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Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives: 2008

NCES 2008-084
September 2008


Table A-4.1c.  Children demonstrating specific language, literacy, mathematics, color knowledge and fine motor skills at about 4 years of age, by race/ethnicity: 2005–06

Race/ethnicity Percentage distribution of population   Language knowledge and skills   Literacy knowledge and skills   Mathematics knowledge and skills Percent of children with perfect score in color identification9 Average fine motor skills score10
Average receptive vocabulary score1 Average expressive vocabulary score2 Average overall literacy score3 Average proficiency probability letter recognition score4 Average phonological awareness score5 Average conventions of print score6 Average overall mathematics score7 Average proficiency probability number and shape score8
Total 100.0   8.6 2.5   13.2 32.7 3.3 2.5   22.8 65.6 64.1 3.4
White 54.6   9.3 2.6   14.2 36.8 3.5 2.7   24.3 73.2 71.7 3.5
Black 13.2   8.1 2.4   12.1 28.6 3.2 2.3   20.7 55.2 56.1 3.2
Hispanic 25.1   7.3 2.1   10.7 23.1 3.0 2.0   20.2 51.7 50.5 3.3
Asian 2.6   7.9 2.1   17.7 50.0 4.0 3.4   26.4 81.7 71.2 4.5
Pacific Islander 0.1      
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.5   7.9 2.1   9.7 19.2 2.9 1.9   17.7 40.7 43.4 3.0
More than one race 3.9   8.9 2.5   13.8 34.8 3.5 2.7   22.8 64.2 61.8 3.5
‡Reporting standards not met.
1 Ability to recognize and understand spoken words or to indicate a named object by pointing. Potential score ranges from 0 to 15.
2 Verbal expressiveness using gestures, words, and sentences. Potential score ranges from 0 to 5.
3 Includes letter recognition, in both receptive and expressive modes; letter sounds; and early reading knowledge and skills. Potential score ranges from 0 to 37.
4 Ability to identify a letter by either its name or the sounds it makes. Potential score ranges from 0 to 100.
5 Measures understanding of the sounds and structure of spoken language, including rhyming, blending, segmenting, deleting, and substituting words, syllables, and sounds. Potential score ranges from 0 to 8.
6 Understanding of what print represents and how it works. Potential score ranges from 0 to 8.
7 Includes number sense, geometry, counting, operations, and patterns. Potential score ranges from 0 to 44.
8 Ability to recognize single-digit numbers and basic geometric shapes. Potential score ranges from 0 to 100.
9 Percentage of children able to correctly identify 5 out 5 colors. Potential score ranges from 0 to 100.
10 Measures the ability to use fine motor skills in drawing basic forms and shapes. Potential score ranges from 0 to 7.
NOTE: Estimates weighted by W3C0. Estimates pertain to children assessed between 48 months and 57 months of age. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), Longitudinal 9-month–Preschool Restricted-Use Data File.