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| 2019 Tables and Figures | All Years of Tables and Figures | Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest |
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| Table 221.90. | Percentage of students at or above selected National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading score levels, by age, sex, and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1971 through 2012 |
| [Standard errors appear in parentheses] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, sex, race/ethnicity, and score level | 1971 | 1975 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1990 | 1992 | 1994 | 1996 | 1999 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | ||||||||||||||
| 9-year-olds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1501 | 91 | (0.5) | 93 | (0.4) | 95 | (0.4) | 92 | (0.4) | 93 | (0.7) | 90 | (0.9) | 92 | (0.4) | 92 | (0.7) | 93 | (0.6) | 93 | (0.7) | 94 | (0.5) | 96 | (0.4) | 96 | (0.4) | |
| Level 2002 | 59 | (1.0) | 62 | (0.8) | 68 | (1.0) | 62 | (0.8) | 63 | (1.3) | 59 | (1.3) | 62 | (1.1) | 63 | (1.4) | 64 | (1.3) | 64 | (1.4) | 69 | (1.0) | 73 | (0.9) | 74 | (0.9) | |
| Level 2503 | 16 | (0.6) | 15 | (0.6) | 18 | (0.8) | 17 | (0.7) | 17 | (1.1) | 18 | (1.0) | 16 | (0.8) | 17 | (1.2) | 17 | (0.8) | 16 | (1.0) | 19 | (0.7) | 21 | (0.8) | 22 | (0.7) | |
| Male | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1501 | 88 | (0.7) | 91 | (0.5) | 93 | (0.5) | 90 | (0.5) | 90 | (0.9) | 88 | (1.4) | 90 | (0.8) | 90 | (1.0) | 92 | (0.8) | 91 | (1.1) | 92 | (0.6) | 94 | (0.6) | 94 | (0.6) | |
| Level 2002 | 53 | (1.2) | 56 | (1.0) | 63 | (1.1) | 58 | (1.0) | 58 | (1.8) | 54 | (1.9) | 57 | (1.6) | 59 | (1.5) | 58 | (2.0) | 61 | (1.8) | 64 | (1.3) | 70 | (1.2) | 71 | (1.0) | |
| Level 2503 | 12 | (0.6) | 12 | (0.6) | 15 | (0.9) | 16 | (0.8) | 16 | (1.4) | 16 | (1.2) | 14 | (1.0) | 15 | (1.2) | 14 | (1.3) | 15 | (1.3) | 17 | (0.8) | 19 | (1.0) | 21 | (0.8) | |
| Female | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1501 | 93 | (0.5) | 95 | (0.3) | 96 | (0.4) | 94 | (0.5) | 95 | (1.0) | 92 | (1.1) | 94 | (0.6) | 94 | (0.8) | 95 | (0.6) | 95 | (0.8) | 96 | (0.5) | 97 | (0.4) | 97 | (0.4) | |
| Level 2002 | 65 | (1.1) | 68 | (0.8) | 73 | (1.0) | 65 | (1.0) | 67 | (1.4) | 64 | (1.2) | 67 | (1.2) | 67 | (1.9) | 70 | (1.6) | 67 | (1.6) | 73 | (1.2) | 77 | (1.1) | 77 | (1.1) | |
| Level 2503 | 19 | (0.8) | 18 | (0.8) | 21 | (1.0) | 18 | (0.8) | 19 | (1.2) | 21 | (1.2) | 18 | (1.1) | 18 | (1.5) | 19 | (1.3) | 17 | (1.3) | 20 | (1.0) | 22 | (1.0) | 23 | (0.9) | |
| White | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1501 | 94 | 5 | (0.4) | 96 | (0.3) | 97 | (0.2) | 95 | (0.3) | 95 | (0.7) | 94 | (0.9) | 96 | (0.5) | 96 | (0.5) | 96 | (0.6) | 97 | (0.4) | 97 | (0.4) | 98 | (0.4) | 98 | (0.4) |
| Level 2002 | 65 | 5 | (1.0) | 69 | (0.8) | 74 | (0.7) | 69 | (0.9) | 68 | (1.6) | 66 | (1.4) | 69 | (1.2) | 70 | (1.5) | 71 | (1.5) | 73 | (1.6) | 77 | (1.0) | 81 | (1.0) | 82 | (0.8) |
