Reading Performance by Race and Ethnicity

The importance of reading for educational development can not be overestimated. However, various factors, primarily economic and social, lead to differences in reading ability among children of different races and ethnicities.

In this report, we’ll show how reading performance in elementary, middle, and high school changes depending on the race and ethnicity of children. We hope that these reports, conducted by NAEP, can provide a better understanding of inequalities that lead to unbalanced reading performance across races.

Elementary school reading performance by race and ethnicity

• Among all major races/ethnicities in US elementary schools, children of Asian origin showed the best reading comprehension performance, averaging 239 points (out of 500) on NAEP’s scale in 2022.
• White children (227 points) and mixed-race students (223) are following behind.
• On the other hand, 4th-grade students of Hispanic origin, as well as Black and American Indian, show a significant drop in reading performance compared to the above-mentioned groups.
• Overall, over the last 10 years, students of Asian origin are the only group that showed improvement in reading comprehension, a 1.70% jump, while all other groups declined.
• Black 4th graders have a 3.40% drop compared to 2013, White students declined by 2.16%, while Hispanic students dropped by less than 1%.

Year	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian/Pacific Islander	American Indian/Alaska Native	Mixed Race
2022	227	199	205	239	197	223
2019	230	204	209	237	204	226
2017	232	206	209	239	202	227
2015	232	206	208	239	205	227
2013	232	206	207	235	205	227
2011	231	205	206	235	202	227
2009	230	205	205	235	204	226
2007	231	203	205	232	203	225
2005	229	200	203	229	204	223
2003	229	198	200	226	202	223

• As of 2022, over 57.00% of American Indian students attending the 4th grade performed below the basic reading comprehension level according to NAEP’s standards.
• 56.00% of Black students performed below the basic reading comprehension standard, as well as half of all Hispanic 4th graders.
• 2022 was the first year in which 3 major racial/ethnic groups attending 4th grade have 50.00% of more students performing below the basic level of reading comprehension.
• Among all groups, Asian students are the only ones with a reduced share of below the basic performers over the last 10 years.

Year	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian/Pacific Islander	American Indian/Alaska Native	Mixed Race
2022	27.00%	56.00%	50.00%	19.00%	57.00%	32.00%
2019	23.00%	52.00%	45.00%	19.00%	50.00%	28.00%
2017	22.00%	49.00%	46.00%	18.00%	52.00%	27.00%
2015	21.00%	48.00%	45.00%	18.00%	48.00%	27.00%
2013	21.00%	50.00%	47.00%	20.00%	49.00%	27.00%
2011	22.00%	51.00%	49.00%	20.00%	53.00%	27.00%
2009	22.00%	52.00%	51.00%	20.00%	50.00%	27.00%
2007	22.00%	54.00%	50.00%	23.00%	51.00%	28.00%
2005	24.00%	58.00%	54.00%	27.00%	52.00%	32.00%
2003	25.00%	60.00%	56.00%	30.00%	53.00%	31.00%
vs. 2013	29%	12%	6%	-5%	16%	19%
vs. 2003	8%	-7%	-11%	-37%	8%	3%

• Over 56.00% of students of Asian origin attending the 4th grade performed at and above the proficient reading comprehension level in the 2022 assessment.
• White students performed above the proficient level in 41.00% of cases, and 11% drop compared to the 2013 assessment.
• Black and American Indian students (17.00%) have the lowest share of children at and above the proficient reading levels in the 4th grade.
• All racial and ethnic groups, except Asian students, have a reduced share of students at and above the proficient reading level compared to 10 years ago.

Year	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian/Pacific Islander	American Indian/Alaska Native	Mixed Race
2022	41.00%	17.00%	21.00%	56.00%	17.00%	39.00%
2019	45.00%	18.00%	23.00%	54.00%	19.00%	40.00%
2017	47.00%	20.00%	23.00%	57.00%	20.00%	41.00%
2015	46.00%	18.00%	21.00%	54.00%	21.00%	40.00%
2013	46.00%	17.00%	20.00%	52.00%	21.00%	40.00%
2011	44.00%	16.00%	19.00%	49.00%	18.00%	39.00%
2009	42.00%	16.00%	18.00%	49.00%	20.00%	38.00%
2007	43.00%	14.00%	18.00%	46.00%	18.00%	35.00%
2005	41.00%	13.00%	16.00%	42.00%	18.00%	34.00%
2003	41.00%	13.00%	15.00%	39.00%	16.00%	33.00%
vs. 2013	-11%	0%	5%	8%	-19%	-2%
vs. 2003	0%	31%	40%	44%	6%	18%

Middle school reading performance by race and ethnicity

• In the 2022 reading assessments for 8th grade students, Asian students showed the best overall performance, averaging 281 points on NAEP’s scale.
• White students averaged 268 points, while mixed-race children averaged 265.
• As with the 4th-graders, Black, Hispanic, and American Indian students have significantly worse overall reading performance in the 8th grade compared to the above-mentioned groups.
• Also, all racial/ethnic groups, except Asian students, showed a decrease in reading performance over the last 10 and 20 years.

Year	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian/Pacific Islander	American Indian/Alaska Native	Mixed Race
2022	268	244	251	281	246	265
2019	272	244	252	281	248	267
2017	275	249	255	282	253	272
2015	274	248	253	280	252	269
2013	276	250	256	280	251	271
2011	274	249	252	275	252	269
2009	273	246	249	274	251	267
2007	272	245	247	271	247	265
2005	271	243	246	271	249	266
2003	272	244	245	270	246	266

• As opposed to the 4th-grade reading assessment, no racial/ethnic groups have over 50.00% of students performing below the basic reading comprehension level as of 2022.
• Black students (47.00%) and American Indian students (45.00%) are close to the 50.00% mark.
• On the other hand, only 15.00% of students of Asian origin performed below the basic reading comprehension level in the 8th grade as of 2022.
• Over the last 10 years, all racial and ethnic groups of 8th-graders have an increased share of students performing below the basic reading levels, with the biggest increase noticed in White students (57.00%).

