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Digest of Education Statistics
1997 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Issue of the Digest

Table 125.Average proficiency in science for 8th graders in public schools, by selected characteristics and state: 1996

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________    
                      |       |          Race/ethnicity                 |    Sex    |      Parental education\1\
                      |       |_________________________________________|___________|_______________________________
        State         |Average|White|Black    |His- |Asian    | Ameri-  |    |      |Did not|Gradu-|Some edu- |Grad-
                      |       |     |         |panic|         |  can    |Male|Female|finish | ated |  cation  |uated
                      |       |     |         |     |         | Indian  |    |      | high  | high |after high|col-
                      |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |school |school|  school  |lege
______________________|_______|_____|_________|_____|_________|_________|____|______|_______|______|__________|_____
          1           |   2   |  3  |     4   |  5  |     6   |    7    | 8  |  9   |  10   |  11  |    12    | 13
______________________|_______|_____|_________|_____|_________|_________|____|______|_______|______|__________|_____
  United States ......|   148 | 159 |     120 | 127 |     150 |     148 |149 |  148 |   131 |  140 |      155 | 157
                      |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |       |      |          |
        State         |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |       |      |          |
Alabama ..............|   139 | 151 |     117 | 107 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|138 |  139 |   130 |  129 |      145 | 147
Alaska\3\ ............|   153 | 162 |    (\2\)| 137 |     152 |     129 |155 |  150 |  (\2\)|  141 |      155 | 163
Arizona  .............|   145 | 157 |     124 | 129 |    (\2\)|     121 |147 |  143 |   121 |  136 |      151 | 158
Arkansas\3\ ..........|   144 | 154 |     116 | 122 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|147 |  142 |   129 |  136 |      150 | 154
California ...........|   138 | 156 |     121 | 121 |     148 |    (\2\)|140 |  136 |   118 |  129 |      144 | 153
                      |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |       |      |          |
Colorado .............|   155 | 162 |     142 | 135 |     155 |     142 |156 |  153 |   133 |  142 |      157 | 163
Connecticut ..........|   155 | 165 |     121 | 122 |     163 |    (\2\)|156 |  155 |   129 |  140 |      155 | 167
Delaware ............ |   142 | 152 |     122 | 116 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|143 |  140 |   121 |  135 |      146 | 151
District of Columbia .|   113 |(\2\)|     112 |  98 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|113 |  113 |   106 |  107 |      120 | 121
Florida ..............|   142 | 155 |     119 | 129 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|144 |  140 |   127 |  132 |      148 | 150
                      |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |       |      |          |
Georgia ..............|   142 | 155 |     122 | 128 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|144 |  139 |   127 |  129 |      145 | 153
Hawaii ...............|   135 | 146 |     128 | 121 |     138 |    (\2\)|135 |  135 |   119 |  120 |      139 | 147
Indiana ..............|   153 | 158 |     125 | 139 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|154 |  152 |   139 |  144 |      156 | 162
Iowa\3\ ..............|   158 | 160 |     131 | 140 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|159 |  157 |   141 |  150 |      160 | 165
Kentucky .............|   147 | 151 |     127 | 113 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|148 |  147 |   130 |  143 |      151 | 158
                      |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |       |      |          |
Louisiana ............|   132 | 148 |     113 | 104 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|136 |  129 |   123 |  128 |      141 | 136
Maine ................|   163 | 164 |    (\2\)| 141 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|165 |  161 |   141 |  153 |      164 | 171
Maryland\3\ ..........|   145 | 160 |     124 | 121 |     161 |    (\2\)|146 |  145 |   126 |  136 |      147 | 153
Massachusetts ........|   157 | 163 |     126 | 126 |     152 |    (\2\)|159 |  154 |   134 |  145 |      156 | 166
