Elementary and Secondary Education

Assessments

Table A-16-3. Average scores of 15-year-old students on science literacy scale, by country: 2006 and 2009

Country	Science literacy score			Change in score, 2006 to 2009
Country	2006		2009	Change in score, 2006 to 2009
OECD average	498	**	501	3
OECD countries
Australia	527		527	#
Austria¹	511		494	-17	*
Belgium	510		507	-4
Canada	534		529	-6
Chile	438		447	9

Czech Republic	513		500	-12	*
Denmark	496		499	3
Estonia	531		528	-4
Finland	563		554	-9	*
France	495		498	3

Germany	516		520	5
Greece	473		470	-3
Hungary	504		503	-1
Iceland	491		496	5
Ireland	508		508	#

Israel	454		455	1
Italy	475		489	13	*
Japan	531		539	8
Korea, Republic of	522		538	16	*
Luxembourg	486		484	-2

Mexico	410		416	6
Netherlands	525		522	-3
New Zealand	530		532	2
Norway	487		500	13	*
Poland	498		508	10	*

Portugal	474		493	19	*
Slovak Republic	488		490	2
Slovenia	519		512	-7	*
Spain	488		488	#
Sweden	503		495	-8

Switzerland	512		517	5
Turkey	424		454	30	*
United Kingdom	515		514	-1
United States	489		502	13	*

Non-OECD countries
Albania	―		391	―
Argentina	391		401	10
Azerbaijan	382		373	-9
Brazil	390		405	15	*
Bulgaria	434		439	5

Chinese Taipei	532		520	-12	*
Colombia	388		402	14	*
Croatia	493		486	-7
Dubai-UAE	―		466	―
Hong Kong-China	542		549	7

Indonesia	393		383	-11
Jordan	422		415	-7
Kazakhstan	―		400	―
Kyrgyz Republic	322		330	8
Latvia	490		494	4

Liechtenstein	522		520	-2
Lithuania	488		491	3
Macao-China	511		511	#
Montenegro, Republic of	412		401	-11	*
Panama	―		376	―

Peru	―		369	―
Qatar	349		379	30	*
Romania	418		428	10
Russian Federation	479		478	-1
Serbia, Republic of	436		443	7

Shanghai-China	―		575	―
Singapore	―		542	―
Thailand	421		425	4
Trinidad and Tobago	―		410	―
Tunisia	386		401	15	*
Uruguay	428		427	-1
―Not available.
# Rounds to zero.
*p<.05. Country average in 2006 is significantly different from the country average in 2009 at the05 level of statistical significance.
**p<.05. U.S. average is significantly different from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average at the05 level of statistical significance.
¹ The OECD excluded the data for Austria from the trend analysis in its report (PISA 2009 Results: Learning Trends–Changes in Student Performance Since 2000 [Volume V], available at http://www.pisa.oecd.org) because of a concern over a data collection issue in 2009; however, after consultation with Austrian officials, the National Center for Education Statistics kept the Austrian data in the U.S. trend reporting.
NOTE: The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) science framework was revised in 2006. Because of changes in the framework, it is not possible to compare science learning outcomes from PISA 2000 and 2003 with those from PISA 2006 and 2009. For more details, see the PISA 2009 international report (OECD 2010). Because PISA is principally an OECD study, the results for non-OECD countries are displayed separately from those of the OECD countries and are not included in the OECD average. Italics indicate education systems in non-national entities. UAE is the United Arab Emirates. Scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. For more information on PISA, see supplemental note 5.
SOURCE: Fleischman, H. L., Hopstock, P. J., Pelczar, M. P., and Shelley, B. E. (2010). Highlights From PISA 2009: Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Reading, Mathematics, and Science Literacy in an International Context (NCES 2011-004), supplemental table S2; data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2006 and 2009. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2010). Learning Trends: Changes in Student Performance Since 2000 (Volume V), Annex B1, Table V.3.4.

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