2003 National Assessment Study

Nation’s Reading Report Card
(released in 2003 about the 2002 results)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released its findings on reading proficiency for fourth, eighth, and twelfth grade students nationwide. How did we fare?

Here are the major findings:

• 36 percent of fourth-graders and 25 percent of eighth-graders performed below the basic level. Roughly, 1 in 3 fourth graders and 1 in 4 eighth graders failed to demonstrate a partial mastery of reading.
• Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont were the highest-performing states at grade 4 in 2002
• A positive relationship between student-reported parental education and student reading performance was observed in 2002 at grades 8 and 12: the higher the parental education level, the higher the student’s average reading score.
• Although a National Report Card has been released in 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000,and 2002, the percentage of fourth graders who performed at or above the Basic level in 2002 was higher than previous year’s results, but not significantly different from 1992.
• In 2002, females had higher average reading scores than males in all three grades.