How eighth-graders perform on reading tests relative to their peers, by race/ethnicity and gender, 2003, 2007, and 2013

Model I Model II Model III
Variable 2003 2007 2013 2003 2007 2013 2003 2007 2013
Female student 0.234*** 0.230*** 0.215*** 0.231*** 0.228*** 0.212*** 0.232*** 0.228*** 0.211***
(0.007) (0.008) (0.008) (0.007) (0.008) (0.008) (0.007) (0.008) (0.007)
Student race/ethnicity
Black -0.545*** -0.523*** -0.488*** -0.458*** -0.448*** -0.417*** -0.390*** -0.384*** -0.296***
(0.014) (0.011) (0.013) (0.015) (0.012) (0.016) (0.031) (0.025) (0.032)
Hispanic ELL -1.079*** -1.044*** -1.086*** -0.978*** -0.962*** -1.009*** -1.010*** -0.893*** -0.799***
(0.044) (0.030) (0.031) (0.041) (0.031) (0.033) (0.098) (0.070) (0.110)
Hispanic non-ELL -0.265*** -0.217*** -0.158*** -0.185*** -0.150*** -0.102*** -0.292*** -0.269*** -0.128***
(0.018) (0.013) (0.015) (0.020) (0.015) (0.016) (0.037) (0.028) (0.037)
Asian ELL -0.917*** -0.791*** -0.947*** -0.849*** -0.749*** -0.917*** -0.839*** -0.436*** -0.811***
(0.089) (0.104) (0.079) (0.088) (0.093) (0.075) (0.137) (0.153) (0.169)
Asian non-ELL 0.047 0.096*** 0.242*** 0.056* 0.104*** 0.221*** 0.108** 0.183*** 0.268***
(0.029) (0.021) (0.029) (0.030) (0.020) (0.027) (0.053) (0.037) (0.045)
Native American or other -0.349*** -0.279*** -0.192*** -0.289*** -0.225*** -0.158*** -0.062 -0.033 -0.030
(0.044) (0.023) (0.024) (0.039) (0.022) (0.023) (0.066) (0.056) (0.049)
Control variables
1. Individual education plan (special education student)
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
2. Individual socioeconomic status (parents’ education and whether student is eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRPL))
Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
3. Percent of students in school who are black or Hispanic, and percent who are FRPL-eligible
No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
4. Interaction between individual FRPL-eligibility and percent of students in school who are FRPL-eligible; Interaction between individual race and percent of students in the school who are black/Hispanic and FRPL-eligible
No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes
5. State fixed effects
No No No No No No No No No
Adjusted R2 0.313 0.299 0.322 0.326 0.311 0.336 0.329 0.313 0.338
N 113,195 114,828 120,378 113,195 114,828 120,378 113,195 114,828 120,378

Note: The table shows regression estimates measured in standard deviations—how female students scored relative to male peers and how students in different minority groups scored relative to white peers.  *** p<0.01, ** p<0.05, * p<0.1

Source: EPI analysis of National Assessment of Educational Progress microdata, 2003, 2007, and 2013

View the underlying data on epi.org.