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Digest of Education Statistics
1996 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 401.Reading literacy test scores of 9-year-olds: Selected countries, 1992

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                       |      |     |  Overall  |  Narra-   |Narrative\2\|  Narra-   |Expository\3\|Documents\4\
                       |Grade |Mean |mean score |tive\2\ 1st| mean score |tive\2\ 3rd|mean score   |mean score
        Country        |tested|age  | (s.e.)\1\ | quartile  |  (s.e.)\1\ | quartile  |  (s.e.)\1\  |  (s.e.)\1\
-----------------------|------|-----|-----------|-----------|------------|-----------|-------------|------------
           1           |  2   |  3  |     4     |     5     |     6      |     7     |     8       |     9
-----------------------|------|-----|-----------|-----------|------------|-----------|-------------|------------
Finland ...............|    3 | 9.7 |  569 (3.4)|       508 |  568 (3.0) |       602 |  569 (3.1)  |  569 (4.0)
United States .........|    4 |10.0 |  547 (2.8)|       476 |  553 (3.1) |       619 |  538 (2.6)  |  550 (2.7)
Sweden ................|    3 | 9.8 |  539 (2.8)|       467 |  536 (2.6) |       592 |  542 (2.7)  |  539 (3.2)
France ................|    4 |10.1 |  531 (4.0)|       467 |  532 (4.1) |       580 |  533 (4.1)  |  527 (3.9)
Italy .................|    4 | 9.9 |  529 (4.3)|       468 |  533 (4.0) |       576 |  538 (4.0)  |  517 (4.9)
                       |      |     |           |           |            |           |             |
New Zealand ...........|    5 |10.0 |  528 (3.3)|       452 |  534 (3.5) |       594 |  531 (3.1)  |  521 (3.3)
Norway ................|    3 | 9.8 |  524 (2.6)|       455 |  525 (2.8) |       576 |  528 (2.3)  |  519 (2.8)
Iceland\5\ ............|    3 | 9.8 |  518 (0.0)|       448 |  518 (0.0) |       571 |  517 (0.0)  |  519 (0.0)
Hong Kong .............|    4 |10.0 |  517 (3.9)|       431 |  494 (4.1) |       548 |  503 (3.4)  |  554 (4.2)
Singapore .............|    3 | 9.3 |  515 (1.0)|       450 |  521 (1.1) |       567 |  519 (1.0)  |  504 (1.0)
                       |      |     |           |           |            |           |             |
Switzerland ...........|    3 | 9.7 |  511 (2.7)|       438 |  506 (2.6) |       566 |  507 (2.7)  |  522 (2.8)
Ireland ...............|    4 | 9.3 |  509 (3.6)|       445 |  518 (3.7) |       571 |  514 (3.2)  |  495 (3.8)
Belgium\6\ ............|    4 | 9.8 |  507 (3.2)|       439 |  510 (3.3) |       558 |  505 (2.8)  |  506 (3.5)
Greece ................|    4 | 9.3 |  504 (3.7)|       447 |  514 (3.8) |       567 |  511 (3.6)  |  488 (3.8)
Spain .................|    4 |10.0 |  504 (2.5)|       429 |  497 (2.4) |       543 |  505 (2.3)  |  509 (2.7)
                       |      |     |           |           |            |           |             |
Germany (former West) .|    3 | 9.4 |  503 (3.0)|       421 |  491 (2.8) |       543 |  497 (2.9)  |  520 (3.2)
Canada\7\ .............|    3 | 8.9 |  500 (3.0)|       437 |  502 (3.5) |       566 |  499 (2.7)  |  500 (2.8)
Germany (former East) .|    3 | 9.5 |  499 (4.3)|       414 |  482 (4.2) |       531 |  493 (3.6)  |  522 (5.0)
Hungary ...............|    3 | 9.3 |  499 (3.1)|       437 |  496 (2.9) |       541 |  493 (3.1)  |  509 (3.5)
Slovenia ..............|    3 | 9.7 |  498 (2.6)|       435 |  502 (2.7) |       570 |  489 (2.5)  |  503 (2.5)
                       |      |     |           |           |            |           |             |
Netherlands ...........|    3 | 9.2 |  485 (3.6)|       425 |  494 (3.3) |       539 |  480 (3.4)  |  481 (3.9)
Cyprus ................|    4 | 9.8 |  481 (2.3)|       421 |  492 (2.4) |       548 |  475 (2.3)  |  476 (2.1)
Portugal ..............|    4 |10.4 |  478 (3.6)|       419 |  483 (3.3) |       531 |  480 (3.0)  |  471 (4.5)
Denmark ...............|    3 | 9.8 |  475 (3.5)|       386 |  463 (3.4) |       539 |  467 (3.5)  |  496 (3.6)
Trinidad/Tobago .......|    4 | 9.6 |  451 (3.4)|       383 |  455 (3.6) |       502 |  458 (3.4)  |  440 (3.3)
                       |      |     |           |           |            |           |             |
Indonesia .............|    4 |10.8 |  394 (3.0)|       351 |  402 (2.8) |       436 |  411 (3.2)  |  369 (3.0)
Venezuela .............|    4 |10.1 |  383 (3.4)|       322 |  378 (3.2) |       426 |  396 (3.3)  |  374 (3.7)
-----------------------|------|-----|-----------|-----------|------------|-----------|-------------|------------

\1\s.e.=standard error.

\2\Narrative prose is continuous text in which the writer's aim is to tell a story.

\3\Expository prose is continuous text designed to describe factual information to the reader.

\4\Documents are structured information presented in the form of charts, tables, maps, graphs, lists, or sets of instructions.

\5\Iceland tested all students, therefore standard errors are not applicable.

\6\Only French-speaking students were tested.

\7\British Columbia only.

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


1996 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest