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Science Literacy: Proficiency Levels

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Table S1. Percentage distribution of 15-year-old students on PISA science literacy scale, by proficiency level and education system: 2012
Education system 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 4.8   0.09   13.0   0.14   24.5   0.16   28.8   0.17   20.5   0.15   7.2   0.10   1.1   0.04
Albania 23.5   1.04   29.6   0.94   28.5   1.19   14.4   0.78   3.6   0.41   0.4 ! 0.14    
Argentina 19.8   1.39   31.0   1.46   31.1   1.33   14.8   1.20   3.0   0.43   0.2 ! 0.10    
Australia 3.4   0.25   10.2   0.41   21.5   0.47   28.5   0.68   22.8   0.63   10.9   0.47   2.6   0.25
Austria 3.6   0.54   12.2   0.92   24.3   1.05   30.1   0.85   21.9   0.81   7.0   0.62   0.8   0.20
Belgium 5.9   0.53   11.8   0.58   21.5   0.63   28.7   0.71   23.0   0.66   8.1   0.42   0.9   0.16
Brazil 18.6   0.78   35.1   0.79   30.7   0.78   12.5   0.68   2.8   0.37   0.3 ! 0.10    
Bulgaria 14.4   1.34   22.5   1.15   26.3   1.07   22.5   1.09   11.2   0.84   2.8   0.50   0.3 ! 0.12
Canada 2.4   0.24   8.0   0.38   21.0   0.65   32.0   0.54   25.3   0.58   9.5   0.47   1.8   0.20
Chile 8.1   0.80   26.3   1.11   34.6   1.06   22.4   0.96   7.5   0.60   1.0   0.15   # !
Chinese Taipei 1.6   0.25   8.2   0.64   20.8   0.89   33.7   0.97   27.3   1.00   7.8   0.56   0.6   0.13
Colombia 19.8   1.36   36.3   1.10   30.8   1.08   11.0   0.83   1.9   0.25        
Costa Rica 8.6   0.79   30.7   1.30   39.2   1.25   17.8   1.12   3.4   0.57   0.2 ! 0.11    
Croatia 3.2   0.38   14.0   0.74   29.1   0.99   31.4   1.19   17.6   1.16   4.3   0.75    
Cyprus 14.4   0.47   23.7   0.66   30.3   0.89   21.3   0.73   8.4   0.43   1.8   0.29   0.2 ! 0.08
Czech Republic 3.3   0.62   10.5   1.03   24.7   0.99   31.7   1.23   22.2   0.96   6.7   0.53   0.9   0.18
Denmark 4.7   0.55   12.0   0.69   25.7   0.80   31.3   0.90   19.6   0.79   6.1   0.67   0.7   0.17
Estonia 0.5   0.14   4.5   0.43   19.0   0.87   34.5   0.87   28.7   0.96   11.1   0.66   1.7   0.25
Finland 1.8   0.28   5.9   0.48   16.8   0.69   29.6   0.77   28.8   0.73   13.9   0.62   3.2   0.38
France 6.1   0.67   12.6   0.71   22.9   1.08   29.2   1.12   21.3   0.87   6.9   0.68   1.0   0.21
Germany 2.9   0.46   9.3   0.73   20.5   0.82   28.9   0.89   26.2   1.05   10.6   0.80   1.6   0.28
Greece 7.4   0.70   18.1   1.14   31.0   1.10   28.8   1.02   12.2   0.81   2.3   0.40    
Hong Kong-China 1.2   0.23   4.4   0.52   13.0   0.72   29.8   1.06   34.9   0.99   14.9   0.91   1.8   0.36
Hungary 4.1   0.61   14.0   1.04   26.4   1.08   30.9   1.16   18.7   0.98   5.5   0.73   0.5 ! 0.18
Iceland 8.0   0.56   16.0   0.72   27.5   0.87   27.2   0.86   16.2   0.74   4.6   0.60   0.6   0.17
Indonesia 24.7   1.96   41.9   1.42   26.3   1.54   6.5   1.02            
Ireland 2.6   0.40   8.5   0.76   22.0   1.15   31.1   1.03   25.0   0.94   9.3   0.63   1.5   0.25
Israel 11.2   1.08   17.7   0.93   24.8   0.93   24.4   1.19   16.1   1.12   5.2   0.58   0.6 ! 0.22
Italy 4.9   0.35   13.8   0.52   26.0   0.58   30.1   0.66   19.1   0.59   5.5   0.37   0.6   0.08
Japan 2.0   0.39   6.4   0.61   16.3   0.79   27.5   0.92   29.5   1.06   14.8   0.93   3.4   0.49
Jordan 18.2   1.21   31.4   0.96   32.2   1.04   15.0   0.86   3.0   0.57        
Kazakhstan 11.3   0.99   30.7   1.49   36.8   1.16   17.8   1.19   3.3   0.45   0.2 ! 0.09    
Korea, Republic of 1.2   0.25   5.5   0.60   18.0   1.02   33.6   1.11   30.1   1.24   10.6   0.93   1.1 ! 0.39
Latvia 1.8   0.39   10.5   0.90   28.2   1.20   35.1   1.02   20.0   1.05   4.0   0.47   0.3 ! 0.13
Liechtenstein     9.6   1.94   22.0   3.94   30.8   3.79   26.7   2.58   9.1   1.47    
Lithuania 3.4   0.48   12.7   0.84   27.6   1.00   32.9   1.08   18.3   0.88   4.7   0.47   0.4   0.09
Luxembourg 7.2   0.42   15.1   0.67   24.2   0.63   26.2   0.60   19.2   0.53   7.0   0.49   1.2   0.17
Macao-China 1.4   0.20   7.4   0.49   22.2   0.60   36.2   0.81   26.2   0.73   6.2   0.35   0.4   0.10
