Student Proficiency in Reading, Math, and Science
- Among fourth graders, 35% of students demonstrated reading skills at or above the proficient level in 2019, while 34% displayed below-basic skills (Indicator I-02a).
- In 2019, fourth-grade students performed better on the math and science assessments than on the reading. The share demonstrating proficiency in science was similar to that for reading, but students were more likely to demonstrate below-basic skills on the reading test than in science. Fourth graders’ performance in math was markedly better than in either of the other subjects, with a larger share demonstrating at least proficiency—and a substantially smaller share of students at the below-basic level.
- The proportion of eighth and 12th graders demonstrating at least proficiency on the reading assessment 2019 was similar to that of their younger counterparts (Indicators I-02b and I-02c). In the upper grades, however, a somewhat smaller proportion of students demonstrated reading skills that were below the basic level.
- Among eighth graders, the share of students demonstrating proficiency in reading was similar to that for math and science in 2019.
- At the 12th-grade level, students performed markedly better in reading than in either science or math in 2019.
- At the fourth-grade level, the improvement in student achievement from the late 1990s to 2019 was considerably greater in math than in reading. The percentage of students scoring at the proficient level or higher on the math assessment increased 20 percentage points, while the improvement in reading was only six percentage points. There was a similar disparity found among eighth graders, with a 10 percentage point increase in math achievement but no improvement in reading achievement.
- Among 12th graders, reading achievement declined slightly from 1998 to 2019. (Comparison of the reading trend with the math and science trends is not possible, as data for the latter two subjects are not available for the late 1990s.)
- Dynamic data visualization I-02d allows users to compare states (and the District of Columbia) according to the share of fourth- and eighth- grade public school students who demonstrated reading proficiency on the 2019 NAEP reading assessment (state-level data are not available for 12th graders). In almost a fifth of the states the share of public school fourth graders who were proficient in reading was smaller than the share for the nation as a whole. At the eighth-grade level, a quarter of the states lagged behind the nation.
I-02a: Fourth Graders’ Performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), by Subject, 1996/1998/2009–2019*
* Main NAEP assessment.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) includes two assessments in reading. One of these is specifically designed to generate long-term trend data and has remained essentially unchanged since it was first given to students in 1971. The other, referred to as the “main” NAEP reading assessment and the basis of this indicator, changes in response to current educational practices and curricula. (For a detailed comparison of the two assessments, see http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/ltt_main_diff.asp.)
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the federal agency responsible for administering the NAEP, the main NAEP reading assessment “measures a range of reading skills, from identifying explicitly stated information, to making complex inferences about themes, to comparing multiple texts on a variety of dimensions.”
A score at the “basic” level indicates that a student has demonstrated partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at each grade. A score of “proficient” indicates solid academic performance—students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter. An “advanced” score represents superior performance. These achievement scales are grade-specific. Thus, for example, a child scoring at the “advanced” achievement level on the 12th-grade exam in a given subject area has demonstrated different skills than a fourth grader scoring at the “advanced” level. (See https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/achieve.aspx for a description of the skills associated with each achievement level.)
The NAEP Data Explorer (NDE) permits analysis of both the long-term trend and main NAEP data sets by gender, ethnicity, and other key variables. With NDE one can also obtain results of recent reading assessments for individual states and compare these with student outcomes in other parts of the country.
I-02b: Eighth Graders’ Performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), by Subject, 1996/1998/2009–2019*
* Main NAEP assessment.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) includes two assessments in reading. One of these is specifically designed to generate long-term trend data and has remained essentially unchanged since it was first given to students in 1971. The other, referred to as the “main” NAEP reading assessment and the basis of this indicator, changes in response to current educational practices and curricula. (For a detailed comparison of the two assessments, see http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/ltt_main_diff.asp.)
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the federal agency responsible for administering the NAEP, the main NAEP reading assessment “measures a range of reading skills, from identifying explicitly stated information, to making complex inferences about themes, to comparing multiple texts on a variety of dimensions.”
A score at the “basic” level indicates that a student has demonstrated partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at each grade. A score of “proficient” indicates solid academic performance—students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter. An “advanced” score represents superior performance. These achievement scales are grade-specific. Thus, for example, a child scoring at the “advanced” achievement level on the 12th-grade exam in a given subject area has demonstrated different skills than a fourth grader scoring at the “advanced” level. (See https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/achieve.aspx for a description of the skills associated with each achievement level.)
The NAEP Data Explorer (NDE) permits analysis of both the long-term trend and main NAEP data sets by gender, ethnicity, and other key variables. With NDE one can also obtain results of recent reading assessments for individual states and compare these with student outcomes in other parts of the country.
I-02c: 12th Graders’ Performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), by Subject, 1998/2005/2009–2019*
* Main NAEP assessment.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) includes two assessments in reading. One of these is specifically designed to generate long-term trend data and has remained essentially unchanged since it was first given to students in 1971. The other, referred to as the “main” NAEP reading assessment and the basis of this indicator, changes in response to current educational practices and curricula. (For a detailed comparison of the two assessments, see http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/ltt_main_diff.asp.)
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the federal agency responsible for administering the NAEP, the main NAEP reading assessment “measures a range of reading skills, from identifying explicitly stated information, to making complex inferences about themes, to comparing multiple texts on a variety of dimensions.”
A score at the “basic” level indicates that a student has demonstrated partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at each grade. A score of “proficient” indicates solid academic performance—students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter. An “advanced” score represents superior performance. These achievement scales are grade-specific. Thus, for example, a child scoring at the “advanced” achievement level on the 12th-grade exam in a given subject area has demonstrated different skills than a fourth grader scoring at the “advanced” level. (See https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/achieve.aspx for a description of the skills associated with each achievement level.)
The NAEP Data Explorer (NDE) permits analysis of both the long-term trend and main NAEP data sets by gender, ethnicity, and other key variables. With NDE one can also obtain results of recent reading assessments for individual states and compare these with student outcomes in other parts of the country.
I-02d: Share of Public School Fourth and Eighth Graders Scoring at the “Proficient” Level or Above on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), by State, 2019
To download the data underlying the graph, click on of either of the graphs, then on the download icon in the gray footer. Click on the “Data” button, go to the “Full Data” tab, and then click the “Show all columns” box. Finally, click on either of the “Download all rows as a text file” links.
* Noted differences are statistically significant at the 5% level. Not all differences in shares among states within a given comparison category are statistically significant.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) includes two assessments in reading. One of these is specifically designed to generate long-term trend data and has remained essentially unchanged since it was first given to students in 1971. The other, referred to as the “main” NAEP reading assessment and the basis of this indicator, changes in response to current educational practices and curricula. (For a detailed comparison of the two assessments, see http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/ltt_main_diff.asp.)
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, the federal agency responsible for administering the NAEP, the main NAEP reading assessment “measures a range of reading skills, from identifying explicitly stated information, to making complex inferences about themes, to comparing multiple texts on a variety of dimensions.”
A score at the “basic” level indicates that a student has demonstrated partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills that are fundamental for proficient work at each grade. A score of “proficient” indicates solid academic performance—students reaching this level have demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter. An “advanced” score represents superior performance. These achievement scales are grade-specific. Thus, for example, a child scoring at the “advanced” achievement level on the 12th-grade exam in a given subject area has demonstrated different skills than a fourth grader scoring at the “advanced” level. (See https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/reading/achieve.aspx for a description of the skills associated with each achievement level.)
The NAEP Data Explorer (NDE) permits analysis of both the long-term trend and main NAEP data sets by gender, ethnicity, and other key variables.
