (2.6) 268 (2.3) 272 (1.0)

Maryland
277 (1.6) 251 (1.5) 248 (2.3) 294 (3.3) (†) (†) 274 (4.4) 250 (3.7) 246 (2.7) 265 (2.2) 274 (1.2)
Massachusetts 279 (1.1) 259 (3.1) 251 (2.7) 292 (3.5) (†) (†) 277 (6.3) 243 (5.2) 255 (2.4) 270 (2.3) 283 (1.0)
Michigan 267 (1.3) 243 (2.5) 253 (3.0) 280 (5.9) (†) (†) 267 (4.5) 248 (3.5) 253 (2.4) 266 (2.1) 270 (1.4)
Minnesota 271 (1.2) 236 (3.3) 247 (3.5) 268 (4.1) (†) 237 (8.4) 261 (4.0) 240 (4.9) 253 (2.7) 260 (2.7) 273 (1.3)
Mississippi 268 (1.4) 244 (1.1) 259 (4.1) (†) (†) (†) (†) 255 (3.2) 244 (2.1) 263 (2.2) 262 (1.1)

Missouri
267 (1.2) 240 (3.9) 258 (3.6) (†) (†) (†) 268 (4.2) 252 (3.4) 251 (2.3) 265 (1.9) 271 (1.5)
Montana 269 (0.8) (†) 257 (4.1) (†) (†) 239 (2.7) 262 (5.4) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Nebraska 270 (1.0) 240 (3.5) 250 (2.1) 278 (4.6) (†) 237 (12.8) 263 (4.1) 249 (2.8) 251 (2.3) 262 (2.5) 274 (1.1)
Nevada 269 (1.6) 243 (2.8) 251 (1.1) 272 (2.7) (†) (†) 262 (3.8) 247 (2.3) 252 (2.0) 264 (2.1) 268 (1.4)
New Hampshire 269 (1.0) (†) 251 (3.7) 278 (4.7) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)

New Jersey
281 (1.5) 250 (2.6) 251 (2.5) 297 (3.1) (†) (†) (†) 250 (5.3) 253 (2.4) 266 (3.1) 281 (1.4)
New Mexico 266 (1.9) (†) 248 (1.2) (†) (†) 237 (3.1) (†) 238 (2.7) 244 (2.3) 262 (2.0) 261 (1.6)
New York 272 (1.4) 248 (2.5) 249 (1.9) 274 (3.1) (†) (†) (†) 250 (3.7) 251 (2.4) 259 (2.7) 271 (1.5)
North Carolina 272 (1.4) 244 (1.8) 256 (2.0) 285 (5.2) (†) 249 (5.7) 264 (3.5) 254 (2.8) 253 (2.3) 266 (2.1) 270 (1.4)
North Dakota 267 (1.1) 246 (3.9) 250 (3.9) (†) (†) 249 (2.4) (†) 248 (6.6) 254 (2.4) 262 (2.8) 269 (1.0)

Ohio
274 (1.3) 241 (2.0) 259 (4.6) (†) (†) (†) 259 (4.2) 243 (4.1) 255 (2.0) 267 (1.9) 276 (1.3)
Oklahoma 265 (1.2) 244 (2.9) 246 (2.0) (†) (†) 254 (2.0) 264 (2.4) 243 (2.7) 249 (2.0) 262 (1.9) 266 (1.3)
Oregon 269 (1.4) (†) 250 (1.6) 281 (4.9) (†) 257 (8.3) 272 (3.8) 247 (3.1) 251 (2.7) 268 (2.3) 274 (1.5)
Pennsylvania 272 (1.0) 242 (2.6) 243 (3.0) 286 (4.5) (†) (†) 254 (4.2) 238 (4.7) 249 (2.6) 263 (2.0) 274 (1.3)
Rhode Island 275 (1.0) 247 (3.5) 241 (1.5) 263 (5.8) (†) (†) 262 (5.2) 240 (3.3) 246 (2.6) 263 (2.4) 274 (1.2)

South Carolina
270 (1.2) 242 (1.5) 253 (2.8) (†) (†) (†) 259 (4.2) 252 (3.4) 247 (2.4) 264 (2.4) 265 (1.2)
South Dakota 268 (0.8) (†) 252 (3.8) (†) (†) 241 (2.8) 261 (4.2) (†) (†) (†) (†)
Tennessee 268 (1.2) 246 (1.3) 253 (2.8) 289 (4.8) (†) (†) 268 (5.6) 251 (3.3) 251 (1.9) 269 (2.1) 271 (1.5)
Texas 267 (1.7) 238 (2.3) 250 (1.4) 287 (3.8) (†) (†) 258 (5.6) 245 (2.2) 247 (2.2) 260 (2.7) 266 (1.6)
Utah 273 (1.1) (†) 251 (2.3) (†) (†) 232 (9.0) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†)

Vermont
269 (0.8) (†) (†) (†) (†) (†) 270 (5.3) 248 (4.6) 252 (2.4) 268 (2.5) 277 (1.1)
Virginia 271 (1.8) 243 (2.1) 247 (2.9) 286 (3.8) (†) (†) 269 (3.4) 243 (4.2) 246 (2.6) 263 (2.3) 270 (1.6)
Washington 275 (1.3) 236 (5.5) 248 (2.2) 285 (4.6) (†) 237 (8.0) 263 (3.3) 245 (3.6) 251 (3.0) 268 (2.4) 279 (1.6)
West Virginia 256 (1.0) 239 (4.5) (†) (†) (†) (†) 249 (5.3) 240 (4.6) 247 (2.4) 258 (2.2) 263 (1.4)
Wisconsin 274 (1.1) 235 (2.9) 251 (2.1) 277 (4.2) (†) 253 (6.9) 268 (4.6) 253 (4.4) 254 (2.4) 265 (2.2) 277 (1.1)
Wyoming 268 (0.9) (†) 254 (2.3) (†) (†) 243 (3.7) (†) 252 (3.4) 253 (1.7) 269 (2.2) 273 (1.1)

Department of Defense
    Education Activity
    (DoDEA)
285 (1.1) 267 (2.8) 275 (1.6) 285 (3.3) (†) (†) 285 (2.2) (†) 272 (2.4) 279 (2.0) 283 (0.8)
†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. Table does not include private schools, Bureau of Indian Education schools, or (except in the final row) DoDEA schools. 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), 2019 Reading Assessment, retrieved November 8, 2019, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared November 2019.)

2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest