Program for International Student Assessment (PISA): 2012 Results -Financial Literacy: Student Race/Ethnicity

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Financial Literacy: Student Race/Ethnicity

Proficiency Levels

Table FL7. Percentage distribution of U.S. 15-year-old students on PISA financial literacy scale, by proficiency level and race/ethnicity: 2012
Race/ethnicity	Below level 2			Level 2			Level 3			Level 4			Level 5
Race/ethnicity	Percent		*s.e.*	Percent		*s.e.*	Percent		*s.e.*	Percent		*s.e.*	Percent		*s.e.*
U.S. average	17.8		*1.51*	26.2		*1.79*	27.1		*1.80*	19.4		*1.78*	9.4		*1.17*
White	8.5	*	1.66	23.1		2.86	28.1		2.49	25.9	***	2.45	14.4	*	1.94
Black	37.3	*	5.77	32.0		5.31	20.0	*	4.13	9.5	!*	4.32	‡		†
Hispanic	26.6	*	3.94	29.7	**	3.40	27.1		3.00	13.9	*	3.25	‡		†
Asian	‡		†	‡		†	‡		†	‡		†	‡		†
Multiracial	‡		†	‡		†	‡		†	‡		†	‡		†
OECD average (FL)	15.3		*0.38*	22.9		*0.48*	30.2		*0.50*	21.9		*0.43*	9.7		*0.30*
† Not applicable. ! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable due to high coefficient of variation. ‡ Reporting standards not met. * p<.05. Significantly different from both the U.S. and OECD averages at the .05 level of statistical significance. p<.05. Significantly different from the OECD average at the .05 level of statistical significance. * p<.05. Significantly different from the U.S. average at the .05 level of statistical significance. NOTE: To reach a particular proficiency level, a student must correctly answer a majority of items at that level. Students were classified into financial literacy levels according to their scores. Exact cut scores are as follows: below level 1 (a score less than or equal to 325.57); level 1 (a score greater than 325.57 and less than or equal to 400.33); level 2 (a score greater than 400.33 and less than or equal to 475.10); level 3 (a score greater than 475.10 and less than or equal to 549.86); level 4 (a score greater than 549.86 and less than or equal to 624.63); and level 5 (a score greater than 624.63). Proficiency levels below 1 and level 1 have been collapsed into a below level 2 category for this table, in order to provide descriptive and meaningful proficiency levels for the financial literacy assessment. Scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. Reporting standards were not met for American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Multiracial, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander. Black includes African American, and Hispanic includes Latino. Students who identified themselves as being of Hispanic origin were classified as Hispanic, regardless of their race. Although data for some race/ethnicities were not shown separately because the reporting standards were not met, they are included in the U.S. total. The OECD average (FL) is the average of the national percentages of the 13 OECD member countries that participated in the financial literacy (FL) assessment, with each country weighted equally. The following OECD countries participated in the financial literacy assessment: Australia, Belgium-Flemish Community, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain and the United States. Standard error is noted by s.e. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2012.