Average scores of U.S. 15-year-old students on mathematics literacy scale, by selected percentiles: 2003, 2006, and 2009

International Activities Program

Return

Download Excel Excel format

(187 KB)

Table B.1.60.

Average scores of U.S. 15-year-old students on mathematics literacy scale, by selected percentiles: 2003, 2006, and 2009

Selected percentiles	2003			2006			2009
Selected percentiles	Score		s.e.	Score		s.e.	Score	s.e.
95^th percentile	638		5.1	625		4.8	637	5.9
90^th percentile	607		3.9	593	*	4.8	607	4.6
75^th percentile	550		3.4	537		5.0	551	4.9
50^th percentile	483		3.1	472	*	4.4	488	3.8
25^th percentile	418		3.7	411	*	4.8	425	3.9
10^th percentile	356		4.5	358		5.8	368	4.3
5^th percentile	323	*	4.9	328		7.6	337	4.3
U.S. average	483		2.9	474	*	4.4	487	3.6

* p < .05. Significantly different from the 2009 score at the .05 level of statistical significance.

NOTE: This table shows the threshold (or cut point) score for the following: (a) 5th percentile – the bottom 5 percent of students; (b) 10th percentile – the bottom 10 percent of students; (c) 25th percentile – the bottom quarter of students; (d) 50th percentile – the median (half the students scored below the cut point and half scored above it); (e) 75th percentile – the top quarter of students; (f) 90th percentile – the top 10 percent of students; and (g) 95th percentile – the top 5 percent of students. The percentile ranges are specific to each country's distribution of scores and to each assessment administration, enabling users to compare scores at the cut points across countries and over time. The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) mathematics framework was revised in 2003. Because of changes in the framework, it is not possible to compare mathematics learning outcomes from PISA 2000 with those from PISA 2003, 2006, and 2009. Scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. Standard error is noted by s.e.

SOURCE: Fleischman, H.L., Hopstock, P. J., Pelczar, M.P, and Shelly, 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 M3a. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.