National Assessment of
Educational Progress - 1970-71

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for years 1970-71 was unique in obtaining data on 21 items for 9, 13, and 17 year olds as well as for adults 26 to 35 years old. This makes it possible to see how performance on the same items improved at different age levels.

Figure 22 summarizes the improvement in performance of the 21 items at different age levels. The figure shows a considerable range of performance at age nine, with scores ranging from just over 20 percent correct to over 90 percent correct averaged over the 21 items. At the adult level, however, scores range from 80 to over 95 percent correct. This indicates that developmentally, as children grow up, attend school and become adults, they grow progressively more literate.

Figures 23 -28 show the 21 items used in the assessment. Each item shows the information Display that was presented to the examines, the Questions asked and the Outcomes for each age level.

Figure 29 shows average performance for each of the 21 items for adult Whites and African-Americans.

Performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress for 1971. Responses by all age groups to the same 21 questions about 8 different information sources.

Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress. (1973, July). Reading: Reading Exercises. Report 02-R-20.
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.