Kids Count Data Center

Definitions: Fourth grade public school students’ reading achievement levels, as measured and defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading test. For a more detailed description of achievement levels see: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/Reading/achieveall.asp. Public schools include charter schools and exclude Bureau of Indian Education schools and Department of Defense Education Activity schools. More...

Data Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  Available online at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/.

Footnotes: Updated November 2011.
S – NAEP reporting standards not met. N.A. – Data not available. A 90 percent confidence interval for each estimate can be found at 4th grade reading achievement levels.

Definitions: Fourth grade public school students who scored below the proficient level in reading, as measured and defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), by school income. For a more detailed description of achievement levels see: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/Reading/achieveall.asp. Public schools include charter schools and exclude Bureau of Indian Education schools and Department of Defense Education Activity schools. School income is measured as those schools with high rates of low-income children who receive Title I funds to support school-wide programs. More...

Data Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  Available online at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/. 

Footnotes: Updated November 2011.
S – NAEP reporting standards not met. N.A. – Data not available.

Definitions: Fourth grade public school students who scored below the proficient level in reading, as measured and defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), by family income. For a more detailed description of achievement levels see: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/Reading/achieveall.asp. Public schools include charter schools and exclude Bureau of Indian Education schools and Department of Defense Education Activity schools.  Family income is measured using students' eligibility for National School Lunch Program (NSLP), a federally assisted meal program, sometimes referred to as the free/reduced-price lunch program. Free or reduced priced lunches are offered to students with incomes below 185 percent of the poverty level.  More...

Data Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  Available online at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/.

Footnotes: Updated November 2011.
S – NAEP reporting standards not met. N.A. – Data not available.

Definitions: Fourth grade public school students who scored below the proficient level in reading, as measured and defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), by race and Hispanic origin. For a more detailed description of achievement levels see: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/Reading/achieveall.asp. Public schools include charter schools and exclude Bureau of Indian Education schools and Department of Defense Education Activity schools.  Race categories exclude Hispanic origin. Results are not shown for students whose race or Hispanic origin was not classified. More...

Data Source: Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  Available online at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/.

Footnotes: Updated April 2013.
S – NAEP reporting standards not met. N.A. – Data not available.

Definitions: Fourth grade public school students who scored below the proficient level in reading, as measured and defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), by geographic location. For a more detailed description of achievement levels see: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/Reading/achieveall.asp.  Public schools include charter schools and exclude Bureau of Indian Education schools and Department of Defense Education Activity schools.  Geographic areas are based on Census data describing proximity to an urbanized area (a densely settled core with densely settled surrounding areas) using four categories (City, Suburb, Town, Rural).  For a more detailed description of how these areas are measured see http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/rural_locales.asp. More...

Data Source: Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  Available online at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/. 

Footnotes: Updated November 2011.
S – NAEP reporting standards not met. N.A. – Data not available.

Definitions: Fourth grade public school students who scored below the proficient level in reading, as measured and defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), by status as English language learners. For a more detailed description of achievement levels see: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/Reading/achieveall.asp.  Public schools include charter schools and exclude Bureau of Indian Education schools and Department of Defense Education Activity schools. English language learners (ELL) is a term used to describe students who are in the process of acquiring English language skills and knowledge. Some schools refer to these students using the term limited-English-proficient (LEP). "Limited English Proficient" is also the terminology used in NAEP technical documentation prior to the 2005 NAEP assessment. The results for English language learners are based on students who were assessed and cannot be generalized to the total population of such students. For more information on NAEP’s inclusion of Special-Needs Students policy see http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/inclusion.asp. More...

Data Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  Available online at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/.

Footnotes: Updated November 2011.
S – NAEP reporting standards not met. N.A. – Data not available.

Definitions: Fourth grade public school students who scored below the proficient level in reading, as measured and defined by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), by students’ disability status. For a more detailed description of achievement levels see:  http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/Reading/achieveall.asp.  Public schools include charter schools and exclude Bureau of Indian Education schools and Department of Defense Education Activity schools. Students with disabilities are often referred to as special education students and may be classified by their school as learning disabled or emotionally disturbed. The goal of NAEP is that students who are capable of participating meaningfully in the assessment are assessed, but some students with disabilities selected by NAEP may not be able to participate, even with the accommodations provided.The results for students with disabilities are based on students who were assessed and cannot be generalized to the total population of such students. For more information on NAEP’s inclusion of Special-Needs Students policy see http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/inclusion.asp. More...

Data Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).  Available online at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/.

Footnotes: Updated November 2011.
S – NAEP reporting standards not met. N.A. – Data not available.

Definitions: The share of children ages 3 to 5 not enrolled in nursery school or kindergarten during the previous two months.   "Nursery school" and "preschool" include any group or class of institution providing educational experiences for children during the years preceding kindergarten. Places where instruction is an integral part of the program are included, but private homes that primarily provide custodial care are not included. Children enrolled in programs sponsored by federal, state or local agencies to provide preschool education to young children--including Head Start programs--are considered as enrolled in nursery school or preschool.  Children enrolled in first grade are excluded from this analysis. More...

