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Science Literacy: Percentiles

Percentile Scores

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Table S3. Cut scores of 15-year-old students on PISA science literacy scale at selected percentiles and percentile cut score gaps, by education system: 2012
Education system Percentile
10th   25th   50th   75th   90th   90th to 10th
Cut score s.e.   Cut score s.e.   Cut score s.e.   Cut score s.e.   Cut score s.e.   Cut score gap s.e.
OECD average 380 0.8   439 0.6   504 0.6   566 0.6   619 0.6   239   1.0
Indonesia 297 4.9   336 3.8   380 3.7   427 4.7   471 6.0   174 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 7.7
Costa Rica 341 3.3   382 3.6   428 3.2   476 3.6   520 4.9   180 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 5.9
Mexico 325 2.1   368 1.6   415 1.4   462 1.5   505 1.9   180 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 2.8
Kazakhstan 330 3.6   375 3.4   425 3.4   475 3.5   521 3.8   190 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 5.2
Thailand 349 3.4   392 2.6   441 3.2   494 3.8   544 5.4   195 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.4
Colombia 302 4.6   347 3.4   398 3.2   449 3.5   497 4.0   196 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.1
Vietnam 428 7.0   478 5.2   531 4.2   580 4.0   625 5.5   197 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 8.9
Peru 275 3.8   321 3.4   372 3.8   425 4.4   475 5.4   200 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.6
Brazil 306 2.3   351 2.0   402 2.3   456 2.8   507 3.7   201 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 4.3
Tunisia 296 4.6   345 4.1   399 3.8   452 4.1   497 5.1   201 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.9
Malaysia 319 3.4   365 3.4   419 3.1   473 3.6   521 4.3   202 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 5.5
Romania 340 3.2   383 3.4   435 3.6   492 4.6   543 5.1   202 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.0
Macao-China 416 2.7   469 1.9   524 1.6   575 1.7   619 1.8   203 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 3.2
Latvia 400 4.5   449 3.2   504 3.3   557 3.6   603 3.2   203 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 5.6
Estonia 439 3.3   487 2.7   541 2.3   597 2.6   645 3.1   206 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 4.6
Korea, Republic of 431 4.9   485 4.0   542 3.8   595 4.1   639 4.3   208 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.5
Chile 343 3.8   388 3.3   442 3.4   500 3.6   552 3.7   209 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 5.3
Shanghai-China 472 5.4   527 3.7   587 3.3   639 3.2   681 3.2   209 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.3
Hong Kong-China 446 5.1   505 3.8   562 2.8   613 3.0   655 3.4   210 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.1
Turkey 363 3.5   407 3.5   458 4.3   518 5.8   573 6.3   210 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 7.2
Jordan 303 4.4   355 3.6   410 3.2   466 3.4   514 4.2   211 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.1
Chinese Taipei 411 4.3   469 3.8   529 2.9   582 2.4   626 2.2   215 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 4.8
Argentina 297 5.1   350 4.6   407 4.8   464 4.7   513 4.7   216 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.9
Russian Federation 377 4.1   428 3.6   487 3.1   544 3.3   596 4.9   218 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.4
Montenegro, Republic of 302 2.9   352 1.4   408 1.6   468 2.2   522 2.3   220 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 3.7
Lithuania 383 4.0   438 3.2   498 2.9   555 3.0   605 3.6   221 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 5.4
Spain 384 3.1   440 2.3   500 2.2   557 1.8   605 2.0   221 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 3.7
Croatia 380 4.0   433 3.3   492 3.5   551 4.2   602 5.2   222 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.5
Poland 415 4.0   467 3.3   526 3.3   584 4.0   637 5.0   222 Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 6.4
Serbia, Republic of 333 5.2   385 4.5   443 3.8   504 3.5   558 3.9   224   6.5
Greece 352 5.1   408 4.5   469 3.7   528 3.5   578 3.6   225   6.2
Liechtenstein 408 10.0   464 8.4   526 8.8   588 8.2   635 9.3   227   13.6
