EA 2.2

MATHEMATICS PROFICIENCY (AGES 9, 13, 17)

One of the National Education Goals for the year 2000, adopted by Congress, is to improve the relative standing of U.S. students in mathematics achievement.²¹ In a 1995 comparison of American eighth graders to 40 other countries, the Third International Math and Science Study showed that U.S. students had significantly lower overall mathematics proficiency scores than students in 20 countries, had similar scores to students in 13 countries, and had higher scores than students in 7 countries.²² Levels of mathematics achievement, both in the U.S. and internationally, will help measure the extent to which these goals are being met.

In order to monitor progress in the mathematics achievement of U.S. students, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has conducted national assessments of the mathematics performance of 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds. There are five levels of mathematics proficiency reported by NAEP, ranging from Level 150 (understanding simple arithmetic facts) to Level 350 (multistep problem solving and algebra).²³ The following tables (Tables EA 2.2.A, EA 2.2.B, and EA 2.2.C) report the average mathematics proficiency scores of students in the three age groups between 1973 and 1994.

Trends in Mathematics Proficiency Levels. Among 9-year-olds, average mathematics proficiency scores remained the same between 1973 and 1982, and then increased substantially to 231.1 in 1994 (see Table EA 2.2.A). Among 13-year-olds, mathematics proficiency scores increased between 1978 (264.1) and 1994 (274.3) (see Table EA 2.2.B). Among 17-year-olds, average proficiency scores declined between 1973 and 1982, after which they increased to a level similar to 1973 in 1994 (see Table EA 2.2.C).

Differences by Gender. Average mathematics proficiency scores among males and females were virtually identical among 9-year-old students in 1994. In 1994, mathematics proficiency scores were higher for males among 13-year-olds (by an average of 3.3 points) and 17 year olds (by an average of 4.4 points).

Differences by Race and Ethnicity.²⁴ There are consistently large differences in mathematics proficiency by race and ethnicity. For example, among 17-year-olds in 1994, blacks and Hispanics had lower proficiency scores (285.5 and 290.8) than whites (312.3) (see Table EA 2.2.C). However, black and Hispanic 17-year-olds had substantial gains in achievement between 1973 and 1994 (see Figure EA 2.2).

Differences by Parent’s Education. There are large variations in average mathematics proficiency levels by parental education for 13- and 17-year-olds (see Tables EA 2.2.B and EA 2.2.C).²⁵ For example, in 1994, 13-year-olds whose parents did not have a high school education had the lowest average proficiency scores (254.5), while those whose parents had graduated from college had the highest scores (284.9) (see Table EA 2.2.B).

Differences by School Type. Average mathematics proficiency scores among students in public schools have been consistently lower than average scores among students in non-public schools. This is true for every age group and every year reported.
 

Figure EA 2.2   Mathematics Proficiency — Age 17, Average Proficiency of Students, by Race/Ethnicity: 1973-1994

Note: The mathematics proficiency scale ranges from 0 to 500.
Level 150: Simple arithmetic facts
Level 200: Beginning skills and understandings
Level 250: Numerical operations and beginning problem solving
Level 300: Moderately complex procedures and reasoning
Level 350: Multi-step problem solving and algebra

Source: U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Trends in Academic Progress.
 

Table EA 2.2.A  Mathematics Proficiency — Age 9, Average Proficiency of Students, by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Type of School: 1973-1994
					1973	1978		1982		1986	1990	1992	1994
					———	———		———		———	———	———	———
Total					219	218.6		219		221.7	229.6	229.6	231.1
	Gender
		Male			218	217.4		217.1		221.7	229.1	230.8	232.2
		Female			220	219.9		220.8		221.7	230.2	228.4	230
	Race/Ethnicity
		White, non-Hispanic			225	224.1		224		226.9	235.2	235.1	236.8
		Black, non-Hispanic			190	192.4		194.9		201.6	208.4	208	212.1
		Hispanic			202	202.9		204		205.4	213.8	211.9	209.9
	Type of School
		Public			—	217.2		217		220.1	228.6	227.7	229.3
		Non-Public			—	230.5		231.8		230	238.1	241.5	244.5
Note: The mathematics proficiency scale ranges from 0 to 500:
	Level 150: Simple arithmetic facts								Level 300: Moderately complex procedures and reasoning
	Level 200: Beginning skills and understandings								Level 350: Multi-step problem solving and algebra
	Level 250: Numerical operations and beginning problem solving
Source: U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP),   1994 Trends in Academic Progress.

