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Digest of Education Statistics
1996 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 402.Reading literacy test scores of 14-year-olds: Selected countries, 1992

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                      |      |     |  Overall  |Narrative\2\|  Exposi-  |Expository\3\|  Exposi-  |Documents\4\
                      |Grade |Mean |mean score | mean score |tory\3\ 1st| mean score  |tory\3\ 3rd| mean score
       Country        |tested|age  | (s.e.)\1\ | (s.e.)\1\  |  quartile | (s.e.)\1\   |  quartile | (s.e.)\1\
----------------------|------|-----|-----------|------------|-----------|-------------|-----------|------------
          1           |  2   |  3  |      4    |      5     |     6     |       7     |     8     |      9
----------------------|------|-----|-----------|------------|-----------|-------------|-----------|------------
Finland...............|    8 |14.7 |  560 (2.5)|  559 (2.8) |       493 |   541 (2.2) |       575 |  580 (2.5)
France................|    9 |15.4 |  549 (4.3)|  556 (4.2) |       484 |   546 (4.3) |       580 |  544 (4.2)
Sweden................|    8 |14.8 |  546 (2.5)|  556 (2.6) |       469 |   533 (2.4) |       576 |  550 (2.4)
New Zealand...........|   10 |15.0 |  545 (5.6)|  547 (5.7) |       457 |   535 (5.7) |       597 |  552 (5.3)
Hungary...............|    8 |14.1 |  536 (3.3)|  530 (3.1) |       469 |   536 (3.6) |       577 |  542 (3.2)
                      |      |     |           |            |           |             |           |
Iceland\5\............|    8 |14.8 |  536 (0.0)|  550 (0.0) |       472 |   548 (0.0) |       617 |  509 (0.0)
Switzerland...........|    8 |14.9 |  536 (3.2)|  534 (3.4) |       466 |   525 (3.2) |       572 |  549 (3.0)
Hong Kong.............|    9 |15.2 |  535 (3.7)|  509 (3.7) |       480 |   540 (3.8) |       576 |  557 (3.8)
United States.........|    9 |15.0 |  535 (4.8)|  539 (4.9) |       456 |   539 (5.6) |       599 |  528 (4.0)
Singapore.............|    8 |14.4 |  534 (1.1)|  530 (1.1) |       476 |   539 (1.2) |       574 |  533 (1.1)
                      |      |     |           |            |           |             |           |
Slovenia..............|    8 |14.7 |  532 (2.3)|  534 (2.6) |       471 |   525 (2.2) |       576 |  537 (2.2)
Germany (former East).|    8 |14.4 |  526 (3.5)|  512 (3.9) |       464 |   523 (3.5) |       566 |  543 (2.9)
Denmark...............|    8 |14.8 |  525 (2.1)|  517 (2.0) |       458 |   524 (2.2) |       573 |  532 (2.1)
Portugal..............|    9 |15.6 |  523 (3.1)|  523 (2.5) |       469 |   523 (3.4) |       556 |  523 (3.4)
Canada\6\.............|    8 |13.9 |  522 (3.0)|  526 (3.1) |       449 |   516 (3.1) |       569 |  522 (2.7)
                      |      |     |           |            |           |             |           |
Germany (former West).|    8 |14.6 |  522 (4.4)|  514 (4.9) |       453 |   521 (4.5) |       573 |  532 (3.9)
Norway................|    8 |14.8 |  516 (2.3)|  515 (2.1) |       464 |   520 (2.4) |       569 |  512 (2.4)
Italy.................|    8 |14.1 |  515 (3.4)|  520 (3.6) |       459 |   524 (3.2) |       565 |  501 (3.3)
Netherlands...........|    8 |14.3 |  514 (4.9)|  506 (4.8) |       442 |   503 (4.7) |       546 |  533 (5.3)
Ireland...............|    9 |14.5 |  511 (5.2)|  510 (5.3) |       439 |   505 (5.3) |       555 |  518 (4.9)
                      |      |     |           |            |           |             |           |
Greece................|    9 |14.4 |  509 (2.9)|  526 (2.9) |       450 |   508 (3.1) |       548 |  493 (2.6)
Cyprus................|    9 |14.8 |  497 (2.2)|  516 (2.2) |       427 |   492 (2.4) |       536 |  482 (2.0)
Spain.................|    8 |14.2 |  490 (2.5)|  500 (3.0) |       435 |   495 (2.6) |       536 |  475 (2.0)
Belgium\7\............|    8 |14.3 |  481 (4.9)|  484 (5.1) |       415 |   477 (4.8) |       522 |  483 (4.7)
Trinidad/Tobago.......|    9 |14.4 |  479 (1.7)|  482 (1.7) |       408 |   485 (1.8) |       537 |  472 (1.7)
                      |      |     |           |            |           |             |           |
Thailand..............|    9 |15.2 |  477 (6.2)|  468 (6.6) |       429 |   486 (5.9) |       533 |  478 (6.2)
Philippines...........|    8 |14.5 |  430 (3.9)|  421 (3.6) |       378 |   439 (4.1) |       472 |  430 (3.9)
Venezuela.............|    9 |15.5 |  417 (3.1)|  407 (2.9) |       381 |   433 (3.3) |       482 |  412 (3.0)
Nigeria\8,9\..........|    9 |15.3 |  401 (---)|  402 (---) |       351 |   406 (---) |       441 |  394 (---)
Zimbabwe\9\...........|    9 |15.5 |  372 (3.8)|  367 (3.3) |       326 |   374 (3.6) |       411 |  373 (4.6)
Botswana..............|    9 |14.7 |  330 (2.0)|  340 (1.6) |       294 |   339 (1.9) |       371 |  312 (2.4)
----------------------|------|-----|-----------|------------|-----------|-------------|-----------|------------

\1\s.e.=standard error.

\2\Narrative prose is continuous text in which the writer's aim is to tell a story.

\3\Expository prose is continuous text designed to describe factual information to the reader.

\4\Documents are structured information presented in the form of charts, tables, maps, graphs, lists, or sets of instructions.

\5\Iceland tested all students, therefore standard errors are not applicable.

\6\British Columbia only.

\7\Only French-speaking students were tested.

\8\Insufficient data to calculate the design effect.

\9\Sampling response rate of schools was below 80 percent.

---Data not available.

SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, How in the World Do Students Read?, 1992. (This table was prepared April 1993.)


1996 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest