Nation's Report Card Home

Summary of Major Findings


Nationally representative samples of about 209,000 fourth-graders and 175,000 eighth-graders participated in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics. At each grade, students responded to questions designed to measure their knowledge and abilities across five mathematics content areas: number properties and operations; measurement; geometry; data analysis, statistics, and probability; and algebra.

Between 1,000 and 2,700 students from 21 urban districts participated in the NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in mathematics. Eighteen of the districts participated in earlier assessment years, and three districts (Albuquerque Public Schools, Dallas Independent School District, and Hillsborough County (FL) Public Schools) participated for the first time in 2011.

The performance of students in each urban district is compared to the performance of public school students in the nation and in large cities (i.e., cities with populations of 250,000 or more). The comparison to the nation's large cities is made because students in these cities represent a peer group with characteristics that are more similar to the characteristics of students in the 21 TUDA districts. Comparisons in performance over time are made for those districts that participated in earlier assessment years.

National Results
State Results
District Results

Students at grades 4 and 8 score higher in 2011 than in previous assessmentsTrend in fourth-grade NAEP mathematics average scores. Trend in eighth-grade NAEP mathematics average scores

  • At both grades 4 and 8, the average score in 2011 was 1 point higher than in 2009 (see the figure on the right). Scores for grade 4 were 28 points higher in 2011 than in 1990 and 21 points higher in 2011 than in 1990 for grade 8.  

See all the average scores for students in grade 4 and grade 8.

Higher percentage of fourth- and eighth-graders perform at or above Proficient in 2011 than in 2009

  • At grade 4, the percentages of students performing at or above Proficient and at Advanced were higher in 2011 than in any of the previous assessment years.
  • At grade 8, the percentage of students at or above Proficient in 2011 was higher than in earlier assessment years.

See all the achievement levels results for grade 4 and grade 8.

Scores of White, Black, and Hispanic fourth-grade students higher in 2011

  • Scores for fourth- and eighth-grade Hispanic students were higher in 2011 than in 2009.
  • Scores for fourth-grade White and Black students were higher in 2011 than in 2009.

See the results for other student groups at grade 4 and grade 8.

Read about the mathematics framework and what the assessment measures.

Find out how to interpret NAEP mathematics results.

For more information, browse the report online or download a copy of the report.

NOTE: See complete data for grade 4 and grade 8.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), various years, 1990-2011 Mathematics Assessments.