Question:
Are American students performing better in reading now than in the past?

Response:

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) conducts long-term trend assessments, which provide information on changes in the basic achievement of America抯 youth since the early 1970s. They are administered nationally and report student performance at ages 9, 13, and 17 in reading and mathematics. Measuring trends of student achievement or change over time requires the precise replication of past procedures. Therefore, the long-term trend instrument does not evolve based on changes in curricula or in educational practices.

Overall achievement scores on the NAEP long-term trend reading assessment for the country抯 9-, 13-, and 17-year-old students are mixed. The average reading scores at ages 9 and 13 were higher in 2004 than in 1971. The average score for 17-year-olds in 2004 was similar to that in 1971.

For Black 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds, average reading scores in 2004 were higher than in 1971. At age 9, Black students scored higher on average in 2004 than in any previous administration year. For Blacks ages 13 and 17, scores increased between 1971 and 2004. For White students, the average scores for 9- and 13-year-olds were also higher in 2004 than in 1971. Separate data for Hispanics were not gathered in 1971, but as with the other racial/ethnic groups, the average reading score for Hispanic students at age 9 was higher in 2004 than in any other assessment year. The average score for Hispanic students at age 13 shows an increase between 1975 and 2004. The scores for 17-year-old Hispanic students also increased between 1975 and 2004, but no measurable changes were seen between 1999 and 2004.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2006). Digest of Education Statistics, 2005 (NCES 2006�0).

Average reading scale score, by age, sex, and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1971 to 2004
Sex and race/ethnicity	1971	1975	1980	1984	1990	1994	1999	2004
9-year-olds1
Total	208	210	215	211	209	211	212	219
Male	201	204	210	207	204	207	209	216
Female	214	216	220	214	215	215	215	221
Race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic	214	217	221	218	217	218	221	226
Black, non-Hispanic	170	181	189	186	182	185	186	200
Hispanic	(1)	183	190	187	189	186	193	205
13-year-olds
Total	255	256	258	257	257	258	259	259
Male	250	250	254	253	251	251	254	254
Female	261	262	263	262	263	266	265	264
Race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic	261	262	264	263	262	265	267	266
Black, non-Hispanic	222	226	233	236	241	234	238	244
Hispanic	(1)	232	237	240	238	235	244	242
17-year-olds
Total	285	286	285	289	290	288	288	285
Male	279	280	282	284	284	282	281	278
Female	291	291	289	294	296	295	295	292
Race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic	291	293	293	295	297	296	295	293
Black, non-Hispanic	239	241	243	264	267	266	264	264
Hispanic	(1)	252	261	268	275	263	271	264

¹ Test scores of Hispanics were not tabulated separately.

NOTE: The NAEP scores have been evaluated at certain performance levels. Scale ranges from 0 to 500. Students at reading score level 150 are able to follow brief written directions and carry out simple, discrete reading tasks. Students at reading score level 200 are able to understand, combine ideas, and make inferences based on short uncomplicated passages about specific or sequentially related information. Students at reading score level 250 are able to search for specific information, interrelate ideas, and make generalizations about literature, science, and social studies materials. Students at reading score level 300 are able to find, understand, summarize, and explain relatively complicated literary and informational material. Includes public and private schools. Excludes persons not enrolled in school and those who were unable to be tested due to limited proficiency in English or due to a disability. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Standard errors appear in parentheses.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2006). Digest of Education Statistics, 2005 (NCES 2006�0), Table 108.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2006, Digest of Education Statistics 2005, Table 109. Student scale score in reading, by age and percentile: Selected years, 1971 through 2004
  
• 2006, Digest of Education Statistics 2005, Table 110. Average reading scale score, by age and amount of time spent on reading and homework: Selected years, 1984 through 2004
  
• 2006, Digest of Education Statistics 2005, Table 111. Percentage of students at or above selected reading score levels, by age, sex, and race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1971 through 2004
  
• 2006, Digest of Education Statistics 2005, Table 112. Average scale score in reading and percentage of 4th-graders in public schools attaining reading achievement levels, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: Selected years, 1994 through 2005
  
• 2006, Digest of Education Statistics 2005, Table 113. Average scale score in reading and percentage of 8th-graders in public schools attaining reading achievement levels, by locale and state or jurisdiction: Selected years, 1998 through 2005
  
• 2006, Digest of Education Statistics 2005, Table 391. Average mathematics literacy, reading literacy, science literacy, and problem-solving scores of 15-year-olds, by sex and country: 2003
  
• 2005, The Condition of Education 2005: Children抯 skills and proficiency in reading and mathematics through grade 3
  
• 2005, The Condition of Education 2005: Student reading and mathematics performance in public schools by urbanicity
  
• 2004, The Condition of Education 2004: Students� reading and mathematics achievement through 3rd grade
  

Other Resources:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2006, Fifth Grade: Findings from the Fifth-Grade Follow-Up of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99
  
• 2005, NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress Three Decades of Student Performance in Reading and Mathematics
  
• 2005, NAEP Reading 2005 State Snapshot Reports
  
• 2005, The Nation's Report Card: Reading 2005
  
• 2005, The Nation's Report Card: Trial Urban District Assessment, 2005 Reading Report Card
  
• 2005, The Nation's Report Card: Trial Urban District Reading 2005 Snapshot Reports
  
• 2003, Including Special-Needs Students in the NAEP 1998 Reading Assessment, Part I, Comparison of Overall Results With and Without Accommodations
  
• 2002, Children's Reading and Mathematics Achievement in Kindergarten and First Grade