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Table B.1.35. Percentage distribution of 15-year-old students on the PISA science literacy scale, by proficiency level and jurisdiction: 2006

Jurisdiction Below level 1   Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Level 4   Level 5   Level 6
Percent   s.e.   Percent   s.e.   Percent   s.e.   Percent   s.e.   Percent   s.e.   Percent   s.e.   Percent   s.e.
  OECD average 5.2   0.11   14.1   0.15   24.0   0.17   27.4   0.17   20.3   0.16   7.7   0.10   1.3   0.04
                                                         
OECD countries                                                      
  Australia 3.0   0.25   9.8   0.46   20.2   0.63   27.7   0.51   24.6   0.53   11.8   0.53   2.8   0.26
  Austria 4.3   0.88   12.0   0.98   21.8   1.05   28.3   1.05   23.6   1.12   8.8   0.69   1.2   0.20
  Belgium 4.8   0.72   12.2   0.62   20.8   0.84   27.6   0.84   24.5   0.77   9.1   0.47   1.0   0.17
  Canada 2.2   0.27   7.8   0.47   19.1   0.64   28.8   0.58   27.7   0.65   12.0   0.52   2.4   0.25
  Czech Republic 3.5   0.57   12.1   0.84   23.4   1.17   27.8   1.09   21.7   0.92   9.8   0.86   1.8   0.32
                                                         
  Denmark 4.3   0.64   14.1   0.75   26.0   1.07   29.3   1.04   19.5   0.91   6.1   0.66   0.7   0.18
  Finland 0.5   0.13   3.6   0.45   13.6   0.68   29.1   1.07   32.2   0.89   17.0   0.72   3.9   0.35
  France 6.6   0.71   14.5   1.05   22.8   1.12   27.2   1.09   20.9   1.00   7.2   0.60   0.8   0.17
  Germany 4.1   0.68   11.3   0.96   21.4   1.06   27.9   1.08   23.6   0.95   10.0   0.62   1.8   0.24
  Greece 7.2   0.86   16.9   0.88   28.9   1.19   29.4   1.01   14.2   0.83   3.2   0.33   0.2 ! 0.09
                                                         
  Hungary 2.7   0.33   12.3   0.83   26.0   1.15   31.1   1.07   21.0   0.87   6.2   0.57   0.6   0.16
  Iceland 5.8   0.50   14.7   0.84   25.9   0.71   28.3   0.92   19.0   0.74   5.6   0.49   0.7   0.18
  Ireland 3.5   0.47   12.0   0.82   24.0   0.91   29.7   0.98   21.4   0.87   8.3   0.62   1.1   0.19
  Italy 7.3   0.46   18.0   0.62   27.6   0.78   27.4   0.61   15.1   0.58   4.2   0.31   0.4   0.09
  Japan 3.2   0.45   8.9   0.73   18.5   0.86   27.5   0.85   27.0   1.14   12.4   0.63   2.6   0.33
                                                         
  Korea, Republic of 2.5   0.49   8.7   0.77   21.2   1.05   31.8   1.17   25.5   0.91   9.2   0.83   1.1   0.29
  Luxembourg 6.5   0.39   15.6   0.65   25.4   0.66   28.6   0.93   18.1   0.71   5.4   0.34   0.5   0.11
  Mexico 18.2   1.22   32.8   0.89   30.8   0.95   14.8   0.66   3.2   0.34   0.3 ! 0.09   #   †
  Netherlands 2.3   0.38   10.7   0.88   21.1   0.98   26.9   0.87   25.8   1.04   11.5   0.81   1.7   0.24
  New Zealand 4.0   0.43   9.7   0.58   19.7   0.80   25.1   0.71   23.9   0.81   13.6   0.74   4.0   0.37
                                                         
  Norway 5.9   0.84   15.2   0.84   27.3   0.79   28.5   0.99   17.1   0.72   5.5   0.44   0.6   0.13
  Poland 3.2   0.36   13.8   0.63   27.5   0.94   29.4   1.02   19.3   0.80   6.1   0.44   0.7   0.14
  Portugal 5.8   0.76   18.7   1.05   28.8   0.92   28.8   1.22   14.7   0.88   3.0   0.35   0.1   0.05
  Slovak Republic 5.2   0.60   15.0   0.87   28.0   0.96   28.1   0.99   17.9   1.02   5.2   0.49   0.6   0.14
  Spain 4.7   0.44   14.9   0.69   27.4   0.77   30.2   0.68   17.9   0.75   4.5   0.38   0.3 ! 0.10
                                                         
  Sweden 3.8   0.44   12.6   0.64   25.2   0.88   29.5   0.90   21.1   0.90   6.8   0.47   1.1   0.21
  Switzerland 4.5   0.52   11.6   0.56   21.8   0.87   28.2   0.81   23.5   1.07   9.1   0.78   1.4   0.27
  Turkey 12.9   0.83   33.7   1.31   31.3   1.42   15.1   1.06   6.2   1.15   0.9 ! 0.32   #   †
  United Kingdom 4.8   0.49   11.9   0.61   21.8   0.71   25.9   0.68   21.8   0.62   10.9   0.53   2.9   0.31
  United States 7.6   0.94   16.8   0.88   24.2   0.94   24.0   0.79   18.3   0.97   7.5   0.62   1.5   0.25
                                                         
