PISA2009 Results: our 21st century learners at age 15

6 December 2010 Maree TelfordPISA 2009 National Project Manager

Overview of PISA

High level reading, mathematic and science results (mean scores and proficiency levels)

Gender and ethnicity reading, mathematics and science results (mean scores)

Focus on reading

What is PISA?The Programme for International Student Assessment

PISA is administered every three years

Three key subjects are assessed – reading mathematics and science

Students completed a two-hour test and a 30 minute questionnaire

Principals and parents were also asked to complete a questionnaire

Who participated in PISA2009Target population – 15-year-olds

65 countries or economies

Around 475,000 students world-wide

4643 New Zealand 15-year-olds from 163 schools

Schools and students randomly selected

Representative sample of students from schools of different sizes, deciles, locality, authority and gender type

How well can our 15-year-olds read?

Only two OECD countries and two non-OECD partner economies were better than New Zealand

New Zealand’s students were about the same as their peers in four OECD countries

New Zealand’s students performed much better than the OECD average, students from the United States, the United Kingdom and the other 26 OECD member countries

Shanghai-China 556 2.4 Korea 539 3.5

Finland 536 2.3 Hong Kong-China 533 2.1

Singapore 526 1.1 Canada 524 1.5

New Zealand 521 2.4 Japan 520 3.5

Australia 515 2.3 Netherlands 508 5.1

Belgium 506 2.3  Norway 503 2.6

Estonia 501 2.6 Switzerland 501 2.4

Poland 500 2.6 Iceland 500 1.4

United States 500 3.7 Liechtenstein 499 2.8

Sweden 497 2.7 Germany 497 2.7

Ireland 496 3.0 France 496 3.4

Chinese Taipei 495 2.6 Denmark 495 2.1

United Kingdom 494 2.3 Hungary 494 3.2

OECD Average 493 0.5 Portugal 489 3.1

Another 36 countries performed significantly lower than New Zealand

Country comparisons of mean performance in reading

How well did our 15-year-olds perform in mathematics?

Five OECD countries and six non-OECD partner countries were better than New Zealand

New Zealand’s students were about the same as their peers in four OECD countries

New Zealand’s students performed much better than the OECD average, students from the United States, the United Kingdom and the other 22 OECD member countries

Shanghai-China 600 2.8 Singapore 562 1.4

Hong Kong-China 555 2.7 Korea 546 4.0

Chinese Taipei 543 3.4 Finland 541 2.2

Liechtenstein 536 4.1 Switzerland 534 3.3

Japan 529 3.3 Canada 527 1.6

Netherlands 526 4.7 Macao-China 525 0.9

New Zealand 519 2.3 Belgium 515 2.3

Australia 514 2.5 Germany 523 2.9

Estonia 512 2.6 Iceland 507 1.4

Denmark 503 2.6 Slovenia 501 1.2

Norway 498 2.4 France 497 3.1

Slovak Republic 497 3.1 Austria 496 2.7

OECD Average 496 0.5 Poland 495 2.8

Sweden 494 2.9 Czech Republic 493 2.5

United Kingdom 492 1.9 Hungary 490 2.9

Another 36 countries performed significantly lower than New Zealand

Country comparisons of mean performance in mathematics

Shanghai-China 575 2.8 Finland 554 2.3

Hong Kong-China 549 2.7 Singapore 542 1.4

Japan 539 3.4 Korea 538 3.4

New Zealand 532 2.6 Canada 529 1.6

Estonia 528 2.7 Australia 527 2.5

Netherlands 522 5.4 Chinese Taipei 520 2.6

Germany 520 2.8 Liechtenstein 520 3.4

Switzerland 517 2.8 United Kingdom 514 2.5

Slovenia 512 1.1 Macao-China 511 1.0

Poland 508 2.4 Ireland 508 3.3

Belgium 507 2.5 Hungary 503 3.1

United States 502 3.6 OECD Average 501 0.5

Czech Republic 500 3.0 Norway 500 2.6

Denmark 499 2.5 France 498 3.6

Another 38 countries performed significantly lower than New Zealand

Country comparisons of mean performance in science

How well did our 15-year-olds perform in science?