| Level 2503 | 18 | 5 | (0.7) | 17 | (0.7) | 21 | (0.9) | 21 | (0.8) | 20 | (1.5) | 23 | (1.2) | 20 | (1.0) | 20 | (1.5) | 20 | (1.1) | 20 | (1.4) | 24 | (0.8) | 27 | (1.1) | 28 | (0.8) |
| Black | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1501 | 70 | 5 | (1.7) | 81 | (1.1) | 85 | (1.4) | 81 | (1.2) | 83 | (2.4) | 77 | (2.7) | 80 | (2.2) | 79 | (2.4) | 84 | (1.9) | 82 | (2.5) | 88 | (1.7) | 91 | (1.1) | 94 | (1.0) |
| Level 2002 | 22 | 5 | (1.5) | 32 | (1.5) | 41 | (1.9) | 37 | (1.5) | 39 | (2.9) | 34 | (3.4) | 37 | (2.2) | 38 | (2.8) | 42 | (3.2) | 36 | (3.0) | 50 | (2.3) | 58 | (2.3) | 61 | (2.1) |
| Level 2503 | 2 | 5 | (0.5) | 2 | (0.3) | 4 | (0.6) | 5 | (0.6) | 6 | (1.2) | 5 | (1.5) | 5 | (0.8) | 4 | (1.5) | 6 | (1.1) | 4 | (1.1) | 7 | (0.8) | 9 | (0.9) | 10 | (1.1) |
| Hispanic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1501 | [6] | (†) | 81 | (2.5) | 84 | (1.8) | 82 | (3.0) | 86 | (3.5) | 84 | (1.8) | 83 | (2.6) | 80 | (4.6) | 86 | (2.4) | 87 | (3.3) | 89 | (1.3) | 93 | (0.8) | 92 | (1.1) | |
| Level 2002 | [6] | (†) | 35 | (3.0) | 42 | (2.6) | 40 | (2.7) | 46 | (3.3) | 41 | (2.7) | 43 | (3.5) | 37 | (4.6) | 48 | (3.8) | 44 | (3.4) | 53 | (1.7) | 62 | (1.7) | 63 | (1.8) | |
| Level 2503 | [6] | (†) | 3 | (0.5) | 5 | (1.4) | 4 | (0.7) | 9 | (2.3) | 6 | (2.0) | 7 | (2.3) | 6 | (1.6) | 7 | (3.2) | 6 | (1.7) | 7 | (0.8) | 10 | (1.2) | 11 | (1.0) | |
| 13-year-olds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2002 | 93 | (0.5) | 93 | (0.4) | 95 | (0.4) | 94 | (0.3) | 95 | (0.6) | 94 | (0.6) | 93 | (0.7) | 92 | (0.6) | 92 | (0.7) | 93 | (0.7) | 92 | (0.6) | 94 | (0.4) | 94 | (0.4) | |
| Level 2503 | 58 | (1.1) | 59 | (1.0) | 61 | (1.1) | 59 | (0.8) | 59 | (1.3) | 59 | (1.0) | 62 | (1.4) | 60 | (1.2) | 60 | (1.3) | 61 | (1.5) | 59 | (1.1) | 63 | (0.8) | 66 | (1.3) | |
| Level 3004 | 10 | (0.5) | 10 | (0.5) | 11 | (0.5) | 11 | (0.4) | 11 | (0.8) | 11 | (0.6) | 15 | (0.9) | 14 | (0.8) | 14 | (1.0) | 15 | (1.1) | 12 | (0.8) | 13 | (0.5) | 15 | (1.0) | |
| Male | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2002 | 91 | (0.7) | 91 | (0.5) | 93 | (0.6) | 92 | (0.4) | 93 | (1.0) | 91 | (0.9) | 90 | (1.1) | 89 | (1.1) | 89 | (1.2) | 91 | (0.9) | 89 | (0.8) | 92 | (0.6) | 93 | (0.7) | |
| Level 2503 | 52 | (1.2) | 52 | (1.1) | 56 | (1.2) | 54 | (0.9) | 52 | (1.9) | 52 | (1.5) | 55 | (2.0) | 53 | (1.9) | 53 | (1.6) | 55 | (1.9) | 55 | (1.3) | 59 | (1.2) | 62 | (1.6) | |
| Level 3004 | 7 | (0.5) | 7 | (0.4) | 9 | (0.7) | 9 | (0.5) | 9 | (0.9) | 8 | (0.8) | 13 | (1.1) | 10 | (0.7) | 10 | (1.0) | 11 | (1.1) | 11 | (0.9) | 11 | (0.7) | 13 | (1.1) | |
| Female | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2002 | 95 | (0.4) | 95 | (0.4) | 96 | (0.4) | 96 | (0.3) | 97 | (0.6) | 96 | (0.6) | 95 | (0.7) | 95 | (0.6) | 95 | (0.6) | 96 | (0.7) | 95 | (0.6) | 96 | (0.5) | 96 | (0.4) | |
| Level 2503 | 64 | (1.1) | 65 | (1.2) | 65 | (1.1) | 64 | (0.8) | 65 | (1.4) | 65 | (1.5) | 68 | (1.4) | 68 | (1.7) | 66 | (1.6) | 66 | (1.9) | 65 | (1.3) | 66 | (1.0) | 69 | (1.4) | |
| Level 3004 | 12 | (0.6) | 13 | (0.7) | 13 | (0.6) | 13 | (0.6) | 13 | (0.9) | 14 | (0.9) | 18 | (1.1) | 18 | (1.1) | 17 | (1.3) | 18 | (1.7) | 14 | (1.0) | 16 | (0.9) | 17 | (1.1) | |
