Average reading scale scores, by grade and selected student and school characteristics: 1992, 2005, and 2007

Academic Outcomes

Table 12-2. Average reading scale scores, by grade and selected student and school characteristics: 1992, 2005, and 2007

	Grade 4			Grade 8			Grade 12¹
Student or school characteristic	1992²	2005	2007	1992²	2005	2007	1992²	2005

Total	217	219	221	260	262	263	292	286
Sex
Male	213	216	218	254	257	258	287	279
Female	221	222	224	267	267	268	297	292
Race/ethnicity³
White	224	229	231	267	271	272	297	293
Black	192	200	203	237	243	245	273	267
Hispanic	197	203	205	241	246	247	279	272
Asian/Pacific Islander	216	229	232	268	271	271	290	287
American Indian/Alaska Native	‡	204	203	‡	249	247	‡	279
Parents’ education
Did not finish high school	—	—	—	243	244	245	275	268
Graduated from high school	—	—	—	251	252	253	283	274
Some education after high school	—	—	—	265	265	266	294	287
Graduated from college	—	—	—	271	272	273	301	297
Locale
Metro-centric codes
Central city	—	213	—	—	257	—	—	284
Urban fringe/large town	—	223	—	—	266	—	—	288
Rural/small town	—	219	—	—	263	—	—	285
Urban-centric codes
City	—	—	215	—	—	257	—	—
Suburban	—	—	226	—	—	267	—	—
Town	—	—	219	—	—	262	—	—
Rural	—	—	222	—	—	264	—	—
Students in school eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
10 percent or less	—	238	240	—	279	280	—	297
11–25 percent	—	230	231	—	270	272	—	290
26–50 percent	—	221	223	—	262	263	—	282
51–75 percent	—	211	212	—	252	253	—	273
More than 75 percent	—	197	200	—	240	241	—	266

— Not available.
‡ Reporting standards not met (too few cases).
¹ The 2003 and 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Reading Assessments were not administered to 12th-grade students.
² Testing accommodations (e.g., extended time, small group testing) for children with disabilities and limited-English-proficient students were not permitted.
³ Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
NOTE: The NAEP reading scale ranges from 0 to 500. Beginning in 2002, the NAEP national sample for grades 4 and 8 was obtained by aggregating the samples from each state and the District of Columbia, rather than by obtaining an independently selected national sample. As a consequence, the size of the national sample for grades 4 and 8 increased, and smaller differences between years or between types of students were found to be statistically significant than would have been detected in previous assessments. See supplemental note 4 for more information on NAEP.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1992, 2005, and 2007 Reading Assessments, NAEP Data Explorer.

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