Student proficiency in reading, by percentile and age: 1971 to 1996

Table 110. -

_______________________________________________________________________________________________
  Percentile  |  1971  |  1975  |  1980  |  1984  |  1988  |  1990  |  1992  |  1994  |  1996
______________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
      1       |   2    |   3    |   4    |   5    |   6    |   7    |   8    |   9    |   10
______________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
              |                               9-year-olds\1\
              |________________________________________________________________________________
Average ......|  207.6 |  210.0 |  215.0 |  210.9 |  211.8 |  209.2 |  210.5 |  211.0 |  212.4
  Standard    |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    deviation |   42.1 |   38.6 |   37.9 |   41.1 |   41.2 |   44.7 |   40.3 |   40.5 |   40.5
              |________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
Percentiles   |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  5th ........|  134.8 |  143.2 |  148.5 |  140.5 |  141.9 |  134.8 |  140.7 |  140.1 |  141.8
  10th .......|  151.6 |  159.2 |  165.1 |  156.7 |  156.7 |  150.1 |  156.0 |  155.6 |  157.6
  25th .......|  180.0 |  185.2 |  191.1 |  183.7 |  184.3 |  178.7 |  183.1 |  184.1 |  185.0
  50th .......|  209.3 |  211.9 |  217.2 |  212.6 |  213.7 |  210.3 |  213.6 |  214.8 |  215.5
  75th .......|  236.7 |  236.9 |  241.3 |  239.6 |  240.1 |  240.3 |  239.3 |  240.0 |  241.4
  90th .......|  260.5 |  258.1 |  261.7 |  262.8 |  263.0 |  265.7 |  259.9 |  260.1 |  261.5
  95th .......|  274.1 |  270.6 |  273.3 |  276.5 |  277.5 |  280.4 |  272.1 |  271.7 |  274.1
              |________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
              |                              13-year-olds\1\
              |_________________ ______________________________________________________________
Average ......|  255.2 |  255.9 |  258.5 |  257.1 |  257.5 |  256.8 |  259.8 |  257.9 |  259.1
  Standard    |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    deviation |   35.7 |   35.8 |   34.9 |   35.5 |   34.7 |   36.0 |   39.4 |   39.8 |   38.4
              |________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
Percentiles   |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  5th ........|  192.8 |  193.5 |  199.1 |  196.7 |  199.5 |  195.7 |  190.9 |  188.2 |  191.5
  10th .......|  207.8 |  208.7 |  212.8 |  210.2 |  212.9 |  209.8 |  207.9 |  205.1 |  208.5
  25th .......|  232.3 |  232.9 |  235.3 |  233.9 |  234.2 |  233.2 |  234.7 |  232.5 |  234.8
  50th .......|  257.0 |  257.7 |  259.6 |  258.2 |  257.9 |  257.3 |  261.6 |  260.1 |  261.2
  75th .......|  279.9 |  280.6 |  282.8 |  281.6 |  281.4 |  281.5 |  287.0 |  285.2 |  285.5
  90th .......|  299.6 |  300.5 |  302.3 |  301.7 |  301.6 |  302.0 |  309.2 |  307.4 |  306.5
  95th .......|  310.8 |  311.8 |  313.9 |  313.7 |  313.7 |  314.4 |  321.9 |  320.3 |  319.4
              |________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
              |                              17-year-olds\1\
              |________________________________________________________________________________
Average ......|  285.2 |  285.6 |  285.5 |  288.8 |  290.1 |  290.2 |  289.7 |  288.1 |  286.9
  Standard    |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
    deviation |   45.8 |   44.0 |   41.8 |   40.3 |   37.1 |   41.3 |   43.0 |   44.4 |   42.3
              |________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
Percentiles   |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |        |
  5th ........|  206.1 |  209.3 |  213.0 |  219.9 |  226.1 |  220.0 |  214.3 |  210.8 |  213.2
  10th .......|  225.3 |  228.4 |  230.6 |  236.0 |  241.5 |  236.9 |  232.7 |  230.0 |  231.4
  25th .......|  255.9 |  257.8 |  258.7 |  262.5 |  265.7 |  263.5 |  262.6 |  259.8 |  259.1
  50th .......|  287.7 |  287.9 |  287.5 |  290.3 |  291.1 |  291.1 |  293.0 |  289.9 |  288.2
  75th .......|  316.7 |  315.7 |  314.6 |  316.8 |  316.0 |  318.6 |  319.4 |  318.7 |  315.8
  90th .......|  341.7 |  340.0 |  337.5 |  339.6 |  336.9 |  342.7 |  342.7 |  343.0 |  340.4
  95th .......|  356.5 |  354.3 |  350.9 |  352.6 |  348.7 |  356.0 |  355.8 |  357.7 |  354.4
______________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________

\1\Excludes persons not enrolled in school.

NOTE.--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 to 500.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP 1996 Trends in Academic Progress, by Educational Testing Service. (This table was prepared September 1997.)

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