Test scores tell their own story

Black Issues in Higher Education, Feb 26, 2004

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test data reveals the current state of high-school student proficiency and standardized test results across the nation. This information also dramatically demonstrates what is at stake as concerns about closing achievement gaps heighten.

NAEP Scale Scores
Nation Grade 8 Reading Average Scale Scores

Year   African    Asian   Latino   American   White   All
       American                     Indian

2003     244       268      244       248      270    261
2002     244       265      245       252      271    263
1998     241       269      243       248      270    261

NOTE: CHANGES OVERTIME REFLECT ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TEST YEARS
AND MIGHT NOT BE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. NAEP MULTI-YEAR ACHIEVEMENT
1990-2003 GRADE 8 NAEP READING AVERAGE SCALE SCORES AND CHANGE
OVERTIME, NATION. CALCULATIONS TAKE INTO ACCOUNT DECIMALS. FOR CLARITY
OF PRESENTATION. DATA ARE DISPLAYED AS WHOLE NUMBERS. THEREFORE, SOME
FIGURES MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM HAND CALCULATIONS.

       White-African   White Latino
       American Gap         Gap

1998        29               27
2002        27               26
2003        26               26

Notes: Table made from bar graph.

NAEP Scale Scores
Nation Grade 4 Math Average Scale Scores
T.S. =  Sample size too small to produce a reliable estimate

Year   African    Asian   Latino   American   White   All
       American                     Indian

2003     216       246      221       224      243    234
2000     205      t.s.      211       215      235    226
1996     200       231      205       216      231    222
1992     192       233      201       210      227    219

NOTE: CHANGES OVERTIME REFLECT ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TEST YEARS
AND MIGHT NOT BE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. NAEP MULTI-YEAR ACHIEVEMENT
1990-2003 GRADE 4 NAEP MATH AVERAGE SCALE SCORES AND CHANGE OVERTIME,
NATION. CALCULATIONS TAKE INTO ACCOUNT DECIMALS. FOR CLARITY OF
PRESENTATION, DATA ARE DISPLAYED AS WHOLE NUMBERS. THEREFORE, SOME
FIGURES MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM HAND CALCULATIONS.

        White-African   White Latino
        American Gap         Gap

1992         35               26
1996         31               26
2002         30               24
2003         27               22

Notes: Table made from bar graph.

NAEP Scale Scores
Nation Grade 4 Reading Average Scale Scores

Year   African    Asian   Latino   American   White   All
       American                     Indian

2003     197       225      199       202      227    216
2002     198       223      199       207      227    217
1998     193       222      195       200      225    215
1994     186       227      188       200      223    212
1992     192       214      199       205      223    215

NOTE: CHANGES OVERTIME REFLECT ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TEST YEARS
AND MIGHT NOT BE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. NAEP MULTI-YEAR ACHIEVEMENT
1990-2003 GRADE 4 NAEP READING AVERAGE SCALE SCORES AND CHANGE OVERTIME
NATION. CALCULATIONS TAKE INTO ACCOUNT DECIMALS. FOR CLARITY OF
PRESENTATION, DATA ARE DISPLAYED AS WHOLE NUMBERS. THEREFORE, SOME
FIGURES MAY IFFER SLIGHTLY FROM HAND CALCULATIONS.

SOURCE: THE EDUCATION TRUST

        White-African   White Latino
        American Gap         Gap

1992          31              24
1994          37              35
1998          32              30
2002          29              28
2003          30              28

Notes: Table made from bar graph.

Nation's performance on ACT and SAT

                   Average ACT Performance   Average SAT Performance
                   by Race/Ethnicity 2002    by Race/Ethnicity 2002

African American           17.3                       857
Asian                      21.6                      1070
Latino                     19.2                       911
White                      21.9                      1060
All                        21.1                      1020

Notes: Table made from bar graph.

Distribution of ACT Test-Takers
By Race/Ethnicity, Nation
l.r. = low reliability of self-reported American Indian data.

Race               % Public K-12   % Test Takers
                     Enrollment

African American           17.2          12.1
Asian                         4           3.7
Latino                     15.6           6.7
American Indian             1.2          l.r.
White                      62.1          77.6
Total                       100           100
Number               46,751,949       995,329

SOURCE: THE EDUCATION TRUST

Distribution of SAT Test-Takers
By Race/Ethnicity, Nation
l.r. = low reliability of self-reported American Indian data.

Race               % Public K-12   % Test Takers
                     Enrollment

African American           17.2           11.9
Asian                         4             10
Latino                     15.6           10.1
American Indian             1.2           l.r.
White                      62.1           67.9
Total                       100            100
Number               46,751,949      1,028,740

NAEP Scale Scores
Nation Grade 8 Math Average Scale Scores

Year   African    Asian   Latino   American   White   All
       American                     Indian

2003     197       225      199       202      227    216
2003     252       289      258       265      287    276
2000     246       288      252       261      285    274
1996     242       271      250       263      281    271
1992     237       287      245       255      277    267
1990     237       279      242       244      270    262

NOTE: CHANGES OVERTIME REFLECT ABSOLUTE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TEST YEARS
AND MIGHT NOT BE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. NAEP MULTI-YEAR ACHIEVEMENT
1990-2003 GRADE 8 NAEP MATH AVERAGE SCALE SCORES AND CHANGE OVER TIME.
NATION. CALCULATIONS TAKE INTO ACCOUNT DECIMALS. FOR CLARITY OF
PRESENTATION, DATA ARE DISPLAYED AS WHOLE NUMBERS. THEREFORE, SOME
FIGURES MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM HAND CALCULATIONS.

SOURCE: THE EDUCATION TRUST

        White-African   White Latino
        American Gap         Gap

1990          33              28
1992          40              32
1996          39              31
2000          39              33
2003          35              29

Notes: Table made from bar graph.