Czech Republic 392 5.5   449 4.0   512 3.2   572 3.2   622 3.7   230   6.6
Portugal 372 5.6   430 4.8   492 4.1   551 3.6   602 3.6   231   6.7
Canada 407 2.7   467 2.1   528 2.4   588 2.4   639 2.6   232   3.7
Ireland 404 4.8   462 3.1   525 2.6   586 2.4   637 2.6   233   5.4
Hungary 376 4.6   432 4.3   497 3.2   558 3.5   610 4.7   233   6.6
Slovenia 397 3.5   451 2.2   515 1.9   578 2.0   631 3.2   235   4.8
Switzerland 394 3.4   455 3.8   519 3.3   579 3.1   630 3.3   236   4.7
Denmark 378 4.3   438 3.8   502 3.0   563 3.2   615 4.1   238   6.0
Finland 424 3.9   486 2.8   550 2.5   609 2.4   662 2.9   238   4.9
Italy 371 2.8   431 2.5   497 2.2   559 2.0   611 2.5   240   3.7
Austria 383 5.3   442 3.5   510 3.3   571 3.1   623 3.4   240   6.3
United States 377 4.9   431 4.4   498 4.3   563 4.2   619 4.5   242   6.7
Japan 421 6.4   485 4.5   553 3.9   614 3.6   664 4.3   243   7.8
United Arab Emirates 328 3.2   382 3.5   447 3.3   512 3.5   572 3.4   244   4.6
Germany 397 4.8   461 3.8   529 3.7   592 3.1   642 3.9   245   6.2
Albania 271 5.2   340 3.5   403 2.7   464 3.0   517 3.3   245   6.2
Uruguay 293 4.2   352 3.8   417 3.1   480 3.4   538 4.3   245   6.0
Cyprus 313 2.9   373 2.0   439 1.8   503 2.4   561 2.5   248   3.9
Netherlands 393 5.4   458 5.0   528 4.5   591 3.9   641 4.1   248   6.8
Norway 365 5.2   429 3.7   498 3.5   564 3.3   620 3.4   254   6.2
United Kingdom 384 4.9   448 4.6   518 3.6   584 3.5   639 3.9   255   6.3
Iceland 348 3.4   413 2.5   481 2.8   548 3.2   603 3.7   255   5.0
France 366 6.0   433 3.4   506 3.1   570 3.0   622 4.1   256   7.3
Sweden 354 4.7   419 4.1   488 3.4   554 3.2   611 3.4   257   5.8
Australia 391 2.6   453 2.1   524 1.9   592 2.5   650 2.7   259 Cut score gap is larger than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 3.7
Slovak Republic 339 5.7   403 5.2   474 4.8   542 4.0   599 4.9   260   7.5
Belgium 368 4.5   439 3.3   514 2.3   577 2.5   629 2.0   261 Cut score gap is larger than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 4.9
Bulgaria 315 5.3   374 5.6   447 5.6   519 5.1   580 6.1   265 Cut score gap is larger than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 8.1
Singapore 412 3.2   480 2.6   558 2.2   627 2.6   681 3.4   269 Cut score gap is larger than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 4.6
Luxembourg 355 3.1   419 2.2   494 1.6   566 1.9   624 2.9   269 Cut score gap is larger than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 4.2
New Zealand 377 4.5   444 3.0   518 3.0   591 3.1   649 3.0   272 Cut score gap is larger than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 5.4
Qatar 254 1.4   309 1.3   374 1.1   453 1.6   530 2.4   275 Cut score gap is larger than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 2.8
Israel 328 6.4   396 5.7   473 6.1   548 5.7   608 5.4   281 Cut score gap is larger than the U.S. percentile cut score gap 8.3
                                     
U.S. state education systems                                    
Florida 366 7.2   421 7.5   485 7.1   549 8.2   604 7.3   239   10.2
Massachusetts 403 5.6   460 6.5   528 7.5   594 7.9   654 9.4   251   11.0
Connecticut 389 9.5   455 8.5   523 6.6   588 5.7   647 6.0   258   11.2
Cut score gap is larger than the U.S. percentile cut score gap Cut score gap is larger than the U.S. percentile cut score gap.
Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap Cut score gap is smaller than the U.S. percentile cut score gap.
NOTE: This table shows the threshold (or cut) scores for the following: (a) 10th percentile- the bottom 10 percent of students; (b) 25th percentile- the bottom 25 percent of students; (c) 50th percentile- the median (half the students scored below the cut score and half scored above it); (d) 75th percentile- the top 25 percent of students; (e) 90th percentile- the top 10 percent of students. The percentile ranges are specific to each education system's distribution of scores, enabling users to compare cut scores across education systems. Education systems are ordered by cut score gap. The OECD average is the average of the national averages of the OECD member countries, with each country weighted equally. Scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. Standard error is noted by s.e. 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.