---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              |                   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
------------------------------|-------|------|------|------|------|--------|------|--------|------|------|------|-------|------|---------|---------

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.)