Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 222.77. Average National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics scale score and standard deviation, by selected student characteristics, percentile, and grade: Selected years, 1990 through 2022
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected student characteristic,
percentile, and grade
19901 19921 1996 2000 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019 2022
Total Male Female
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
  Average mathematics scale score2
All students                                                                
4th grade 213 (0.9) 220 (0.7) 224 (1.0) 226 (0.9) 235 (0.2) 238 (0.1) 240 (0.2) 240 (0.2) 241 (0.2) 242 (0.2) 240 (0.3) 240 (0.2) 241 (0.2) 236 (0.3) 239 (0.3) 233 (0.3)
8th grade 263 (1.3) 268 (0.9) 270 (0.9) 273 (0.8) 278 (0.3) 279 (0.2) 281 (0.3) 283 (0.3) 284 (0.2) 285 (0.3) 282 (0.3) 283 (0.3) 282 (0.3) 274 (0.3) 275 (0.3) 273 (0.4)
12th grade --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 150 (0.6) --- (†) 153 (0.7) --- (†) 153 (0.5) 152 (0.5) --- (†) 150 (0.4) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

Eligibility for free or
   reduced-price lunch
                                                               
4th grade                                                                
Eligible --- (†) --- (†) 207 (1.3) 208 (0.9) 222 (0.3) 225 (0.2) 227 (0.2) 227 (0.2) 229 (0.2) 230 (0.3) 229 (0.2) 228 (0.3) 229 (0.2) 223 (0.3) 225 (0.4) 221 (0.4)
Not eligible --- (†) --- (†) 232 (0.8) 235 (1.1) 244 (0.3) 248 (0.2) 249 (0.2) 250 (0.3) 252 (0.2) 254 (0.2) 253 (0.3) 252 (0.3) 253 (0.3) 248 (0.4) 251 (0.5) 245 (0.4)
Unknown --- (†) --- (†) 231 (2.8) 237 (1.6) 241 (0.7) 244 (0.7) 246 (0.9) 246 (1.1) 249 (0.9) 249 (1.3) 248 (1.0) 247 (1.0) 247 (1.2) 247 (1.2) 250 (1.7) 244 (1.1)

8th grade
                                                               
Eligible --- (†) --- (†) 250 (1.7) 253 (1.1) 259 (0.4) 262 (0.3) 265 (0.3) 266 (0.3) 269 (0.3) 270 (0.3) 268 (0.3) 267 (0.3) 266 (0.3) 260 (0.3) 261 (0.4) 258 (0.5)
Not eligible --- (†) --- (†) 277 (1.3) 283 (1.1) 287 (0.3) 288 (0.2) 291 (0.3) 294 (0.3) 296 (0.3) 297 (0.3) 296 (0.3) 296 (0.3) 296 (0.3) 287 (0.4) 288 (0.5) 286 (0.5)
Unknown --- (†) --- (†) 279 (2.3) 276 (1.6) 285 (1.0) 289 (1.2) 291 (1.7) 295 (1.4) 296 (1.1) 297 (2.2) 294 (1.4) 296 (1.3) 294 (1.6) 285 (1.7) 287 (2.1) 284 (2.0)

12th grade
                                                               
Eligible --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 132 (1.1) --- (†) 137 (0.8) --- (†) 139 (0.7) 137 (0.7) --- (†) 136 (0.4) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
Not eligible --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 155 (0.7) --- (†) 160 (0.8) --- (†) 162 (0.5) 160 (0.7) --- (†) 160 (0.5) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
Unknown --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 162 (1.8) --- (†) 159 (2.6) --- (†) 163 (2.2) 168 (2.0) --- (†) 161 (1.9) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