Malaysia 14.5   1.13   31.0   1.21   33.9   1.10   16.5   1.07   3.7   0.54   0.3 ! 0.13    
Mexico 12.6   0.52   34.4   0.58   37.0   0.59   13.8   0.52   2.1   0.16   0.1 ! 0.04    
Montenegro, Republic of 18.7   0.74   32.0   0.98   29.7   0.94   15.4   0.76   3.8   0.47   0.4 ! 0.14    
Netherlands 3.1   0.53   10.1   0.83   20.1   1.35   29.1   1.28   25.8   1.24   10.5   0.98   1.3   0.28
New Zealand 4.7   0.39   11.6   0.76   21.7   0.94   26.4   0.95   22.3   0.85   10.7   0.62   2.7   0.25
Norway 6.0   0.63   13.6   0.71   24.8   0.80   28.9   0.91   19.0   0.79   6.4   0.56   1.1   0.24
Peru 31.5   1.61   37.0   1.26   23.5   1.29   7.0   0.85   1.0   0.28        
Poland 1.3   0.32   7.7   0.70   22.5   0.98   33.1   0.92   24.5   0.96   9.1   0.76   1.7   0.35
Portugal 4.7   0.66   14.3   1.09   27.3   0.96   31.4   1.25   17.8   1.06   4.2   0.55   0.3 ! 0.11
Qatar 34.6   0.38   28.0   0.58   19.6   0.71   11.2   0.39   5.1   0.40   1.3   0.11   0.1   0.04
Romania 8.7   0.77   28.7   1.32   34.6   1.23   21.0   1.12   6.2   0.77   0.9   0.26    
Russian Federation 3.6   0.39   15.1   0.96   30.1   1.08   31.2   0.89   15.7   0.98   3.9   0.51   0.3 ! 0.16
Serbia, Republic of 10.3   0.99   24.7   1.15   32.4   1.21   22.8   1.06   8.1   0.63   1.6   0.35    
Shanghai-China 0.3 ! 0.11   2.4   0.36   10.0   0.86   24.6   0.87   35.5   1.11   23.0   1.09   4.2   0.57
Singapore 2.2   0.27   7.4   0.48   16.7   0.73   24.0   0.73   27.0   0.87   16.9   0.94   5.8   0.41
Slovak Republic 9.2   0.95   17.6   1.14   27.0   1.30   26.2   1.62   15.0   1.02   4.3   0.58   0.6 ! 0.25
Slovenia 2.4   0.19   10.4   0.55   24.5   1.00   30.0   1.02   23.0   0.92   8.4   0.71   1.2   0.24
Spain 3.7   0.33   12.0   0.51   27.3   0.64   32.8   0.60   19.4   0.53   4.5   0.26   0.3   0.08
Sweden 7.3   0.62   15.0   0.80   26.2   0.84   28.0   0.84   17.2   0.77   5.6   0.45   0.7   0.14
Switzerland 3.0   0.31   9.8   0.62   22.8   0.82   31.3   0.74   23.7   0.86   8.3   0.70   1.0   0.22
Thailand 7.0   0.64   26.6   1.33   37.5   1.07   21.6   1.14   6.4   0.74   0.9 ! 0.27    
Tunisia 21.3   1.45   34.0   1.07   31.1   1.36   11.7   1.00   1.8   0.49        
Turkey 4.4   0.50   21.9   1.27   35.4   1.43   25.1   1.28   11.3   1.28   1.8   0.34    
United Arab Emirates 11.3   0.76   23.8   0.99   29.9   0.83   22.3   0.88   10.1   0.60   2.3   0.25   0.3   0.07
United Kingdom 4.3   0.48   10.7   0.86   22.4   1.00   28.4   0.98   23.0   0.91   9.3   0.70   1.8   0.34
United States 4.2   0.54   14.0   1.08   26.7   1.08   28.9   1.07   18.8   1.07   6.3   0.64   1.1   0.20
Uruguay 19.7   1.06   27.2   0.92   29.3   1.00   17.1   0.95   5.6   0.53   1.0   0.24    
Vietnam 0.9 ! 0.26   5.8   0.90   20.7   1.40   37.5   1.48   27.0   1.50   7.1   0.90   1.0 ! 0.32
                                                       
U.S. state education systems                                                      
Connecticut 3.3   0.82   10.2   1.36   21.4   1.58   29.4   1.69   22.8   1.46   10.7   1.13   2.2   0.60
Florida 5.1   0.96   16.1   1.61   28.4   1.61   28.2   2.00   16.6   1.64   4.9   1.01    
Massachusetts 2.6   0.65   8.9   1.03   21.2   1.96   29.4   1.50   23.8   1.84   11.3   1.48   2.9   0.73
† Not applicable.
# Rounds to zero.
! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable due to high coefficient of variation.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
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. Exact cut 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). Scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. The OECD average is the average of the national percentages of the OECD member countries, with each country weighted equally. Standard error is noted by s.e. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Italics indicate non-OECD countries and education systems. Results for Connecticut, Florida, and Massachusetts are for public school students only.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2012.