 
 

Table EA 2.2.B  Mathematics Proficiency — Age 13, Average Proficiency of Students, by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Parent’s Education, and Type of School: 1973-1994
					1973	1978		1982		1986	1990	1992	1994
					———	———		———		———	———	———	———
Total					266	264.1		268.6		269	270.4	273.1	274.3
	Gender
		Male			265	263.6		269.2		270	271.2	274.1	276
		Female			267	264.7		268		267.9	269.6	272	272.7
	Race/Ethnicity
		White, non-Hispanic			274	271.6		274.4		273.6	276.3	278.9	280.8
		Black, non Hispanic			228	229.6		240.4		249.2	249.1	250.2	251.5
		Hispanic			239	238		252.4		254.3	254.6	259.3	256
	Parent’s Education
		Less than high school			—	244.7		251		252.3	253.4	255.5	254.5
		Graduated high school			—	263.1		262.9		262.7	262.6	263.2	265.7
		Some education after HS			—	273.1		275.1		273.7	277.1	277.6	277.3
		Graduated college			—	283.8		282.3		279.9	280.4	282.8	284.9
	Type of School
		Public			—	262.6		267.1		268.7	269.3	271.7	273
		Non-Public			—	279.2		281.1		275.7	279.9	283.3	284.6
Note: The mathematics proficiency scale ranges from 0 to 500:
	Level 150: Simple arithmetic facts								Level 300: Moderately complex procedures and reasoning
	Level 200: Beginning skills and understandings								Level 350: Multi-step problem solving and algebra
	Level 250: Numerical operations and beginning problem solving
Source: U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP),   1994 Trends in Academic Progress.

 
 

Table EA 2.2.C  Mathematics Proficiency — Age 17, Average Proficiency of Students, by Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Parent’s Education, and Type of School: 1973-1994
					1973	1978		1982		1986	1990	1992	1994
					———	———		———		———	———	———	———
Total					304	300.4		298.5		302	304.6	306.7	306.2
	Gender
		Male			309	303.8		301.5		304.7	306.3	308.9	308.5
		Female			301	297.1		295.6		299.4	302.9	304.5	304.1
	Race/Ethnicity
		White, non-Hispanic			310	305.9		303.7		307.5	309.5	311.9	312.3
		Black, non Hispanic			270	268.4		271.8		278.6	288.5	285.8	285.5
		Hispanic			277	276.3		276.7		283.1	283.5	292.2	290.8
	Parent’s Education
		Less than high school			—	279.6		279.3		279.3	285.4	285.5	283.7
		Graduated high school			—	293.9		293.4		293.1	293.7	297.6	295.3
		Some education after HS			—	305.3		303.9		305.2	307.7	307.5	305
		Graduated college			—	316.8		312.4		313.9	316.2	315.9	317.6
	Type of School
		Public			—	299.6		297.3		301.2	303.5	305.3	304.4
		Non-Public			—	314.3		311.4		320.1	317.7	320.4	319.4
Note: The mathematics proficiency scale ranges from 0 to 500:
	Level 150: Simple arithmetic facts								Level 300: Moderately complex procedures and reasoning
	Level 200: Beginning skills and understandings								Level 350: Multi-step problem solving and algebra
	Level 250: Numerical operations and beginning problem solving
Source: U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 1994 Trends in Academic Progress.

²² U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics, Pursuing Excellence, No. 97-198. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

²³ 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).

²⁴ Estimates for whites and blacks exculde Hispanics of those races.

²⁵ Parent’s education is not reported at age 9 because approximately a third of these students did not know their parent’s education level.
 

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