Student Reading Proficiency, 1971-2004

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

These test scores are from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The NAEP scores have been evaluated at certain performance levels. A score of 300 implies an ability to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material. A score of 250 implies an ability to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science and social studies materials. A score of 200 implies an ability to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short, uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information. A score of 150 implies an ability to follow brief written directions and carry out simple, discrete reading tasks. Scale ranges from 0-500. Standard errors appear in parentheses.

Characteristics
of students
1971 1975 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 1999 2004
Total 9-year-olds1 208 (1.0) 210 (0.7) 215 (1.0) 211 (0.7) 212 (1.1) 211 (0.9) 212 (1.0) 212 (1.3) 219 (1.1)
Male 201 (1.1) 204 (0.8) 210 (1.1) 207 (0.8) 207 (1.4) 206 (1.3) 207 (1.4) 209 (1.6) 216 (1.4)
Female 214 (1.0) 216 (0.8) 220 (1.1) 214 (0.8) 216 (1.3) 215 (0.9) 218 (1.1) 215 (1.5) 221 (1.0)
Race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic 214 (0.9) 217 (0.7) 221 (0.8) 218 (0.8) 218 (1.4) 218 (1.0) 220 (1.2) 221 (1.6) 226 (1.1)
Black, non-Hispanic 170 (1.7) 181 (1.2) 189 (1.8) 186 (1.1) 189 (2.4) 185 (2.2) 191 (2.6) 186 (2.3) 200 (2.2)
Hispanic (2) 183 (2.2) 190 (2.3) 187 (2.1) 194 (3.5) 192 (3.1) 195 (3.4) 193 (2.7) 205 (1.7)
Other 193 (3.8) 208 (4.1) 218 (3.8) 224 (2.5) 228 (5.4) 208 (4.0) 214 (4.2) 215 (4.0)
Total 13-year-olds1 255 (0.9) 256 (0.8) 258 (0.9) 257 (0.5) 257 (1.0) 260 (1.2) 258 (1.0) 259 (1.0) 259 (1.0)
Male 250 (1.0) 250 (0.8) 254 (1.1) 253 (0.6) 252 (1.3) 254 (1.7) 251 (1.2) 254 (1.3) 254 (1.2)
Female 261 (0.9) 262 (0.9) 263 (0.9) 262 (0.6) 263 (1.0) 265 (1.2) 264 (1.2) 265 (1.2) 264 (1.3)
Race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic 261 (0.7) 262 (0.7) 264 (0.7) 263 (0.6) 261 (1.1) 266 (1.2) 266 (1.0) 267 (1.2) 266 (1.0)
Black, non-Hispanic 222 (1.2) 226 (1.2) 233 (1.5) 236 (1.0) 243 (2.4) 238 (2.3) 234 (2.6) 238 (2.4) 244 (2.0)
Hispanic (2) 232 (3.0) 237 (2.0) 240 (1.7) 240 (3.5) 239 (2.5) 238 (2.9) 244 (2.9) 242 (1.6)
Other 251 (3.0) 256 (3.4) 254 (6.4) 260 (2.8) 269 (4.2) 268 (3.4) 253 (3.7) 258 (5.0)
Total 17-year-olds1 285 (1.2) 286 (0.8) 285 (1.2) 289 (0.6) 290 (1.0) 290 (1.1) 288 (1.1) 288 (1.3) 285 (1.2)
Male 279 (1.2) 280 (1.0) 282 (1.3) 284 (0.6) 286 (1.5) 284 (1.6) 281 (1.3) 281 (1.6) 278 (1.5)
Female 291 (1.3) 291 (1.0) 289 (1.2) 294 (0.8) 294 (1.5) 296 (1.1) 295 (1.2) 295 (1.4) 292 (1.3)
Race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic 291 (1.0) 293 (0.6) 293 (0.9) 295 (0.7) 295 (1.2) 297 (1.4) 295 (1.2) 295 (1.4) 293 (1.1)
Black, non-Hispanic 239 (1.7) 241 (2.0) 243 (1.8) 264 (1.0) 274 (2.4) 261 (2.1) 266 (2.7) 264 (1.7) 264 (2.7)
Hispanic (2) 252 (3.6) 261 (2.7) 268 (2.2) 271 (4.3) 271 (3.7) 265 (4.1) 271 (3.9) 264 (2.9)
Other 276 (4.8) 274 (4.4) 280 (3.0) 285 (3.1) 290 (5.3) 287 (5.8) 281 (6.0) 290 (5.0)
1. Excludes persons not enrolled in school.
2. Test scores of Hispanics were not tabulated separately.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2006), National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress, by Educational Testing Service.

Average Math and Science Scores of Fourth-Grade and Eighth-Grade Students by Country Elementary and High School Education Public Schools with Access to the Internet, 1994-2000
Elementary and High School Education
Sources +