| White | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2002 | 96 | 5 | (0.3) | 96 | (0.2) | 97 | (0.2) | 96 | (0.2) | 96 | (0.6) | 96 | (0.6) | 96 | (0.6) | 95 | (0.7) | 95 | (0.5) | 96 | (0.6) | 95 | (0.5) | 96 | (0.4) | 96 | (0.6) |
| Level 2503 | 64 | 5 | (0.9) | 65 | (0.9) | 68 | (0.8) | 65 | (0.8) | 64 | (1.5) | 65 | (1.2) | 68 | (1.4) | 68 | (1.3) | 69 | (1.4) | 69 | (1.7) | 68 | (1.1) | 72 | (1.2) | 74 | (1.8) |
| Level 3004 | 11 | 5 | (0.5) | 12 | (0.5) | 14 | (0.6) | 13 | (0.6) | 12 | (0.9) | 13 | (0.9) | 18 | (1.1) | 17 | (1.0) | 17 | (1.3) | 18 | (1.4) | 16 | (0.9) | 18 | (0.8) | 19 | (1.0) |
| Black | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2002 | 74 | 5 | (1.7) | 77 | (1.3) | 84 | (1.7) | 85 | (1.2) | 91 | (2.2) | 88 | (2.3) | 82 | (2.7) | 81 | (2.3) | 82 | (3.2) | 85 | (2.3) | 86 | (1.5) | 91 | (1.1) | 90 | (1.3) |
| Level 2503 | 21 | 5 | (1.2) | 25 | (1.6) | 30 | (2.0) | 35 | (1.3) | 40 | (2.3) | 42 | (3.5) | 38 | (2.7) | 36 | (3.5) | 34 | (3.9) | 38 | (2.7) | 40 | (2.3) | 48 | (2.3) | 48 | (2.5) |
| Level 3004 | 1 | 5 | (0.2) | 2 | (0.3) | 2 | (0.5) | 3 | (0.6) | 5 | (1.2) | 5 | (0.8) | 6 | (1.4) | 4 | (1.2) | 3 | (0.9) | 5 | (1.4) | 4 | (0.7) | 6 | (0.8) | 6 | (0.9) |
| Hispanic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2002 | [6] | (†) | 81 | (2.3) | 87 | (2.4) | 86 | (1.7) | 87 | (2.6) | 86 | (2.4) | 83 | (3.5) | 82 | (2.7) | 85 | (3.2) | 89 | (2.8) | 85 | (1.9) | 87 | (1.3) | 91 | (1.2) | |
| Level 2503 | [6] | (†) | 32 | (3.6) | 35 | (2.6) | 39 | (2.3) | 38 | (4.4) | 37 | (2.9) | 41 | (5.1) | 34 | (3.9) | 38 | (3.7) | 43 | (3.8) | 44 | (2.3) | 44 | (1.8) | 51 | (1.7) | |
| Level 3004 | [6] | (†) | 2 | (1.0) | 2 | (0.6) | 4 | (1.0) | 4 | (1.9) | 4 | (1.2) | 6 | (1.9) | 4 | (1.8) | 5 | (1.7) | 6 | (1.8) | 5 | (1.2) | 5 | (0.6) | 6 | (0.5) | |
| 17-year-olds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2503 | 79 | (0.9) | 80 | (0.7) | 81 | (0.9) | 83 | (0.6) | 86 | (0.8) | 84 | (1.0) | 83 | (0.8) | 81 | (1.0) | 82 | (0.8) | 82 | (1.0) | 79 | (0.9) | 80 | (0.6) | 82 | (0.6) | |
| Level 3004 | 39 | (1.0) | 39 | (0.8) | 38 | (1.1) | 40 | (1.0) | 41 | (1.5) | 41 | (1.0) | 43 | (1.1) | 41 | (1.2) | 39 | (1.4) | 40 | (1.4) | 36 | (1.2) | 39 | (0.8) | 39 | (0.9) | |
| Male | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2503 | 74 | (1.0) | 76 | (0.8) | 78 | (1.0) | 80 | (0.7) | 83 | (1.4) | 80 | (1.4) | 78 | (1.2) | 76 | (1.5) | 77 | (1.2) | 77 | (1.5) | 73 | (1.2) | 76 | (0.8) | 79 | (0.8) | |
| Level 3004 | 34 | (1.1) | 34 | (1.0) | 35 | (1.3) | 36 | (1.0) | 37 | (2.3) | 36 | (1.5) | 38 | (1.6) | 36 | (1.9) | 34 | (1.9) | 34 | (1.7) | 32 | (1.2) | 35 | (0.9) | 36 | (1.2) | |
| Female | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2503 | 83 | (1.0) | 84 | (0.9) | 84 | (1.0) | 87 | (0.6) | 88 | (1.1) | 89 | (1.0) | 87 | (1.1) | 86 | (1.2) | 87 | (1.0) | 87 | (1.0) | 84 | (0.9) | 84 | (0.8) | 85 | (0.7) | |
| Level 3004 | 44 | (1.2) | 44 | (0.9) | 41 | (1.2) | 45 | (1.1) | 44 | (2.0) | 47 | (1.3) | 48 | (1.5) | 46 | (1.5) | 45 | (1.7) | 45 | (1.8) | 41 | (1.6) | 43 | (1.0) | 42 | (1.1) | |
