Indicator 14: International Reading Achievement

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Table 14. Average scores on reading literacy assessments, by sex, and percentage at selected literacy proficiency levels among 15-year-old students in selected countries: 2003
	Reading literacy score			Percent of students at selected reading literacy proficiency levels
Country	Average score	Male	Female	Level 1 or below1	Level 32	Level 53
OECD average4	488	472	503	22	27	8
Australia	525	506	545	12	28	15
Austria	491	467	514	21	27	8
Belgium	507	489	526	18	26	13
Canada	528	514	546	10	31	13
Czech Republic	489	473	504	19	30	6
Denmark	492	479	505	17	33	5
Finland	543	521	565	6	32	15
France	496	476	514	18	30	7
Germany	491	471	513	22	26	10
Greece	472	453	490	25	27	6
Hungary	482	467	498	21	30	5
Iceland	492	464	522	19	30	7
Ireland	515	501	530	11	32	9
Italy	476	455	495	24	28	5
Japan	498	487	509	19	27	10
Korea	534	525	547	7	34	12
Luxembourg	479	463	496	23	29	5
Mexico	400	389	410	52	16	1
Netherlands	513	503	524	12	31	9
New Zealand	522	508	535	15	26	16
Norway	500	475	525	18	29	10
Poland	497	477	516	17	30	8
Portugal	478	459	495	22	31	4
Slovak Republic	469	453	486	25	28	4
Spain	481	461	500	21	30	5
Sweden	514	496	533	13	30	11
Switzerland	499	482	517	17	31	8
Turkey	441	426	459	37	21	4
United Kingdom5	—	—	—	—	—	—
United States	495	479	511	19	28	9
— Not available.
1Less than 407 score points. Although students at this level may have the technical capacity to read, they have serious difficulties in using reading literacy as an effective tool to advance knowledge. Some students are capable of completing only the simplest reading tasks, such as locating a single piece of information, identifying the main theme of a text, or making a simple connection with everyday knowledge.
2Between 481 and 552 score points. Indicates an ability to locate multiple pieces of information, make links between different parts of a text, and relate it to familiar everyday knowledge.
3Above 625 score points. Indicates an ability to manage information that is difficult to find in unfamiliar texts, show detailed understanding of such text, and evaluate critically and build hypotheses.
4Refers to the average for OECD countries as a single entity, to which each country contributes in proportion to the number of 15-year-olds enrolled in its schools.
5Response rate was too low to ensure comparability.
NOTE: The scale range for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is from 0 to 1,000. The scale was designed to have an average score of 500 points across OECD countries, with approximately two-thirds of students achieving between 400 and 600 points.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (2004). Learning for Tomorrow's World: First Results from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003.

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