Only one OECD country and three non-OECD partner countries were better than New Zealand

New Zealand’s students were about the same as their peers in six OECD countries

New Zealand’s students performed much better than the OECD average, students from the United States, the United Kingdom and the other 27 OECD member countries

Top performers

16% New Zealand students were top performers in reading

19% New Zealand students were top performers in mathematics

19% New Zealand students were top performers in science

15% Finland 8% OECD

19% Shanghai China 16% Singapore

13% Australia 13% Canada

22% Finland 13% OECD

50% Shanghai China 36% Singapore

16% Australia 18% Canada

19% Finland 9% OECD

24% Shanghai-China 20% Singapore

15% Australia 12% Canada

Low performers14% New Zealand students were low performers in reading

15% New Zealand students were low performers in mathematics

13% New Zealand students were low performers in science

14% Australia 19% OECD

8% Finland 10% Canada

16% Australia 22% OECD

8% Finland 11% Canada

13% Australia 18% OECD

6% Finland 10% Canada

Performance scores by gender

Girls 544 (OECD 513); Boys 499 (OECD 474) in reading

Girls 515 (OECD 490); Boys 523 (OECD 501) in mathematics (no statistical difference)

Girls 535 (OECD 499); Boys 529 (OECD 501) in science (no statistical difference)

Performance scores by ethnicity

Pākehā/European (71%), Māori (19%), Asian (14%) and Pasifika (10%) of the sample

Pākehā/European 541, Asian 522, Māori 478, and Pasifika 448 (OECD mean 493) in reading

Pākehā/European 537, Asian 529, Māori 476, and Pasifika 446 (OECD mean 496) in mathematics

Pākehā/European 555, Asian 530, Māori 487, and Pasifika 448 (OECD mean 501) in science

Change in mathematical performance

There was no change in New Zealand’s mathematics performance between 2003 and 2009 overall

Germany was the only top- or high-performing country to show an improved mathematics performance +10pts (PISA 2003, 503)

Three top- or high-performing countries showed a decline (Australia -13pts, Belgium -14pts, Netherlands -12pts)

No change in the proportion of New Zealand’s top (Level 5 or higher) or low performers (Level 1 or below)

Change in science performance

There was no change in New Zealand’s science performance between 2006 and 2009 overall

Korea (+16pts) was the only top- or high-performing country to show an improved science performance

Two top- or high-performing countries showed a decline (Finland -12pts, Chinese Taipei -12pts)

No change in the proportion of New Zealand’s top (Level 5 or higher) or low performers (Level 1 or below)

Change in reading performanceThere was no change in New Zealand’s 15-year-olds reading performance between 2000 and 2009

Only 7 OECD countries showed an improvement (Korea +15pts was the only top- or high-performing country to improve reading performance)

Five OECD countries showed a decline, including Australia (-13pts)

New Zealand had three percent fewer top performers

3 other top performing countries also had fewer (Australia -5%, Canada -4% and Finland -4%)

No top- or high-performing country, including New Zealand, succeeded in reducing the proportion of students at the lower levels

Student performance on the elements of reading measured and reported

Mean performance on the reading processes:Access and retrieve New Zealand 513 (OECD 495)

Integrate and interpret New Zealand 517 (OECD 493)

Reflect and evaluate New Zealand 531 (OECD 494)

Mean performance on the text formats:

Continuous texts New Zealand 518 (OECD 494)

Non-Continuous texts New Zealand 532 (OECD 493)

Student performance on the elements of reading measured and reported

Reading processes (what is the readers purpose and approach to the text?)

Access and retrieve information in the text

Integrate and interpret what is read

Reflect and evaluate, standing back from a text and relating it to their own experience

Text formats (how is the text presented?)

Continuous texts (in sentences)

Non-Continuous texts (in lists, tables graphs)

Student reading enjoyment

Derived from students’ level of agreement with a series of questions relating to their reading activities

New Zealand’s level of reading enjoyment was greater than the OECD average

New Zealand’s enjoyment level was similar to Canada but greater than in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States

New Zealand showed a strong relationship with enjoyment in reading and reading ability (top quarter 593 and low quarter 466)