Michigan\3\ ..........|   153 | 161 |     122 | 134 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|156 |  150 |   137 |  144 |      156 | 161
                      |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |       |      |          |
Minnesota ............|   159 | 162 |     130 | 134 |     152 |    (\2\)|161 |  157 |   137 |  151 |      161 | 165
Mississippi ..........|   133 | 149 |     119 | 105 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|134 |  132 |   125 |  126 |      142 | 138
Missouri .............|   151 | 158 |     120 | 130 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|152 |  150 |   136 |  144 |      156 | 159
Montana\3\  ..........|   162 | 166 |    (\2\)| 147 |    (\2\)|     139 |164 |  160 |   139 |  155 |      164 | 168
Nebraska ............ |   157 | 161 |     130 | 134 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|160 |  155 |   133 |  148 |      161 | 165
                      |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |       |      |          |
New Mexico ...........|   141 | 159 |    (\2\)| 130 |    (\2\)|     126 |143 |  139 |   119 |  131 |      147 | 154
New York\3\ ..........|   146 | 161 |     120 | 116 |     155 |    (\2\)|148 |  143 |   123 |  138 |      147 | 157
North Carolina .......|   147 | 157 |     126 | 123 |    (\2\)|     136 |149 |  145 |   126 |  134 |      150 | 158
North Dakota .........|   162 | 164 |    (\2\)| 137 |    (\2\)|     137 |163 |  161 |   148 |  157 |      160 | 167
Oregon ...............|   155 | 158 |    (\2\)| 133 |     157 |     142 |157 |  153 |   137 |  143 |      157 | 164
                      |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |       |      |          |
Rhode Island .........|   149 | 155 |     130 | 118 |     142 |    (\2\)|150 |  148 |   123 |  141 |      154 | 160
South Carolina\3\ ....|   139 | 153 |     122 | 122 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|141 |  136 |   125 |  127 |      145 | 148
Tennessee ............|   143 | 151 |     117 | 104 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|144 |  142 |   127 |  135 |      149 | 154
Texas ................|   145 | 161 |     127 | 129 |     157 |    (\2\)|147 |  143 |   128 |  137 |      152 | 157
Utah .................|   156 | 159 |    (\2\)| 133 |     143 |    (\2\)|159 |  154 |   129 |  147 |      156 | 162
                      |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |       |      |          |
Vermont\3\ ...........|   157 | 159 |    (\2\)| 136 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|158 |  156 |   132 |  146 |      157 | 167
Virginia .............|   149 | 158 |     126 | 132 |     165 |    (\2\)|150 |  148 |   127 |  136 |      152 | 161
                      |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |       |      |          |
Washington  ..........|   150 | 156 |     127 | 125 |     149 |     130 |152 |  147 |   128 |  141 |      154 | 158
West Virginia ........|   147 | 149 |     127 | 122 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|148 |  147 |   130 |  142 |      152 | 156
Wisconsin\3\ .........|   160 | 165 |     115 | 141 |    (\2\)|    (\2\)|161 |  158 |   140 |  155 |      161 | 169
Wyoming ..............|   158 | 161 |    (\2\)| 140 |    (\2\)|     138 |159 |  156 |   139 |  150 |      159 | 165
                      |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |       |      |          |
Department of Defense |       |     |         |     |         |         |    |      |       |      |          |
  Overseas Schools  ..|   155 | 164 |     140 | 146 |     156 |    (\2\)|157 |  154 |  (\2\)|  144 |      159 | 158
Guam .................|   120 | 138 |    (\2\)| 106 |     122 |    (\2\)|120 |  120 |   106 |  113 |      130 | 128
______________________|_______|_____|_________|_____|_________|_________|____|______|_______|______|__________|_____

\1\Parents' highest level of education. Data not shown for students who did not know parents' level of education.

\2\Sample size is insufficient to permit a reliable estimate.

\3\Did not satisfy one or more of the guidelines for school sample participation rates. Data are subject to appreciable nonresponse bias.

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. Excludes states not participating in the survey. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP 1996 Science Report Card for the Nation and the States, prepared by Educational Testing Service. (This table was prepared June 1997).



1997 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Issue of the Digest
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