Reading literacy test scores of 14-year-olds: Selected countries, 1992

Table 407.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                      |      |     |  Overall  |Narrative\1\|  Exposi-  |Expository\2\|  Exposi-  |Documents\3\
                      |Grade |Mean |mean score | mean score |tory\2\ 1st| mean score  |tory\2\ 3rd| mean score
       Country        |tested|age  |           |            |  quartile |             |  quartile |
______________________|______|_____|___________|____________|___________|_____________|___________|____________
          1           |  2   |  3  |      4    |      5     |     6     |       7     |     8     |      9
______________________|______|_____|___________|____________|___________|_____________|___________|____________
Finland...............|    8 |14.7 |  560 (2.5)|  559 (2.8) |       493 |   541 (2.2) |       575 |  580 (2.5)
France................|    9 |15.4 |  549 (4.3)|  556 (4.2) |       484 |   546 (4.3) |       580 |  544 (4.2)
Sweden................|    8 |14.8 |  546 (2.5)|  556 (2.6) |       469 |   533 (2.4) |       576 |  550 (2.4)
New Zealand...........|   10 |15.0 |  545 (5.6)|  547 (5.7) |       457 |   535 (5.7) |       597 |  552 (5.3)
Hungary...............|    8 |14.1 |  536 (3.3)|  530 (3.1) |       469 |   536 (3.6) |       577 |  542 (3.2)
                      |      |     |           |            |           |             |           |
Iceland\4\............|    8 |14.8 |  536 (0.0)|  550 (0.0) |       472 |   548 (0.0) |       617 |  509 (0.0)
Switzerland...........|    8 |14.9 |  536 (3.2)|  534 (3.4) |       466 |   525 (3.2) |       572 |  549 (3.0)
Hong Kong.............|    9 |15.2 |  535 (3.7)|  509 (3.7) |       480 |   540 (3.8) |       576 |  557 (3.8)
United States.........|    9 |15.0 |  535 (4.8)|  539 (4.9) |       456 |   539 (5.6) |       599 |  528 (4.0)
Singapore.............|    8 |14.4 |  534 (1.1)|  530 (1.1) |       476 |   539 (1.2) |       574 |  533 (1.1)
                      |      |     |           |            |           |             |           |
Slovenia..............|    8 |14.7 |  532 (2.3)|  534 (2.6) |       471 |   525 (2.2) |       576 |  537 (2.2)
Germany (former East).|    8 |14.4 |  526 (3.5)|  512 (3.9) |       464 |   523 (3.5) |       566 |  543 (2.9)
Denmark...............|    8 |14.8 |  525 (2.1)|  517 (2.0) |       458 |   524 (2.2) |       573 |  532 (2.1)
Portugal..............|    9 |15.6 |  523 (3.1)|  523 (2.5) |       469 |   523 (3.4) |       556 |  523 (3.4)
Canada\5\.............|    8 |13.9 |  522 (3.0)|  526 (3.1) |       449 |   516 (3.1) |       569 |  522 (2.7)
                      |      |     |           |            |           |             |           |
Germany (former West).|    8 |14.6 |  522 (4.4)|  514 (4.9) |       453 |   521 (4.5) |       573 |  532 (3.9)
Norway................|    8 |14.8 |  516 (2.3)|  515 (2.1) |       464 |   520 (2.4) |       569 |  512 (2.4)
Italy.................|    8 |14.1 |  515 (3.4)|  520 (3.6) |       459 |   524 (3.2) |       565 |  501 (3.3)
Netherlands...........|    8 |14.3 |  514 (4.9)|  506 (4.8) |       442 |   503 (4.7) |       546 |  533 (5.3)
Ireland...............|    9 |14.5 |  511 (5.2)|  510 (5.3) |       439 |   505 (5.3) |       555 |  518 (4.9)
                      |      |     |           |            |           |             |           |
Greece................|    9 |14.4 |  509 (2.9)|  526 (2.9) |       450 |   508 (3.1) |       548 |  493 (2.6)
Cyprus................|    9 |14.8 |  497 (2.2)|  516 (2.2) |       427 |   492 (2.4) |       536 |  482 (2.0)
Spain.................|    8 |14.2 |  490 (2.5)|  500 (3.0) |       435 |   495 (2.6) |       536 |  475 (2.0)
Belgium\6\ ...........|    8 |14.3 |  481 (4.9)|  484 (5.1) |       415 |   477 (4.8) |       522 |  483 (4.7)
Trinidad/Tobago.......|    9 |14.4 |  479 (1.7)|  482 (1.7) |       408 |   485 (1.8) |       537 |  472 (1.7)
                      |      |     |           |            |           |             |           |
Thailand..............|    9 |15.2 |  477 (6.2)|  468 (6.6) |       429 |   486 (5.9) |       533 |  478 (6.2)
Philippines...........|    8 |14.5 |  430 (3.9)|  421 (3.6) |       378 |   439 (4.1) |       472 |  430 (3.9)
Venezuela.............|    9 |15.5 |  417 (3.1)|  407 (2.9) |       381 |   433 (3.3) |       482 |  412 (3.0)
Nigeria\7,8\..........|    9 |15.3 |  401 (---)|  402 (---) |       351 |   406 (---) |       441 |  394 (---)
Zimbabwe\8\ ..........|    9 |15.5 |  372 (3.8)|  367 (3.3) |       326 |   374 (3.6) |       411 |  373 (4.6)
Botswana..............|    9 |14.7 |  330 (2.0)|  340 (1.6) |       294 |   339 (1.9) |       371 |  312 (2.4)
______________________|______|_____|___________|____________|___________|_____________|___________|____________

---Not Available.
\1\Narrative prose is continuous text in which the writer's aim is to tell a story.
\2\Expository prose is continuous text designed to describe, explain, or otherwise convey factual information or opinion to the reader.
\3\Documents are structured information presented in the form of charts, tables, maps, graphs, lists, or sets of instructions.
\4\Iceland tested all students, therefore standard errors are not applicable.
\5\British Columbia only.
\6\Only French-speaking students were tested.
\7\Insufficient data to calculate the standard error.
\8\Sampling response rate of schools was below 80 percent.

NOTE: Standard errors appear in parentheses.

SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, How in the World Do Students Read?, 1992. (This table was prepared April 1993.)

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