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Back to PISA 2012 Results

Problem Solving: Average Scores

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Table PS2. Average scores of 15-year-old students on PISA problem solving scale, by education system: 2012
Education system Average score s.e.   Education system Average score s.e.
OECD average (PS) 500 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 0.7          
Singapore 562 Average score is higher than U.S. average score 1.2   Denmark 497 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 2.9
Korea, Republic of 561 Average score is higher than U.S. average score 4.3   Portugal 494 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 3.6
Japan 552 Average score is higher than U.S. average score 3.1   Sweden 491 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 2.9
Macao-China 540 Average score is higher than U.S. average score 1.0   Russian Federation 489 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 3.4
Hong Kong-China 540 Average score is higher than U.S. average score 3.9   Slovak Republic 483 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 3.6
Shanghai-China 536 Average score is higher than U.S. average score 3.3   Poland 481 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 4.4
Chinese Taipei 534 Average score is higher than U.S. average score 2.9   Spain 477 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 4.1
Canada 526 Average score is higher than U.S. average score 2.4   Slovenia 476 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 1.5
Australia 523 Average score is higher than U.S. average score 1.9   Serbia, Republic of 473 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 3.1
Finland 523 Average score is higher than U.S. average score 2.3   Croatia 466 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 3.9
United Kingdom 517   4.2   Hungary 459 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 4.0
Estonia 515   2.5   Turkey 454 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 4.0
France 511   3.4   Israel 454 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 5.5
Netherlands 511   4.4   Chile 448 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 3.7
Italy 510   4.0   Cyprus 445 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 1.4
Czech Republic 509   3.1   Brazil 428 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 4.7
Germany 509   3.6   Malaysia 422 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 3.5
United States 508   3.9   United Arab Emirates 411 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 2.8
Belgium 508   2.5   Montenegro, Republic of 407 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 1.2
Austria 506   3.6   Uruguay 403 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 3.5
Norway 503   3.3   Bulgaria 402 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 5.1
Ireland 498   3.2   Colombia 399 Average score is lower than U.S. average score 3.5
Average score is higher than U.S. average score Average score is higher than U.S. average score.
Average score is lower than U.S. average score Average score is lower than U.S. average score.
NOTE: Education systems are ordered by 2012 average score. The OECD average (PS) is the average of the national percentages of the 28 OECD member countries that participated in the problem solving (PS) assessment, with each country weighted equally. The following OECD countries did not participate in the problem solving assessment: Greece, Iceland, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, and Switzerland. Scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. All average scores reported as higher or lower than the U.S. average score are different at the .05 level of statistical significance. Standard error is noted by s.e. Italics indicate non-OECD countries and education systems.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2012.
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