Non-OECD jurisdictions                                                      
  Argentina 28.3   2.34   27.9   1.39   25.6   1.27   13.6   1.29   4.1   0.63   0.4 ! 0.14   #   †
  Azerbaijan 19.4   1.50   53.1   1.57   22.4   1.41   4.7   0.86   0.4 ! 0.15   #   †   #   †
  Brazil 27.9   0.99   33.1   0.96   23.8   0.93   11.3   0.88   3.4   0.42   0.5 ! 0.21   #   †
  Bulgaria 18.3   1.72   24.3   1.32   25.2   1.23   18.8   1.14   10.3   1.13   2.6   0.51   0.4 ! 0.18
  Chile 13.1   1.12   26.7   1.54   29.9   1.18   20.1   1.44   8.4   1.01   1.8   0.32   ‡   †
                                                         
  Chinese Taipei 1.9   0.29   9.7   0.82   18.6   0.86   27.3   0.80   27.9   1.03   12.9   0.77   1.7   0.24
  Colombia 26.2   1.71   34.0   1.55   27.2   1.53   10.6   1.04   1.9   0.35   0.2   0.05   #   †
  Croatia 3.0   0.43   14.0   0.71   29.3   0.91   31.0   0.99   17.7   0.86   4.6   0.44   0.5   0.12
  Estonia 1.0   0.23   6.7   0.57   21.0   0.88   33.7   0.96   26.2   0.94   10.1   0.71   1.4   0.27
  Hong Kong-China 1.7   0.36   7.0   0.68   16.9   0.81   28.7   0.95   29.7   0.95   13.9   0.80   2.1   0.30
                                                         
  Indonesia 20.3   1.71   41.3   2.23   27.5   1.46   9.5   1.99   1.4 ! 0.53   #   †   #   †
  Israel 14.9   1.18   21.2   1.01   24.0   0.95   20.8   0.96   13.8   0.80   4.4   0.49   0.8   0.18
  Jordan 16.2   0.86   28.2   0.86   30.8   0.83   18.7   0.81   5.6   0.66   0.6 ! 0.20   #   †
  Kyrgyz Republic 58.2   1.56   28.2   1.13   10.0   0.81   2.9   0.39   0.7   0.18   #   †   #   †
  Latvia 3.6   0.49   13.8   0.98   29.0   1.19   32.9   0.95   16.6   0.96   3.8   0.39   0.3 ! 0.09
                                                         
  Liechtenstein 2.6 ! 0.99   10.3   2.11   21.0   2.84   28.7   2.58   25.2   2.54   10.0   1.77   2.2 ! 0.84
  Lithuania 4.3   0.44   16.0   0.83   27.4   0.91   29.8   0.85   17.5   0.85   4.5   0.60   0.4 ! 0.15
  Macao-China 1.4   0.24   8.9   0.50   26.0   0.97   35.7   1.14   22.8   0.73   5.0   0.34   0.3 ! 0.09
  Qatar 47.6   0.62   31.5   0.63   13.9   0.49   5.0   0.35   1.6   0.14   0.3   0.09   #   †
  Republic of Montenegro 17.3   0.79   33.0   1.20   31.0   0.91   14.9   0.65   3.6   0.37   0.3 ! 0.11   #   †
                                                         
  Republic of Serbia 11.9   0.91   26.6   1.18   32.3   1.26   21.8   1.18   6.6   0.57   0.8   0.18   #   †
  Romania 16.0   1.53   30.9   1.55   31.8   1.62   16.6   1.24   4.2   0.77   0.5   0.14   #   †
  Russian Federation 5.2   0.65   17.0   1.08   30.2   0.93   28.3   1.32   15.1   1.09   3.7   0.46   0.5   0.13
  Slovenia 2.8   0.34   11.1   0.72   23.1   0.68   27.6   1.08   22.5   1.13   10.7   0.57   2.2   0.29
  Thailand 12.6   0.80   33.5   1.03   33.2   0.88   16.3   0.80   4.0   0.42   0.4   0.12   #   †
                                                         
  Tunisia 27.7   1.12   35.1   0.94   25.0   0.97   10.2   0.98   1.9   0.45   ‡   †   #   †
  Uruguay 16.7   1.25   25.4   1.09   29.8   1.50   19.7   1.07   6.9   0.54   1.3   0.21   ‡   †
† Not applicable.
# Rounds to zero.
! Interpret data with caution. (Estimates are unstable.)
NOTE: To reach a particular proficiency level, a student must correctly answer a majority of items at that level. Students were classified into science literacy levels according to their scores on a scale from 0 to 1000. Exact cut point scores are as follows: below level 1 (a score less than or equal to 334.94); level 1 (a score greater than 334.94 and less than or equal to 409.54); level 2 (a score greater than 409.54 and less than or equal to 484.14); level 3 (a score greater than 484.14 and less than or equal to 558.73); level 4 (a score greater than 558.73 and less than or equal to 633.33); level 5 (a score greater than 633.33 and less than or equal to 707.93); and level 6 (a score greater than 707.93). The OECD average is the average of the national averages of the OECD member countries. Because PISA is principally an OECD study, the results for non-OECD jurisdictions are displayed separately from those of the OECD countries and are not included in the OECD average. Because of an error in printing the test booklets, the United States mean performance may be misestimated by approximately 1 score point. The impact is below one standard error. For details see appendix B of Baldi et al. (2007). Apparent differences may not be statistically significant. Standard error is noted by s.e. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: Data from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2006. Baldi, S., Jin, Y., Skemer, M., Green, P.J., and Herget, D. ( 2007). Highlights From PISA 2006: Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science and Mathematics Literacy in an International Context (NCES 2008-016), table C-5. National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC.
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