Question:
How are American students performing in mathematics?
Response:
The average NAEP mathematics score for the nation's 8th-graders in 2011 was higher than the scores in the eight previous assessment years. Students scored 1 point higher in 2011 than in 2009 and 21 points higher than in 1990. The average score for female 8th-graders was higher in 2011 than in 2009, while there was no significant change in the score for males. Scores for both groups were higher in 2011 than in the earlier assessment years, from 1990 to 2007. Male students scored 1 point higher, on average, than female students in 2011. While there were no significant changes from 2009 to 2011 in the average scores for White or Black students, the average score for Hispanic students was 4 points higher in 2011 than in 2009. Scores for all three groups were higher in 2011 than in 1990. The 31-point score gap between White and Black students in 2011 did not differ significantly from the gap in either 2009 or 1990. The 23-point score gap between White and Hispanic students in 2011 was smaller than the gap in 2009 but not significantly different from the gap in 1990.
For 12th-graders, the average mathematics score (reported on a scale of 0 to 300) was 3 points higher in 2009 than in 2005 (data for 12th-graders were not collected in 2011). Average scores increased from 2005 to 2009 for both male and female 12th-graders as well as for 12th-graders from all the racial/ethnic groups.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). Digest of Education Statistics, 2011 (NCES 2012-001), Chapter 2.
Average mathematics scale score of 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-graders, by selected student characteristics: Selected years, 1990 through 2011 | Selected student characteristic | 19901 | 19921 | 1996 | 2000 | 2003 | 2005 | 2007 | 2009 | 2011 |
4th-graders, all students | |||||||||
Total | 213 | 220 | 224 | 226 | 235 | 238 | 240 | 240 | 241 |
Sex | |||||||||
Male | 214 | 221 | 224 | 227 | 236 | 239 | 241 | 241 | 241 |
Female | 213 | 219 | 223 | 224 | 233 | 237 | 239 | 239 | 240 |
Race/ethnicity | |||||||||
White | 220 | 227 | 232 | 234 | 243 | 246 | 248 | 248 | 249 |
Black | 188 | 193 | 198 | 203 | 216 | 220 | 222 | 222 | 224 |
Hispanic | 200 | 202 | 207 | 208 | 222 | 226 | 227 | 227 | 229 |
Asian2 | 225 | 231 | 229 | ‡ | 246 | 251 | 253 | 255 | 257 |
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | [2] | [2] | [2] | [2] | [2] | [2] | [2] | [2] | 236 |
‡ | ‡ | 217 | 208 | 223 | 226 | 228 | 225 | 225 | |
8th-graders, all students | |||||||||
Total | 263 | 268 | 270 | 273 | 278 | 279 | 281 | 283 | 284 |
Sex | Male | 263 | 268 | 271 | 274 | 278 | 280 | 282 | 284 | 284 |
Female | 262 | 269 | 269 | 272 | 277 | 278 | 280 | 282 | 283 |
Race/ethnicity | |||||||||
White | 270 | 277 | 281 | 284 | 288 | 289 | 291 | 293 | 293 |
Black | 237 | 237 | 240 | 244 | 252 | 255 | 260 | 261 | 262 |
Hispanic | 246 | 249 | 251 | 253 | 259 | 262 | 265 | 266 | 270 |
Asian | 275 | 290 | ‡ | 288 | 291 | 295 | 297 | 301 | 305 |
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | [2] | [2] | [2] | [2] | [2] | [2] | [2] | [2] | 269 |
American Indian/Alaska Native | ‡ | ‡ | ‡ | 259 | 263 | 264 | 264 | 266 | 265 |
12th-graders, all students | |||||||||
Total | [3] | [3] | [3] | [3] | — | 150 | — | 153 | — |
Sex | Male | [3] | [3] | [3] | [3] | — | 151 | — | 155 | — |
Female | [3] | [3] | [3] | [3] | — | 149 | — | 152 | — |
Race/ethnicity | |||||||||
White | [3] | [3] | [3] | [3] | — | 157 | — | 161 | — |
Black | [3] | [3] | [3] | [3] | — | 127 | — | 131 | — |
Hispanic | [3] | [3] | [3] | [3] | — | 133 | — | 138 | — |
Asian/Pacific Islander | [3] | [3] | [3] | [3] | — | 163 | — | 175 | — |
American Indian/Alaska Native | [3] | [3] | [3] | [3] | — | 134 | — | 144 | — |
‡ Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases or participation rates fell below the required standards for reporting.
1 Accommodations were not permitted for this assessment.
2For assessment years prior to 2011, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students are included with Asian students.
3 Because of major changes to the framework and content of the grade 12 assessment, scores from 2005 and 2009 cannot be compared with scores from earlier assessment years. Therefore, this table does not include scores from the earlier grade 12 assessment years (1990, 1992, 1996, and 2000).
NOTE: For the grade 4 and grade 8 assessments, scale ranges from 0 to 500. For the grade 12 assessment, scale ranges from 0 to 300. Includes public and private schools. For 1996 and later years, includes students tested with accommodations (1 to 12 percent of all students, depending on grade level and year); excludes only those students with disabilities and English language learners who were unable to be tested even with accommodations (2 to 4 percent of all students). Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). Digest of Education Statistics, 2011 (NCES 2012-001), Table 144 .
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