Highest education level
   of either parent3
                                                               
8th grade                                                                
Did not finish high school 242 (2.0) 249 (1.7) 250 (2.0) 253 (1.4) 257 (0.6) 259 (0.5) 263 (0.5) 265 (0.6) 265 (0.6) 267 (0.5) 265 (0.7) 265 (0.7) 264 (0.7) 257 (0.8) 260 (1.2) 254 (1.0)
Graduated high school 255 (1.6) 257 (1.2) 260 (1.3) 261 (1.0) 267 (0.4) 267 (0.3) 270 (0.4) 270 (0.5) 271 (0.4) 270 (0.4) 268 (0.5) 267 (0.5) 265 (0.5) 258 (0.6) 260 (0.9) 257 (0.8)
Some education after high school 267 (1.6) 271 (1.1) 277 (1.2) 277 (1.1) 280 (0.4) 280 (0.3) 283 (0.4) 284 (0.4) 285 (0.3) 285 (0.5) 282 (0.4) 281 (0.5) 280 (0.5) 271 (0.6) 271 (0.9) 271 (0.7)
Graduated college 274 (1.5) 281 (1.2) 281 (1.2) 286 (1.0) 288 (0.3) 290 (0.2) 292 (0.3) 295 (0.3) 295 (0.3) 296 (0.3) 294 (0.4) 294 (0.3) 293 (0.4) 286 (0.4) 287 (0.5) 285 (0.5)

12th grade
                                                               
Did not finish high school --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 130 (1.5) --- (†) 135 (1.0) --- (†) 137 (0.9) 133 (1.0) --- (†) 133 (0.8) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
Graduated high school --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 138 (1.1) --- (†) 142 (0.7) --- (†) 139 (0.7) 139 (0.9) --- (†) 136 (0.6) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
Some education after high school --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 148 (0.8) --- (†) 150 (0.7) --- (†) 152 (0.5) 149 (0.8) --- (†) 147 (0.5) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
Graduated college --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 161 (0.6) --- (†) 164 (0.8) --- (†) 164 (0.6) 163 (0.7) --- (†) 161 (0.5) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)

Percentile4
                                                               
4th grade                                                                
10th 171 (2.1) 177 (0.9) 182 (1.3) 184 (1.2) 197 (0.3) 200 (0.2) 202 (0.2) 202 (0.4) 203 (0.3) 203 (0.4) 202 (0.4) 198 (0.3) 199 (0.3) 192 (0.4) 193 (0.8) 191 (0.8)
25th 193 (1.0) 199 (1.3) 203 (1.8) 205 (1.0) 216 (0.4) 220 (0.2) 222 (0.2) 221 (0.3) 222 (0.3) 222 (0.3) 221 (0.3) 219 (0.3) 220 (0.2) 214 (0.4) 216 (0.4) 212 (0.5)
50th 214 (1.3) 221 (1.0) 225 (1.0) 227 (1.3) 236 (0.3) 239 (0.2) 242 (0.2) 241 (0.3) 242 (0.3) 243 (0.3) 242 (0.3) 241 (0.2) 242 (0.2) 238 (0.3) 241 (0.4) 235 (0.4)
75th 235 (1.0) 242 (1.0) 245 (0.9) 248 (1.1) 255 (0.2) 258 (0.2) 260 (0.2) 260 (0.3) 261 (0.3) 262 (0.2) 261 (0.4) 262 (0.3) 262 (0.3) 259 (0.4) 263 (0.5) 255 (0.5)
90th 253 (1.6) 259 (0.9) 262 (1.2) 265 (1.1) 270 (0.3) 273 (0.2) 275 (0.2) 275 (0.2) 276 (0.3) 278 (0.3) 277 (0.5) 279 (0.4) 280 (0.4) 278 (0.5) 281 (0.9) 273 (0.5)