Data Source: Population Reference Bureau, analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 - 2011 American Community Survey.

Footnotes: Updated November 2012.
S - Estimates suppressed when the confidence interval around the percentage is greater than or equal to 10 percentage points. N.A. – Data not available.
Data are provided for the 50 most populous cities according to the most recent Census counts.  Cities for which data is collected may change over time.
A 90 percent confidence interval for each estimate can be found at Children ages 3 to 5 not enrolled in nursery school, preschool or kindergarten.

Definitions: Children ages 1 to 5 whose family members read to them less than 3 days per week.

Data Source: Child Trends analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, National Survey of Children’s Health. The state-level data used here come from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). The NSCH includes information on over 102,000 children under age 18, with roughly 2,000 children per state. Households were selected through a random-digit-dial sample, and one child was randomly selected in each household. Information on each child is based on responses of the parent or guardian in the household who was most knowledgeable about the sampled child’s health. Information was collected via a computer-assisted telephone interview. For more information on the NSCH, see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/slaits/nsch.htm. More...

Footnotes: Updated April 2010.
N.A. – Data not available.

Definitions: Children ages 6 to 17 who repeated one or more grades since starting kindergarten.

Data Source: U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, HRSA, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, National Survey of Children's Health. The state-level data used here come from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). The NSCH includes information on over 102,000 children under age 18, with roughly 2,000 children per state. Households were selected through a random-digit-dial sample, and one child was randomly selected in each household. Information on each child is based on responses of the parent or guardian in the household who was most knowledgeable about the sampled child’s health. Information was collected via a computer-assisted telephone interview. For more information on the NSCH, see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/slaits/nsch.htm. More...

Footnotes: Updated April 2010.
N.A. – Data not available.

Definitions: Teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19 who are not enrolled in high school and are not high school graduates. Those who have a GED or equivalent are included as high school graduates in this measure. The measure used here is defined as a “status dropout” rate. Inclusion of the group quarters population in the ACS in 2006 could have a noticeable impact on the universe population for this age group. Therefore, the 2007 through 2011 ACS estimates might not be fully comparable to estimates prior to 2006. This measure focuses on teens ages 16 to 19 rather than young adults 16 to 24 because a large share of 18- to 24-year-olds migrate across state lines each year. The high interstate migration rates confound the connection between state policies and programs and state dropout rates. Raw numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand. More...

Data Source: Population Reference Bureau, analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.

Footnotes: Updated November 2011.
S - Estimates suppressed when the confidence interval around the percentage is greater than or equal to 10 percentage points. N.A. – Data not available.
Data are provided for the 50 most populous cities according to the most recent Census counts.  Cities for which data is collected may change over time.
A 90 percent confidence interval for each estimate can be found at Teens ages 16 to 19 not in school and not high school graduates.

Definitions: Persons age 18 to 24 who: (1) are not presently enrolled in school; (2) are not currently working; and (3) have no degree beyond a high school diploma or GED. This measure reflects those young adults who are considered having difficulty navigating what most would consider a successful transition to adulthood. More...

Data Source: Population Reference Bureau, analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, 2008 through the 2011 American Community Survey.

Footnotes: Updated November 2012.
S - Estimates suppressed when the confidence interval around the percentage is greater than or equal to 10 percentage points. N.A. – Data not available.
Data are provided for the 50 most populous cities according to the most recent Census counts.  Cities for which data is collected may change over time.
A 90 percent confidence interval for each estimate can be found at Persons age 18 to 24 not attending school, not working, and no degree beyond high school .

Definitions: The share of children under age 18 who live in families with incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The federal poverty definition consists of a series of thresholds based on family size and composition. In 2011, a 200% poverty threshold for a family of two adults and two children was $45,622. Poverty status is not determined for people in military barracks, institutional quarters, or for unrelated individuals under age 15 (such as foster children). More...

Data Source: Population Reference Bureau, analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Supplementary Survey, 2001 Supplementary Survey, 2002 through 2011 American Community Survey. The data for this measure come from the 2000 and 2001 Supplementary Survey and the 2002 through 2011 American Community Survey (ACS). The 2000 through 2004 ACS surveyed approximately 700,000 households monthly during each calendar year. In general but particularly for these years, use caution when interpreting estimates for less populous states or indicators representing small sub-populations, where the sample size is relatively small. Beginning in January 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau expanded the ACS sample to 3 million households (full implementation), and in January 2006 the ACS included group quarters. The ACS, fully implemented, is designed to provide annually updated social, economic, and housing data for states and communities. (Such local-area data have traditionally been collected once every ten years in the long form of the decennial census More...

Footnotes: Updated September 2012.
S - Estimates suppressed when the confidence interval around the percentage is greater than or equal to 10 percentage points. N.A. – Data not available.
Data are provided for the 50 most populous cities according to the most recent Census counts.  Cities for which data is collected may change over time.
A 90 percent confidence interval for each estimate can be found at Children below 200% poverty.