| White | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2503 | 84 | 5 | (0.7) | 86 | (0.6) | 87 | (0.6) | 88 | (0.5) | 89 | (0.9) | 88 | (1.1) | 88 | (0.9) | 86 | (1.1) | 87 | (0.8) | 87 | (1.3) | 83 | (0.9) | 87 | (0.6) | 87 | (0.6) |
| Level 3004 | 43 | 5 | (0.9) | 44 | (0.8) | 43 | (1.1) | 47 | (1.1) | 45 | (1.6) | 48 | (1.2) | 50 | (1.4) | 48 | (1.4) | 46 | (1.5) | 46 | (1.5) | 42 | (1.3) | 47 | (1.0) | 47 | (1.3) |
| Black | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2503 | 40 | 5 | (1.6) | 43 | (1.6) | 44 | (2.0) | 65 | (1.5) | 76 | (2.4) | 69 | (2.8) | 61 | (2.3) | 66 | (4.1) | 68 | (4.0) | 66 | (2.5) | 64 | (2.2) | 67 | (2.4) | 70 | (1.4) |
| Level 3004 | 8 | 5 | (0.9) | 8 | (0.7) | 7 | (0.8) | 16 | (1.0) | 25 | (3.1) | 20 | (1.8) | 17 | (2.5) | 22 | (3.7) | 18 | (2.2) | 17 | (1.7) | 16 | (1.8) | 21 | (1.5) | 22 | (1.5) |
| Hispanic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 2503 | [6] | (†) | 53 | (4.1) | 62 | (3.1) | 68 | (2.4) | 71 | (4.8) | 75 | (4.7) | 69 | (4.0) | 63 | (4.4) | 65 | (4.2) | 68 | (4.3) | 67 | (2.4) | 70 | (1.5) | 74 | (1.3) | |
| Level 3004 | [6] | (†) | 13 | (2.7) | 17 | (2.1) | 21 | (3.0) | 23 | (3.7) | 27 | (3.3) | 27 | (3.2) | 20 | (3.0) | 20 | (4.8) | 24 | (3.8) | 23 | (2.1) | 22 | (1.0) | 26 | (1.3) | |
| †Not applicable. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 Students scoring 150 (or higher) are able to follow brief written directions and carry out simple, discrete reading tasks. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 Students scoring 200 (or higher) are able to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 Students scoring 250 (or higher) are able to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 Students scoring 300 (or higher) are able to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 Data for 1971 include persons of Hispanic ethnicity. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 Test scores of Hispanics were not tabulated separately. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NOTE: The NAEP reading scores have been evaluated at certain performance levels, as outlined in footnotes 1 through 4. Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Includes public and private schools. For assessment years prior to 2004, accommodations were not permitted. For 2004 and later years, includes students tested with accommodations; excludes only those students with disabilities and English language learners who were unable to be tested even with accommodations (2 to 5 percent of all students, depending on age and assessment year). Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity, except where noted. Totals include other racial/ethnic groups not shown separately. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress; and 2004, 2008, and 2012 Long-Term Trend Reading Assessments, retrieved May 12, 2009, and July 15, 2013, from the Long-Term Trend NAEP Data Explorer (http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared July 2013.) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