8th grade
                                                               
10th 215 (2.3) 221 (0.9) 221 (1.7) 223 (1.7) 230 (0.6) 231 (0.3) 235 (0.4) 236 (0.5) 237 (0.3) 237 (0.5) 235 (0.5) 233 (0.4) 231 (0.4) 224 (0.4) 224 (0.5) 225 (0.6)
25th 239 (1.5) 243 (0.9) 245 (1.2) 249 (0.9) 254 (0.4) 255 (0.2) 258 (0.3) 259 (0.3) 260 (0.3) 261 (0.4) 258 (0.4) 256 (0.3) 255 (0.3) 247 (0.3) 248 (0.4) 247 (0.5)
50th 264 (1.4) 269 (1.7) 273 (0.8) 275 (1.0) 279 (0.3) 280 (0.2) 283 (0.2) 284 (0.3) 285 (0.2) 286 (0.4) 283 (0.4) 283 (0.3) 282 (0.4) 274 (0.3) 275 (0.4) 273 (0.6)
75th 288 (1.3) 294 (0.8) 297 (1.2) 300 (0.7) 303 (0.3) 304 (0.2) 306 (0.3) 308 (0.4) 309 (0.3) 310 (0.3) 308 (0.3) 310 (0.3) 309 (0.4) 301 (0.4) 303 (0.5) 299 (0.6)
90th 307 (2.2) 315 (1.1) 316 (1.2) 320 (1.0) 323 (0.4) 324 (0.3) 327 (0.4) 329 (0.5) 329 (0.3) 331 (0.3) 329 (0.4) 333 (0.4) 333 (0.4) 325 (0.4) 328 (0.9) 322 (0.7)

12th grade
                                                               
10th --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 105 (0.9) --- (†) 110 (0.6) --- (†) 111 (0.7) 107 (0.9) --- (†) 104 (0.5) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
25th --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 127 (1.0) --- (†) 130 (0.6) --- (†) 131 (0.6) 128 (0.7) --- (†) 125 (0.6) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
50th --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 151 (0.9) --- (†) 154 (0.8) --- (†) 154 (0.7) 152 (0.6) --- (†) 150 (0.4) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
75th --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 174 (0.7) --- (†) 177 (0.9) --- (†) 177 (0.5) 175 (0.7) --- (†) 175 (0.6) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
90th --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 194 (0.5) --- (†) 197 (1.3) --- (†) 197 (1.0) 196 (0.9) --- (†) 196 (0.7) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
  Standard deviation of the mathematics scale score5
All students                                                                
4th grade 32 (0.7) 32 (0.4) 31 (0.5) 31 (0.4) 28 (0.1) 28 (0.1) 29 (0.1) 29 (0.1) 29 (0.1) 30 (0.1) 30 (0.2) 31 (0.1) 32 (0.1) 33 (0.2) 34 (0.2) 32 (0.2)
8th grade 36 (0.8) 36 (0.4) 37 (0.6) 38 (0.5) 36 (0.1) 36 (0.1) 36 (0.1) 36 (0.2) 36 (0.2) 37 (0.2) 37 (0.2) 39 (0.2) 40 (0.2) 39 (0.2) 40 (0.3) 38 (0.2)
12th grade --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†) 34 (0.4) --- (†) 34 (0.3) --- (†) 33 (0.2) 34 (0.4) --- (†) 36 (0.3) --- (†) --- (†) --- (†)
---Not available.
†Not applicable.
1Accommodations were not permitted for this assessment.
2Scale ranges from 0 to 500.
3Highest level achieved by either parent (based on student responses to two background questions). These data were not collected from 4th-graders.
4The percentile represents a specific point on the percentage distribution of all students ranked by their mathematics score from low to high. For example, 10 percent of students scored at or below the 10th percentile score, while 90 percent of students scored above it.
5The standard deviation provides an indication of how much the test scores varied. The lower the standard deviation, the closer the scores were clustered around the average score. About two-thirds of the student scores can be expected to fall within the range of one standard deviation above and one standard deviation below the average score. For example, the average score for all 4th-graders in 2022 was 236, and the standard deviation was 33. This means that about two-thirds of students would be expected to have scores between 269 (one standard deviation above the average) and 203 (one standard deviation below). Standard errors also must be taken into account when making comparisons of these ranges.
NOTE: Includes public, private, Bureau of Indian Education, and Department of Defense Education Activity schools. For 1996 and later years, includes students tested with accommodations (3 to 14 percent of all students, depending on grade level and year); excludes only those students with disabilities and English learners who were unable to be tested even with accommodations (1 to 4 percent of all students).
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022 Mathematics Assessments; most recent year’s data retrieved November 28, 2022, from the Main NAEP Data Explorer (https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ndecore/xplore/NDE). (This table was prepared November 2022.)

2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest