EA 2.1
READING PROFICIENCY (AGES 9, 13, 17)
Literacy proficiency and reading achievement are vital to educational reform efforts in the United States.16 One of the National Education Goals for the year 2000, adopted by Congress, is for adult literacy and lifelong learning, with objectives of having all students demonstrate competency in English and having all adults be literate.17 Levels of reading achievement will help measure the extent to which these goals are being met.
In order to monitor progress in the reading achievement of U.S. students, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has conducted national assessments of the reading performance of 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds. There are five levels of reading proficiency reported by NAEP, ranging from Level 150 (completing simple, discrete reading tasks) to Level 350 (learning from specialized reading materials).18 The following tables (Tables EA 2.1.A, EA 2.1.B, and EA 2.1.C) report the average reading proficiency scores of students in the three age groups between 1971 and 1994.
Trends in Reading Proficiency Levels. Among 9-year-olds, average reading proficiency scores improved between 1971 and 1980, declined between 1980 and 1984, and remained steady until 1994 so that the average score in 1994 (211.0) was similar to the score in 1975 (210.0) (see Table EA 2.1.A). Among 13-year-olds, average reading proficiency scores varied from year to year, and were similar in 1994 (257.9) and 1971 (255.2) (see Table EA 2.1.B). Among 17-year-olds, average scores increased between 1971 and 1990, after which they stabilized. In 1994, the average score for 17-year-olds was 288.1 (see Table EA 2.1.C).
Differences by Gender. Females have scored consistently higher than males over time and for all ages. For example, among 13-year-olds in 1994, females had an average score of 265.7, compared with an average score of 250.6 for males (see Table EA 2.1.B).
Differences by Race and Ethnicity.19 There are large and consistent differences in reading proficiency by race and ethnicity among all age groups. For example, among 17-year-olds in 1994, whites had higher average reading proficiency scores (295.7) than either blacks or Hispanics (266.2 and 263.2, respectively) (see Table EA 2.1.C). However, black and Hispanic 17-year-olds had especially high gains in achievement relative to whites in the 1980s. Thus, the gaps in reading proficiency scores between whites and both blacks and Hispanics have narrowed since the mid-1970s among 17-year-olds (see Figure EA 2.1).
Differences by Parent’s Education. Average reading proficiency levels vary dramatically by parent’s education level.20 For example, among 13-year-olds and 17-year-olds in 1994, the lowest average reading proficiency scores were among teens whose parents did not have a high school education, while the highest scores were among teens who had a parent with post–high school education. In fact, the average reading proficiency score among 13-year-old children of parents with post–high school education levels (268.5) was similar to the average score among 17-year-old children of parents without a high school degree (267.9) (see Tables EA 2.1.B and EA 2.1.C).
Differences by School Type. Average reading proficiency scores have
been consistently higher among students attending non-public schools than
among students attending public schools. This is true for every age group
and every year reported.
Figure EA 2.1
|
Note: The reading proficiency scale ranges from 0 to 500.
Level 150: Simple, discrete reading tasks
Level 200: Partial skills and understanding
Level 250: Interrelates ideas and makes generalizations
Level 300: Understands complicated information
Level 350: Learns from specialized reading materials
Source: U. S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP),
1994 Trends in Academic Progress.
Table EA 2.1.A
|
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| Total | |||||||||||||
| Gender | |||||||||||||
| Male | |||||||||||||
| Female | |||||||||||||
| Race/Ethnicity | |||||||||||||
| White, non-Hispanic | |||||||||||||
| Black, non-Hispanic | |||||||||||||
| Hispanic | |||||||||||||
| Type of School | |||||||||||||
| Public | |||||||||||||
| Non-Public | |||||||||||||
| Note: The reading proficiency scale has a range from 0 to 500: | |||||||||||||
| Level 150: Simple, discrete reading tasks | Level 300: Understands complicated information | ||||||||||||
| Level 200: Partial skills and understanding | Level 350: Learns from specialized reading materials | ||||||||||||
| Level 250: Interrelates ideas and makes generalizations | |||||||||||||
| Source: U. S. Department of
Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Trends in Academic Progress. |
|||||||||||||
Table EA 2.1.B
|
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| Total | |||||||||||||||
| Gender | |||||||||||||||
| Male | |||||||||||||||
| Female | |||||||||||||||
| Race/Ethnicity | |||||||||||||||
| White, non-Hispanic | |||||||||||||||
| Black, non Hispanic | |||||||||||||||
| Hispanic | |||||||||||||||
| Parent’s Education | |||||||||||||||
| Less than high school | |||||||||||||||
| Graduated high school | |||||||||||||||
| Post high school | |||||||||||||||
| Type of School | |||||||||||||||
| Public | |||||||||||||||
| Non-Public | |||||||||||||||
| Note: The reading proficiency scale has a range from 0 to 500: | |||||||||||||||
| Level 150: Simple, discrete reading tasks | Level 300: Understands complicated information | ||||||||||||||
| Level 200: Partial skills and understanding | Level 350: Learns from specialized reading materials | ||||||||||||||
| Level 250: Interrelates ideas and makes generalizations | |||||||||||||||
| Source: U. S. Department of
Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Trends in Academic Progress. |
|||||||||||||||
Table EA 2.1.C
|
||||||||||||||||||
| Total | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gender | ||||||||||||||||||
| Male | ||||||||||||||||||
| Female | ||||||||||||||||||
| Race/Ethnicity | ||||||||||||||||||
| White, non-Hispanic | ||||||||||||||||||
| Black, non Hispanic | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hispanic | ||||||||||||||||||
| Parent’s Education | ||||||||||||||||||
| Less than high school | ||||||||||||||||||
| Graduated high school | ||||||||||||||||||
| Post high school | ||||||||||||||||||
| Type of School | ||||||||||||||||||
| Public | ||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Public | ||||||||||||||||||
| Note: The reading proficiency scale has a range from 0 to 500: | ||||||||||||||||||
| Level 150: Simple, discrete reading tasks | Level 300: Understands complicated information | |||||||||||||||||
| Level 200: Partial skills and understanding | Level 350: Learns
from specialized reading materials |
|||||||||||||||||
| Level 250: Interrelates ideas and makes generalizations | ||||||||||||||||||
| Source: U. S. Department of
Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Trends in Academic Progress. |
||||||||||||||||||
17 National Education Goals Panel. (1995). The National Education Goals Report: Building a Nation of Learners 1995. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
18 NAEP has regularly been conducting assessments of U.S. students in public and private schools in order to monitor trends in academic achievement in core curriculum areas since the 1970s. NAEP uses proficiency scales that range from 0 to 500. To give meaning to the results, students’ performance is characterized at five levels along the proficiency scales (150, 200, 250, 300, 350).
19 Estimates for whites and blacks exclude Hispanics of those races.
20 Parent’s education
is not reported at age 9 because approximately a third of these students
did not know their parent’s education level.