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Digest of Education Statistics
2023 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 221.82.Percentage distribution of fall 2022 ninth-graders' reading achievement in quintiles, by selected student, family, and school characteristics: Fall 2022
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected student, family, or school
characteristic
Quintile
Bottom Second Third Fourth Top
1 2 3 4 5 6
     Total  20.4 (0.66) 19.9 (0.50) 20.0 (0.46) 19.7 (0.48) 19.9 (0.64)

Sex















  Female 18.4 (0.72) 19.3 (0.65) 20.4 (0.69) 20.8 (0.65) 21.1 (0.91)
  Male 22.4 (0.90) 20.6 (0.63) 19.7 (0.61) 18.7 (0.63) 18.7 (0.69)

Race/ethnicity















  American Indian/Alaska Native 39.4 (2.80) 22.1 (2.10) 18.3 (1.93) 12.2 (1.69) 8.0 (1.50)
  Asian 9.9 (0.98) 12.3 (1.30) 16.2 (1.10) 20.5 (1.17) 41.2 (2.58)
  Black 35.8 (1.90) 25.2 (1.54) 15.7 (0.99) 14.9 (1.29) 8.4 (0.87)
  Hispanic 25.7 (1.33) 24.0 (1.13) 21.2 (1.01) 16.5 (0.78) 12.6 (0.92)
  Pacific Islander 30.6 (6.51) 22.3 (6.67) 16.0 ! (4.85) 20.4 ! (8.82) (†)
  White 13.4 (0.68) 16.5 (0.65) 21.4 (0.70) 23.6 (0.69) 25.1 (0.86)
  Two or more races 15.9 (1.59) 21.1 (1.51) 18.7 (1.59) 17.2 (1.60) 27.1 (2.22)

Native language1















  Monolingual 20.4 (0.67) 19.6 (0.51) 20.1 (0.46) 20.0 (0.51) 19.8 (0.63)
    English 19.0 (0.67) 19.2 (0.53) 20.1 (0.51) 20.9 (0.54) 20.9 (0.66)
    Spanish 32.9 (2.08) 23.7 (2.03) 22.8 (1.90) 12.6 (1.27) 8.1 (1.29)
    Another language 21.6 (2.24) 20.0 (2.46) 15.2 (1.87) 18.6 (2.39) 24.7 (2.61)
  Bilingual 20.7 (1.57) 22.9 (1.69) 19.1 (1.49) 17.1 (1.26) 20.1 (1.59)

Parents/guardians in the primary 
   household2















  Two parents 18.3 (0.72) 18.9 (0.57) 19.9 (0.52) 20.7 (0.53) 22.3 (0.72)
  One parent 27.4 (1.10) 23.1 (0.97) 20.5 (0.97) 17.0 (0.95) 12.0 (0.86)
  Nonparental guardian(s) 34.3 (6.06) 21.9 (5.54) 23.7 (6.03) 11.0 (3.21) 9.1 ! (2.94)

Highest level of education attained by 
   either parent















  Less than high school completion 34.2 (2.10) 31.0 (2.50) 15.8 (1.61) 10.9 (1.40) 8.1 (1.11)
  High school diploma or equivalent3 27.7 (1.20) 24.0 (1.10) 22.4 (1.00) 16.4 (0.90) 9.5 (0.66)
  Completed a credential beyond high 
     school, no bachelor's degree4

23.0


(1.09)

22.4


(1.09)

20.8


(0.96)

19.7


(1.05)

14.1


(0.95)
  Bachelor's degree or higher 14.9 (0.73) 15.8 (0.64) 19.2 (0.61) 22.1 (0.68) 28.0 (0.95)

Socioeconomic status5















  Lowest fifth 30.8 (1.32) 26.2 (1.23) 19.2 (0.96) 14.2 (0.91) 9.6 (0.71)
  Middle three-fifths 21.4 (0.76) 20.6 (0.66) 21.2 (0.63) 20.0 (0.54) 16.8 (0.74)
  Highest fifth 7.3 (0.58) 11.9 (0.88) 17.4 (0.93) 24.4 (1.12) 39.0 (1.45)

