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Table B.1.69. Average reading literacy scores of 15-year-old students, by national quarters of the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status (ESCS) and jurisdiction: 2003

Jurisdictions National quarters of the ESCS index   All students
Bottom quarter   Second quarter   Third quarter   Top quarter  
Mean   s.e.   Mean   s.e.   Mean   s.e.   Mean   s.e.   Mean   s.e.
OECD countries                                      
Australia 479   3.7   513   2.4   539   2.6   576   3.0   525   2.1
Austria 435   4.6   478   3.9   508   3.8   554   3.7   491   3.8
Belgium 444   4.8   499   3.3   535   2.8   572   2.8   507   2.6
Canada 495   2.4   525   2.2   539   2.1   568   2.4   528   1.7
Czech Republic 449   3.8   488   3.2   508   3.2   540   3.7   489   3.5
                                       
Denmark 445   4.3   483   3.4   507   3.1   537   3.4   492   2.8
Finland 510   2.6   538   2.4   553   2.5   575   2.5   543   1.6
France 439   5.4   489   4.0   515   3.0   548   3.4   496   2.7
Germany 437   4.2   487   3.9   526   3.9   561   3.7   491   3.4
Greece 429   4.6   465   4.9   477   5.4   520   4.2   472   4.1
                                       
Hungary 426   4.2   468   3.5   498   3.0   537   3.9   482   2.5
Iceland 468   3.3   490   2.8   494   4.1   519   3.4   492   1.6
Ireland 468   3.9   507   3.6   531   3.0   556   4.0   515   2.6
Italy 425   5.2   464   4.0   494   3.4   521   3.2   476   3.0
Japan 449   5.8   492   4.5   515   4.5   537   5.1   498   3.9
                                       
Korea 499   5.0   526   3.4   544   3.2   569   4.9   534   3.1
Luxembourg 421   2.9   472   3.3   499   2.9   531   3.1   479   1.5
Mexico 350   5.2   386   3.6   413   4.8   452   5.3   400   4.1
Netherlands 478   4.9   506   3.4   528   3.1   561   3.4   513   2.9
New Zealand 468   3.9   512   3.6   535   3.4   579   3.0   522   2.5
                                       
Norway 454   3.8   494   3.7   513   4.0   544   4.4   500   2.8
Poland 450   4.9   480   3.4   512   4.5   546   3.6   497   2.9
Portugal 437   5.1   469   4.0   482   4.7   524   4.2   478   3.7
Slovak Republic 410   4.9   459   2.6   490   2.7   520   3.8   469   3.1
Spain 441   4.1   467   3.6   494   3.3   521   3.5   481   2.6
                                       
Sweden 471   3.8   504   3.0   528   2.6   558   3.7   514   2.4
Switzerland 446   3.6   494   3.7   513   3.2   547   4.2   499   3.3
Turkey 399   5.1   421   4.5   443   6.4   502   10.1   441   5.8
United States 440   3.9   485   3.8   510   3.4   551   3.3   495   3.2
                                       
Non-OECD jurisdictions                                      
Brazil 371   4.8   387   6.6   406   5.3   452   6.7   403   4.6
Hong Kong-China 485   5.0   507   4.1   518   3.6   532   4.9   510   3.7
Indonesia 362   3.6   373   3.2   379   3.9   413   5.3   382   3.4
Latvia 461   5.5   483   4.4   498   4.2   524   5.4   491   3.7
Liechtenstein 471   7.4   522   11.2   537   10.1   575   8.6   525   3.6
                                       
Macao-China 487   4.2   496   6.0   502   4.3   506   3.9   498   2.2
Russian Federation 405   4.5   431   4.5   449   4.6   484   4.1   442   3.9
Serbia 374   3.9   403   3.8   422   4.0   451   4.1   412   3.6
Thailand 400   3.0   404   3.3   418   3.6   459   5.7   420   2.8
Tunisia 350   3.8   359   3.5   376   4.1   416   6.7   375   2.8
Uruguay 387   5.4   409   4.7   444   4.7   498   4.1   434   3.4
NOTE: Because the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is principally an OECD study, the results for non-OECD jurisdictions are displayed separately from those of the OECD countries. The PISA index of economic, social and cultural status (ESCS) was created using student reports on parental occupation, the highest level of parental education, and three PISA index variables related to family wealth, home educational resources and possessions related to “classical” culture in the family home. Standard error is noted by s.e. In the country column, italics indicate non-national entities. Due to low response rates, data for the United Kingdom are not shown.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003, previously unpublished tabulation (May 2012).