How well does the American educational system—and its students—perform? Data from national and international assessments of students' academic achievement can help address this question, as can data on adults' educational and work experiences, literacy levels, and earnings. In some areas, such as mathematics and science, the performance of elementary and secondary students has shown some improvement over the past decade. However, such progress has not been seen on all assessments, in all grades assessed, or equally for all groups of students.

• Reading scores of 4th- and 8th-graders assessed by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were higher in 2007 than in 1992, by 4 and 3 points, respectively. The average reading score of 12th-graders, however, was 6 points lower in 2005 than in 1992. The percentage of 4th-graders performing at or above Basic was higher in 2007 than in 1992, as was the percentage at or above Proficient. The percentage of 8th-graders at or above Basic was higher in 2007 than in 1992, while there was no measurable difference in the percentage at or above Proficient. The percentage of 12th-graders at or above Basic was lower in 2005 than in 1992, as was the percentage at or above Proficient (indicator 12).
  


• Average NAEP mathematics scores increased 27 points for 4th-graders and 19 points for 8th-graders between 1990 and 2007. Increases in scores were seen by sex and across racial/ethnic groups. The percentages of 4th- and 8th-graders performing at or above Basic, at or above Proficient, and at Advanced were higher in 2007 than in all previous mathematics assessments. The percentage of 4th-graders at or above Proficient tripled from 1990 to 2007 and increased by 3 percentage points from 2005 to 2007. At the 8th-grade level, the percentage doubled since 1990 and increased by 2 percentage points from the 2005 assessment (indicator 13).
  


• Reported on a scale of 0 to 300, average NAEP writing scores of 8th- and 12th-graders were higher in 2007 than in either 1998 or 2002. The percentage of 8th-graders performing at or above Basic was higher in 2007 than in 1998, as was the percentage at or above Proficient. The percentage of 8th-graders at or above Basic was also higher in 2007 than in 2002, but no measurable difference was found in the percentage at or above Proficient between these two years. The percentage of 12th-graders at or above Basic increased from 2002 to 2007 and was also higher in 2007 than in 1998. For all assessment years, females at each grade level outscored males (indicator 14).
  


• In 2006, NAEP conducted its first assessment of economics, which evaluated 12th-graders' knowledge about markets, the national economy, and international trade. About 79 percent of 12th-graders performed at or above the Basic level on this assessment, and 42 percent performed at or above Proficient, including 3 per­cent at the Advanced level. Students who reported higher levels of parental education outperformed those who reported lower levels. For example, 54 percent of students whose parents were college graduates performed at or above Proficient, compared with 17 percent of students whose parents did not finish high school (indicator 15).
  


• NAEP reading and mathematics assess­ments indicate that the achievement gap between Whites and Blacks at the 4th-grade level was smaller in 2007 than in the early 1990s. On a 0 to 500 scale, the 4th-grade White-Black achievement gap in reading decreased from 32 points in 1992 to 27 points in 2007, while in mathematics it decreased from 32 points in 1990 to 26 points in 2007. At the 8th-grade level, however, the White-Black achievement gap in 2007 was not measurably different in reading from the gap in 1992 or in mathematics from the gap in 1990. For these same years, there also was no measurable difference in the achievement gap in mathematics between Whites and Hispanics at either grade level (indicator 16).
  


• NAEP long-term trend results indicate that the achievement of 9- and 13-year-olds in reading and mathematics improved between the early 1970s and 2004. In reading, 9-year-olds scored higher in 2004 than in previous assessments, with an increase of 7 points between 1999 and 2004. In mathematics, the achievement of 9- and 13-year-olds in 2004 was the highest of any assessment year. Though the overall performance of 17-year-olds on both NAEP assessments was not measurably different from their performance in prior years, scores for Black and Hispanic students improved from the early 1970s (indicator 17).
  


• According to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which assessed the reading literacy of 4th-graders in 45 educational jurisdictions around the world, U.S. 4th-graders performed above the international average of these jurisdictions in 2006. Students in 10 jurisdictions scored higher than U.S. students, on average, and U.S. students scored higher, on average, than their peers in 22 jurisdictions. No differences were detected between the U.S. average scores in 2001 and 2006 on the combined reading literacy scale or on the two subscales, reading for literary purposes and reading for informational purposes (indicator 18).
  


• The 2006 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA 2006) reports on the scientific literacy of 15-year-olds in 57 educational jurisdictions, including the 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and 27 non-OECD countries and subnational education systems. According to the results of PISA 2006, the average U.S. scientific literacy score was 489, which was below the average of the 30 OECD countries (500). U.S. students had a lower average score than students in 16 OECD-member countries and a higher average score than students in 5 OECD countries (indicator 19).
  


• Full-time, full-year workers ages 25-34 with greater educational attainment earned higher salaries than those with less education in each year between 1995 and 2006. For example, young adults with a bachelor's degree as their highest degree consistently had higher median earnings than those with less education. This pattern held for male, female, White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian subgroups. In 2006, young adults with a bachelor's degree earned 28 percent more than those with an associate's degree, 50 percent more than those who had completed high school, and 98 percent more than those who did not earn a high school diploma (indicator 20).