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Digest of Education Statistics
1995 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 136.Reasons given by twelfth graders for taking current mathematics and science classes, by selected student and school characteristics: 1992

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                              |                   Percent of 12th graders who answered, "somewhat important" or "very important"
                              |____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
        Class subject         |  All  |    Sex      |         Race/ethnicity               |    Socioeconomic status    |Control of school attended
         and opinion          | 12th  |             |______________________________________|        quartile\1\         |__________________________
                              |graders|_____________|      |      |        |      |American|____________________________|      |         |  Other
                              |       | Male |Female|White |Black |Hispanic|Asian | Indian |Lowest|Second|Third |Highest|Public|Catholic | private
______________________________|_______|______|______|______|______|________|______|________|______|______|______|_______|______|_________|_________
              1               |   2   |  3   |  4   |  5   |  6   |   7    |  8   |   9    |  10  |  11  |  12  |  13   |  14  |   15    |   16
______________________________|_______|______|______|______|______|________|______|________|______|______|______|_______|______|_________|_________
      Mathematics class       |       |      |      |      |      |        |      |        |      |      |      |       |      |         |
I am interested in mathematics|  74.5 | 77.4 | 71.3 | 72.9 | 74.6 |   80.4 | 81.9 |   87.7 | 78.0 | 74.6 | 73.1 |  74.2 | 73.8 |    78.4 |    81.7
I do well in mathematics......|  77.1 | 80.2 | 73.7 | 76.4 | 76.1 |   79.7 | 83.6 |   76.8 | 79.5 | 77.8 | 76.3 |  76.1 | 76.7 |    78.4 |    82.1
I need it for college or trade|       |      |      |      |      |        |      |        |      |      |      |       |      |         |
  school......................|  87.2 | 86.6 | 87.8 | 86.5 | 89.8 |   86.5 | 90.8 |   90.5 | 83.3 | 85.4 | 88.9 |  88.6 | 87.1 |    87.9 |    87.5
I need it for a job after     |       |      |      |      |      |        |      |        |      |      |      |       |      |         |
  high school ................|  64.7 | 65.9 | 63.4 | 62.5 | 69.7 |   70.9 | 66.3 |   83.9 | 71.2 | 68.5 | 65.5 |  57.8 | 65.9 |    58.1 |    51.9
I need it for advanced        |       |      |      |      |      |        |      |        |      |      |      |       |      |         |
  placement...................|  53.6 | 53.3 | 54.0 | 49.6 | 58.4 |   62.5 | 72.6 |   56.9 | 59.8 | 46.7 | 52.2 |  55.7 | 54.1 |    47.2 |    53.9
Advised to take class by:     |       |      |      |      |      |        |      |        |      |      |      |       |      |         |
  Teacher.....................|  65.9 | 63.3 | 68.8 | 63.6 | 74.8 |   71.1 | 66.7 |   70.6 | 69.2 | 65.1 | 66.3 |  64.7 | 65.7 |    66.2 |    70.0
  Guidance counselor..........|  64.8 | 62.9 | 66.8 | 60.7 | 77.8 |   76.2 | 64.2 |   83.0 | 76.4 | 67.5 | 62.6 |  58.6 | 65.8 |    55.1 |    59.6
  Parent......................|  71.6 | 69.1 | 74.2 | 70.5 | 74.6 |   74.4 | 73.3 |   79.8 | 66.3 | 67.2 | 70.3 |  76.6 | 71.8 |    68.4 |    71.4
  Friend......................|  42.2 | 41.4 | 43.2 | 39.8 | 51.2 |   43.7 | 50.8 |   56.2 | 46.1 | 43.2 | 41.7 |  40.7 | 42.5 |    40.6 |    39.1
  Sibling.....................|  30.9 | 29.5 | 32.5 | 26.3 | 37.2 |   43.1 | 46.2 |   51.5 | 40.4 | 29.7 | 27.7 |  29.4 | 31.8 |    21.9 |    28.9
                              |       |      |      |      |      |        |      |        |      |      |      |       |      |         |
        Science class         |       |      |      |      |      |        |      |        |      |      |      |       |      |         |
I am interested in science....|  78.8 | 82.7 | 74.4 | 78.5 | 77.4 |   78.9 | 83.6 |   74.9 | 74.5 | 76.7 | 76.9 |  82.7 | 77.9 |    81.1 |    89.9
I do well in science..........|  80.6 | 83.9 | 77.0 | 80.1 | 76.7 |   86.1 | 84.2 |   86.6 | 78.1 | 80.1 | 77.1 |  84.0 | 80.1 |    79.8 |    90.2
I need it for college or trade|       |      |      |      |      |        |      |        |      |      |      |       |      |         |
  school......................|  83.3 | 81.7 | 85.0 | 82.4 | 86.4 |   83.5 | 88.4 |   88.8 | 78.5 | 81.9 | 84.6 |  84.8 | 83.3 |    85.3 |    80.7
I need it for a job after     |       |      |      |      |      |        |      |        |      |      |      |       |      |         |
  high school ................|  47.0 | 47.9 | 45.9 | 44.5 | 53.2 |   57.6 | 51.3 |   55.9 | 53.4 | 47.6 | 50.4 |  41.6 | 47.8 |    45.7 |    35.7
I need it for advanced        |       |      |      |      |      |        |      |        |      |      |      |       |      |         |
  placement...................|  50.2 | 49.7 | 50.9 | 47.1 | 51.6 |   59.0 | 66.8 |   59.6 | 48.9 | 47.9 | 46.8 |  53.9 | 49.2 |    53.5 |    60.3
Advised to take class by:     |       |      |      |      |      |        |      |        |      |      |      |       |      |         |
  Teacher.....................|  58.9 | 56.2 | 61.9 | 57.6 | 61.7 |   63.7 | 61.0 |   67.2 | 61.3 | 57.7 | 58.3 |  59.0 | 57.8 |    60.3 |    74.1
  Guidance counselor..........|  59.4 | 57.8 | 61.2 | 56.2 | 71.4 |   70.9 | 59.7 |   57.9 | 74.0 | 59.5 | 55.8 |  55.5 | 60.3 |    44.1 |    67.3
  Parent......................|  66.3 | 63.4 | 69.4 | 65.7 | 69.1 |   70.5 | 64.1 |   73.8 | 61.9 | 59.9 | 66.4 |  70.6 | 67.0 |    58.7 |    67.4
  Friend......................|  43.5 | 43.4 | 43.6 | 42.9 | 40.9 |   44.6 | 49.7 |   62.9 | 45.6 | 41.6 | 41.0 |  45.0 | 43.6 |    36.6 |    52.5
  Sibling.....................|  28.7 | 26.8 | 31.0 | 25.3 | 35.0 |   35.5 | 44.3 |   57.6 | 36.1 | 25.2 | 25.2 |  29.6 | 29.4 |    21.0 |    30.5
______________________________|_______|______|______|______|______|________|______|________|______|______|______|_______|______|_________|_________

\1\Socioeconomic status was measured by a composite score on parental education and occupations, and family income.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988," Second Followup survey. (This table was prepared February 1994.)


1995 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest