Nation's Report Card Home

Summary of Major Findings


Nationally representative samples of about 213,000 fourth-graders and 168,000 eighth-graders participated in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in reading. At each grade, students responded to questions designed to measure their reading skills across two types of texts: literary and informational.

Between 900 and 2,700 students from 21 urban districts participated in the NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA). 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

Two states make gains from 2009 at both grades 4 and 8

Explore the maps to see changes in average scores between 2011 and 2009. Hover over a state to see a trend line chart, or click on the state to hold the pop-up in view. The right side of the chart shows the proportion of students by race/ethnicity and eligibility for the National School Lunch Program, and shows whether those groups have shown progress between 2011 and 2009.

Change in average scale scores from 2009 and 2011 for grade 4

See complete data for all students, by race/ethnicity, and by eligibility for the National School Lunch Program.

Change in average scale scores from 2009 and 2011 for grade 8

See complete data for all students, by race/ethnicity, and by eligibility for the National School Lunch Program.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to total for percent distribution of racial/ethnic and National School Lunch program categories. Black includes African American, Hispanic includes Latino, and Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin. Prior to 2011, students in the "two or more races" category were categorized as "unclassified." DoDEA=Department of Defense Education Activity (overseas and domestic schools).
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2009-2011 Reading Assessments.