In 2009, the percentage of high-performing 15-year-olds in the United States was higher in reading literacy, lower in mathematics literacy, and not measurably different in science literacy than the respective percentages in the OECD countries on average.
The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment that reports on the performance of 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics, and science literacy using both average scale scores and the distribution of students reaching proficiency levels. Proficiency levels for each subject are associated with descriptions of tasks students are expected to complete at each level, with level 2 serving as the baseline level at which students begin to demonstrate the competencies enabling them to participate effectively in life situations, and levels 5 and above representing the high end of the skill distribution. This indicator presents PISA data on the low performers (students scoring below level 2) and on the high performers (students scoring at level 5 and above).
In 2009, the percentage of U.S. low performers on the reading literacy scale (18 percent) was not measurably different from the percentage of low performers in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries on average (19 percent) (see table A-26-1). In 2009, a higher percentage of U.S. students (10 percent) were high performers in reading literacy than were students in the OECD countries on average (8 percent). From 2000 to 2009, there was no measurable change in the percentage of U.S. low performers in reading literacy; however, the percentage of low performers in the OECD countries on average was higher in 2000 (19 percent) than in 2009 (18 percent). While there was no measurable change in the percentage of U.S. high performers in reading literacy, the percentage of high performers in the OECD countries on average was higher in 2000 (9 percent) than in 2009 (8 percent).
In 2009, the percentage of U.S. low performers on the mathematics literacy scale (23 percent) was not measurably different from the percentage of low performers in the OECD countries on average (22 percent); however, a lower percentage of U.S. students were high performers on the mathematics literacy scale (10 percent) than were students in the OECD countries on average (13 percent) (see table A-26-2). While no measurable change was seen in the percentage of U.S. low performers from 2003 to 2009 (2003 being the first time point to which PISA 2009 mathematics literacy scores can be compared), the percentage of low performers in the OECD countries on average was lower in 2003 (21 percent) than in 2009 (22 percent). There was no measurable change in the percentage of U.S. high performers on the mathematics literacy scale from 2003 to 2009; however, the percentage of high performers in the OECD countries on average was higher in 2003 (15 percent) than in 2009 (13 percent).
In 2009, the percentages of both the U.S. low as well as high performers on the science literacy scale were not measurably different from the corresponding percentages in the OECD countries on average (18 percent for low and 9 percent for high performers, respectively) (see table A-26-3). On the science literacy scale, the percentage of low performers was higher in 2006 compared to 2009 for both the United States (24 to 18 percent) and in the OECD countries on average (20 to 18 percent) (2006 being the first time point to which PISA 2009 science literacy scores can be compared). While there was no measurable change in the percentage of U.S. high performers in science literacy between these two time points, the percentage of high performers across OECD countries on average was higher in 2006 than in 2009 when comparing unrounded data.
Technical Notes
Participants in PISA 2009 include 65 countries and other education systems, including 34 OECD countries, which represent many of the world’s advanced and emerging economies. The OECD average used for comparisons across countries in 2009 is the average of the national averages of the 34 OECD member countries, with each country weighted equally. The PISA 2000 and 2009 OECD averages used in the analysis of trends in reading literacy are based on the averages of 27 OECD countries reporting comparable data in both years. The PISA 2003 and 2009 OECD averages used in the analysis of trends in mathematics literacy are based on the averages of 29 OECD countries reporting comparable data in both years. The PISA 2006 and 2009 OECD averages used in the analysis of trends in science literacy are based on the averages of all 34 OECD countries. Scale scores range from 0 to 1,000. For more information on PISA proficiency levels, see Appendix B – Guide to Sources.
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