White-Black and White-Hispanic gaps in average reading and mathematics scores, by grade: Various years, 1990

Academic Outcomes

Table 16-1. White-Black and White-Hispanic gaps in average reading and mathematics scores, by grade: Various years, 1990–2007

Subject, race/ethnicity,¹ and grade	1990	1992	1994	1996	1998	2000	2002	2003	2005	2007

Reading
White-Black gap
Grade 4	—	32	38	—	32	34	30	31	29	27
Grade 8	—	30	30	—	26	—	27	28	28	27
White-Hispanic gap
Grade 4	—	27	35	—	32	35	28	28	26	26
Grade 8	—	26	24	—	27	—	26	27	25	25

Mathematics
White-Black gap
Grade 4	32	35	—	34	—	31	—	27	26	26
Grade 8	33	40	—	41	—	40	—	35	34	32
White-Hispanic gap
Grade 4	20	25	—	25	—	27	—	22	20	21
Grade 8	24	28	—	30	—	31	—	29	27	26

— Not available (tests not conducted in all grades for all years).
¹ Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
NOTE: The score gap is determined by subtracting the average Black or Hispanic score, respectively, from the average White score. Testing accommodations (e.g., extended time, small group testing) for children with disabilities and limited-English-proficient students were not permitted from 1990 through 1994. Beginning in 2002, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) national sample for grades 4 and 8 was obtained by aggregating the samples from each state, rather than by obtaining an independently selected national sample. As a consequence, the size of the national sample 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), various years, 1990–2007 Reading and Mathematics Assessments, NAEP Data Explorer.

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