Year	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian/Pacific Islander	American Indian/Alaska Native	Mixed Race
2022	22.00%	47.00%	39.00%	15.00%	45.00%	27.00%
2019	18.00%	46.00%	37.00%	15.00%	41.00%	24.00%
2017	16.00%	40.00%	33.00%	14.00%	37.00%	18.00%
2015	15.00%	42.00%	34.00%	14.00%	37.00%	21.00%
2013	14.00%	39.00%	32.00%	14.00%	38.00%	19.00%
2011	15.00%	41.00%	36.00%	17.00%	37.00%	21.00%
2009	16.00%	43.00%	39.00%	17.00%	38.00%	22.00%
2007	16.00%	45.00%	42.00%	20.00%	44.00%	24.00%
2005	18.00%	48.00%	44.00%	20.00%	41.00%	24.00%
2003	17.00%	46.00%	44.00%	21.00%	43.00%	22.00%
vs. 2013	57%	21%	22%	7%	18%	42%
vs. 2003	29%	2%	-11%	-29%	5%	23%

• Over 55.00% of Asian students attending the 8th grade in US schools performed at and above the proficient reading comprehension level, according to NAEP’s assessment.
• No other racial/ethnic group has over 40.00% of students performing at this level as of 2022.
• Only 16.00% of Black 8th-graders are at and above the proficient reading level, as well as 19.00% of American Indian students.
• Compared to the 2013 assessment, 17.00% fewer White students are performing above the proficient reading level, the biggest drop among all racial and ethnic groups.

Year	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian/Pacific Islander	American Indian/Alaska Native	Mixed Race
2022	38.00%	16.00%	21.00%	55.00%	19.00%	36.00%
2019	42.00%	15.00%	22.00%	54.00%	19.00%	37.00%
2017	45.00%	18.00%	23.00%	55.00%	21.00%	42.00%
2015	44.00%	16.00%	21.00%	52.00%	22.00%	38.00%
2013	46.00%	17.00%	21.00%	52.00%	19.00%	40.00%
2011	43.00%	15.00%	19.00%	47.00%	22.00%	39.00%
2009	42.00%	13.00%	17.00%	45.00%	21.00%	34.00%
2007	40.00%	12.00%	16.00%	41.00%	18.00%	34.00%
2005	39.00%	12.00%	15.00%	41.00%	17.00%	36.00%
2003	41.00%	13.00%	16.00%	40.00%	17.00%	33.00%
vs. 2013	-17%	-6%	0%	6%	0%	-10%
vs. 2003	-7%	23%	31%	38%	12%	9%

High school reading performance by race and ethnicity

• As with elementary and middle school reading statistics, Asian students attending 12th grade are the best performers among all major racial and ethnic groups regarding reading ability, averaging 299 points in the 2019 assessment.
• White and mixed-race students are close by, with 295 points on average.
• Black students showed the worst reading performance results in 2019, averaging 263 points.
• Only Asian and mixed-race students improved their average reading performance since 2013, while all other groups significantly declined.

Year	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian/Pacific Islander	American Indian/Alaska Native	Mixed Race
2019	295	263	274	299	272	295
2015	295	266	276	297	279	295
2013	297	268	276	296	277	291
2009	296	269	274	298	283	298
2005	293	267	272	287	279	283

• Among the 12th-graders, only Black students have 50.00% or more people performing below the basic reading comprehension level as of 2019.
• This was also the first time that one racial group of students attending 12th grade had 50.00% or more people performing below the basic reading levels.
• Only mixed-race students have a smaller share of people below the basic reading comprehension levels compared to the 2013 assessment, with White students increasing the share of below-the-basic performers by 24.00%.

Year	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian/Pacific Islander	American Indian/Alaska Native	Mixed Race
2019	21.00%	50.00%	39.00%	22.00%	41.00%	22.00%
2015	21.00%	48.00%	37.00%	21.00%	35.00%	21.00%
2013	17.00%	44.00%	36.00%	20.00%	35.00%	23.00%
2009	19.00%	43.00%	39.00%	19.00%	30.00%	17.00%
2005	21.00%	46.00%	40.00%	26.00%	33.00%	27.00%
vs. 2013	24%	14%	8%	10%	17%	-4%
vs. 2005	0%	9%	-3%	-15%	24%	-19%

• 49.00% of Asian students attending 12th grade performed at and above the proficient reading level as of 2019, the most among all racial groups.
• On the other hand, only 17.00% of Black students performed at this level, the least among all groups.
• Since 2013, mixed-race students have the biggest gain in terms of share of above-the-proficient performers in the 12th grade, with 21.00%.
• On the other hand, there are 8.00% fewer American Indian students above the proficient level over this period, the only group with a decline.

Year	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian/Pacific Islander	American Indian/Alaska Native	Mixed Race
2019	47.00%	17.00%	25.00%	49.00%	24.00%	46.00%
2015	47.00%	16.00%	25.00%	48.00%	28.00%	45.00%
2013	47.00%	16.00%	24.00%	47.00%	26.00%	38.00%
2009	46.00%	17.00%	22.00%	49.00%	29.00%	48.00%
2005	43.00%	16.00%	20.00%	36.00%	26.00%	29.00%
vs. 2013	0%	6%	4%	4%	-8%	21%
vs. 2005	9%	6%	25%	36%	-8%	59%