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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 223.17. Average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science scale score, by percentage of students in school eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, grade, and school locale: 2015
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Grade and school locale Total Percent of students in school eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
0 to 25 percent 26 to 50 percent 51 to 75 percent 76 to 100 percent
1 2 3 4 5 6
Grade 4                    
Total 154 (0.3) 172 (0.6) 161 (0.7) 151 (0.7) 134 (0.6)
City 148 (0.6) 175 (1.9) 163 (1.7) 151 (1.5) 132 (0.7)
Large 144 (0.8) 174 (3.3) 165 (2.7) 151 (2.4) 131 (0.7)
Midsize 151 (2.1) 177 (5.3) 161 (3.2) 149 (4.1) 133 (1.7)
Small 153 (2.2) 176 (1.8) 162 (1.8) 152 (1.7) 133 (3.2)
                     
Suburban 157 (0.6) 172 (0.6) 160 (1.1) 149 (1.6) 135 (1.2)
Large 158 (0.7) 172 (0.6) 159 (1.2) 150 (1.4) 135 (1.4)
Midsize 156 (2.1) 171 (1.3) 164 (2.5) 153 (2.3) 136 (4.6)
Small 151 (4.5) 173 (4.8) 164 (4.2) 137 (8.8) 139 (2.4)
                     
Town 153 (0.8) 168 (2.8) 161 (1.1) 151 (1.2) 139 (3.3)
Fringe 153 (2.4) 163 (3.7) 160 (2.8) 152 (3.0) 129 (12.1)
Distant 153 (1.2) 172 (4.7) 162 (1.8) 152 (1.8) 143 (3.0)
Remote 151 (1.1) 173 (5.0) 160 (1.2) 151 (1.3) 140 (1.6)
                     
Rural 157 (0.7) 170 (1.0) 162 (1.0) 155 (1.1) 141 (1.7)
Fringe 159 (1.3) 170 (1.1) 162 (1.6) 154 (1.6) 137 (2.8)
Distant 157 (0.8) 168 (1.5) 162 (1.2) 155 (1.6) 147 (1.9)
Remote 153 (1.3) 165 (1.9) 161 (1.2) 156 (2.1) 140 (2.7)
                     
Grade 8                    
Total 154 (0.3) 170 (0.6) 161 (0.5) 150 (0.6) 134 (0.8)
City 148 (0.6) 169 (1.4) 161 (0.9) 148 (1.5) 131 (1.1)
Large 144 (0.9) 169 (4.7) 163 (1.5) 147 (2.9) 130 (1.3)
Midsize 149 (1.6) 165 (2.4) 161 (2.8) 149 (2.0) 133 (2.3)
Small 156 (1.3) 173 (1.3) 159 (1.3) 149 (1.1) 129 (2.6)
                     
Suburban 158 (0.4) 171 (0.7) 161 (0.8) 148 (1.2) 136 (1.0)
Large 158 (0.5) 171 (0.7) 161 (0.9) 149 (1.3) 136 (1.2)
Midsize 154 (1.9) 168 (3.0) 160 (2.2) 150 (1.7) 135 (3.9)
Small 159 (3.4) 178 (3.5) 161 (3.0) 145 (8.7) 143 (5.3)
                     
Town 154 (0.7) 164 (3.6) 161 (0.9) 151 (1.4) 139 (2.6)
Fringe 157 (1.7) 167 (1.9) 161 (1.9) 156 (2.4) 126 (4.5)
Distant 152 (1.2) 160 (6.3) 160 (1.1) 150 (2.2) 139 (2.4)
Remote 154 (1.4) 166 (1.7) 163 (1.6) 149 (2.1) 144 (6.7)
                     
Rural 156 (0.6) 167 (1.1) 160 (1.3) 153 (0.9) 140 (2.3)
Fringe 157 (1.0) 168 (1.2) 158 (2.2) 150 (1.2) 141 (3.8)
Distant 156 (0.9) 163 (1.9) 161 (1.4) 156 (1.6) 142 (2.9)
Remote 154 (1.0) 166 (5.3) 162 (1.2) 156 (2.0) 132 (2.6)
                     
Grade 12                    
Total 150 (0.6) 165 (1.1) 154 (1.0) 143 (1.1) 126 (1.7)
City 145 (1.2) 165 (2.0) 156 (1.6) 142 (1.9) 121 (2.4)
Large 142 (2.0) 165 (2.8) 157 (3.1) 139 (2.9) 121 (3.2)
Midsize 146 (2.0) (†) 153 (2.7) 144 (4.6) 125 (3.8)
Small 151 (2.4) 164 (3.5) 158 (3.4) 146 (2.7) 118 (6.0)
                     
Suburban 153 (1.0) 165 (1.6) 154 (1.6) 141 (2.2) 125 (3.5)
Large 153 (1.1) 165 (1.6) 154 (1.8) 139 (2.7) 127 (3.4)
Midsize 149 (5.0) (†) 156 (7.2) 147 (4.8) (†)
Small 155 (3.1) (†) 154 (3.8) (†) (†)
                     
Town 150 (2.1) 169 (7.9) 152 (2.9) 148 (2.7) 136 (7.3)
Fringe 148 (2.9) (†) 151 (5.2) (†) (†)
Distant 149 (2.5) (†) 152 (4.0) 148 (4.4) (†)
Remote 152 (5.2) (†) (†) 149 (4.8) 126 (11.0)
                     
Rural 152 (1.3) 162 (1.5) 153 (2.3) 143 (3.0) 134 (4.5)
Fringe 154 (1.4) 163 (1.5) 155 (2.1) 145 (3.8) 132 (5.7)
Distant 148 (2.8) (†) 151 (5.2) 142 (8.5) (†)
Remote 144 (4.0) (†) (†) (†) (†)
†Not applicable.
‡Reporting standards not met (too few cases for a reliable estimate).
NOTE: Scale ranges from 0 to 300 for all three grades, but scores cannot be compared across grades. For example, the total average score of 154 for 4th-graders does not denote higher performance than the total average score of 150 for 12th-graders. Includes public, private, Bureau of Indian Education, and Department of Defense Education Activity schools. Includes students tested with accommodations (9 to 14 percent of all students, depending on grade); excludes only those students with disabilities and English language learners who were unable to be tested even with accommodations (1 to 2 percent of all students).
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2015 Science Assessment, retrieved May 29, 2019, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/naepdata/). (This table was prepared May 2019.)

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