Table 12d. Percentage distribution of high school graduates, by highest level of foreign language completed and race/ethnicity: 1998, 2000, and 2004

Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities

NCES 2007-039
September 2007

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Table 12d.

Percentage distribution of high school graduates, by highest level of foreign language completed and race/ethnicity: 1998, 2000, and 2004

Year and race/ethnicity	Highest level of primary foreign language completed
	None	Year 1 or less	Year 2	Years 3, 4, and Advanced Placement
	None	Year 1 or less	Year 2	Year 3 or greater	Year 3	Year 4	AP
1998 ¹
Total	19.4	19.2	31.5	30.0	17.4	8.5	4.1
White	17.5	18.4	32.9	31.2	18.0	9.5	3.7
Black	21.4	23.5	33.8	21.2	14.1	4.7	2.4 !
Hispanic	24.2	20.7	23.8	31.3	17.6	6.1	7.6
Asian/Pacific Islander	32.7	12.3	21.5	33.5	16.6	10.5	6.4 !
American Indian/Alaska Native	23.7 !	31.7	24.5	20.2	14.3 !	5.7 !	0.1 !

2000 ¹
Total	17.4	18.0	34.9	29.8	16.5	7.8	5.4
White	16.7	17.1	35.4	30.8	17.1	8.6	5.1
Black	17.0	24.9	38.5	19.7	13.8	4.0	2.0 !
Hispanic	19.4	18.1	31.9	30.7	15.6	6.2	8.9
Asian/Pacific Islander	24.2	12.1	27.6	36.1	17.0	9.9	9.2
American Indian/Alaska Native	25.7	29.9	27.5	17.0 !	14.8 !	1.8 !	0.3 !

2004 ²
Total	15.5	16.1	33.9	34.5	19.1	10.1	5.4
White	14.1	15.6	33.0	37.2	20.6	11.4	5.3
Black	15.9	22.5	42.0	19.6	13.3	5.5	0.8 !
Hispanic	20.4	14.6	32.3	32.8	15.1	7.8	10.0
Asian/Pacific Islander	10.8	12.3	26.4	50.5	27.2	14.2	9.1
American Indian/Alaska Native	41.6	19.4 !	23.9 !	15.1 !	9.3 !	5.3 !	0.5 !
! Interpret data with caution. ¹ Foreign language coursetaking in 2000 and earlier years based upon classes in French, German, Latin, or Spanish as these were the only foreign languages commonly offered in high schools for 4 years or more. ² Foreign language coursetaking in 2004 based upon classes in Amharic (Ethiopian), Arabic, Chinese (Cantonese or Mandarin), Czech, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek (Classical or Modern), Hawaiian, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Norse (Norwegian), Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, or Yiddish. For a comparison in 2004 with the former set of languages, see NCES 2007-065, table SA-10. NOTE: Some graduates in each category may have studied more than one foreign language. The distribution of graduates among the various levels of foreign language courses was determined by the level of the most academically advanced course they completed. Graduates who had completed courses in different languages were counted according to the highest level course completed. Graduates may have completed advanced levels of courses without having taken courses at lower levels. See Appendix B: Supplemental Notes for more details on these levels. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic origin. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), 1998 and 2000 High School Transcript Studies (HSTS); and Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002/04), "High School Transcript Study."