Ninth-graders' education attainment 
   expectations















  Less than high school 31.6 (2.47) 19.0 (1.85) 18.3 (2.24) 20.1 (2.14) 11.0 (1.54)
  High school diploma or equivalent3 34.9 (1.69) 24.4 (1.43) 19.3 (1.27) 13.7 (1.01) 7.7 (0.86)
  Certificate6 23.9 (1.84) 21.6 (1.55) 24.3 (2.05) 20.5 (1.86) 9.8 (1.29)
  Associate's degree 17.9 (2.59) 23.2 (2.25) 18.1 (1.97) 23.4 (2.57) 17.4 (2.04)
  Bachelor's degree 11.0 (1.07) 15.6 (1.01) 17.7 (1.29) 25.3 (1.08) 30.4 (1.41)
  Graduate or professional degree 12.9 (0.85) 15.6 (0.83) 18.6 (0.91) 21.9 (0.96) 31.1 (1.32)
  Don't know 26.1 (1.07) 21.5 (0.86) 20.9 (0.91) 15.6 (0.63) 15.9 (1.11)

Growth mindset: most people can learn 
   to be good at math















  Slightly to strongly agree 19.6 (0.64) 19.1 (0.55) 19.4 (0.45) 20.0 (0.55) 21.9 (0.75)
  Slightly to strongly disagree 25.3 (1.79) 20.5 (1.46) 18.7 (1.60) 19.6 (1.71) 15.9 (1.65)

School control















  Public 21.8 (0.73) 20.7 (0.55) 20.2 (0.51) 19.3 (0.51) 18.0 (0.68)
    Charter school 27.1 (2.67) 18.5 (1.32) 19.3 (1.65) 15.9 (1.33) 19.2 (2.17)
    Other public7 21.4 (0.77) 20.9 (0.59) 20.3 (0.52) 19.5 (0.54) 17.9 (0.74)
  Private 8.6 (0.76) 13.0 (0.78) 18.7 (0.84) 23.4 (0.87) 36.4 (1.75)
    Catholic 8.8 (0.88) 16.2 (0.98) 20.2 (0.90) 23.4 (0.95) 31.5 (1.64)
    Other private 8.4 (1.18) 10.4 (1.19) 17.6 (1.32) 23.4 (1.41) 40.1 (2.95)

School locale















  City 20.7 (1.48) 20.5 (0.94) 20.2 (0.80) 18.5 (0.86) 20.1 (1.30)
  Suburb 17.8 (1.20) 18.4 (0.90) 20.8 (0.84) 21.4 (0.88) 21.6 (1.40)
  Town 28.6 (2.75) 20.0 (1.28) 18.7 (1.26) 16.1 (1.24) 16.6 (1.79)
  Rural 20.9 (1.42) 21.9 (1.03) 18.9 (0.91) 20.4 (1.00) 17.8 (1.29)
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1The first or primary language students learned to speak when they were children. Monolingual includes students who indicated learning to speak English, Spanish, or another language. Bilingual includes those who indicated learning to speak English and Spanish equally or English and another language equally.
2The parents or guardians living in the home where the student spends the most time. Households with two parents or one parent may include biological parents, adoptive parents, step-parents, foster parents and legal guardians, or grandparents, all of whom are classified as "parents" to the student. Households with nonparental guardians may include aunts, uncles, or unmarried partners of a parent. Some 3.5 percent of ninth-graders who live primarily with one parent and one nonparental guardian are included among those living with two parents.
3Includes equivalency credentials, such as the GED certificate, the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET), and the Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC).
4Includes attainment of a postsecondary certificate or associate’s degree from a college or university or an occupational, technical, or trade school.
5Measured as a composite score based on parental education, parental occupation, and family income.
6Any postsecondary education from a school that provides occupational training, such as a trade school.
7Includes traditional, magnet, virtual, and other noncharter public schools.
NOTE: All estimates are weighted by the study respondent weight. Reading achievement is based on student performance on a study-designed assessment. The reading assessment focused on foundational reading skills and more advanced reading comprehension with an emphasis on reading informational texts. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, High School and Beyond Longitudinal Study of 2022 (HS&B:22). (This table was prepared February 2024).

2023 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest