High and Low Performers

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Figure R1a. Percentage of 15-year-old students performing at PISA reading literacy proficiency levels 5 and above and below level 2, by education system: 2012

! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable due to high coefficient of variation.
� Reporting standards not met.
* p<.05. Significantly different from the U.S. percentage at the .05 level of statistical significance.
NOTE: Education systems are ordered by 2012 percentages of 15-year-olds in levels 5 and above. To reach a particular proficiency level, a student must correctly answer a majority of items at that level. Students were classified into reading proficiency levels according to their scores. Exact cut scores are as follows: below level 1b (a score less than or equal to 262.04); level 1b (a score greater than 262.04 and less than or equal to 334.75); level 1a (a score greater than 334.75 and less than or equal to 407.47); level 2 (a score greater than 407.47 and less than or equal to 480.18); level 3 (a score greater than 480.18 and less than or equal to 552.89); level 4 (a score greater than 552.89 and less than or equal to 625.61); level 5 (a score greater than 625.61 and less than or equal to 698.32); and level 6 (a score greater than 698.32). Scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. The OECD average is the average of the national percentages of the OECD member countries, with each country weighted equally. Italics indicate non-OECD countries and education systems. Results for Connecticut, Florida, and Massachusetts are for public school students only. This figure corresponds to figure 3 in Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Mathematics, Science, and Reading Literacy in an International Context (NCES 2014-024).
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2012.

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Table R1b. Percentage of 15-year-old students performing at PISA reading literacy proficiency levels 5 and above and below level 2, by education system: 2012
Education system	Below level 2				Levels 5 and above				Education system	Below level 2				Levels 5 and above
	Percent		s.e.		Percent		s.e.			Percent		s.e.		Percent		s.e.
OECD average	18.0		0.18		8.4		0.12
Shanghai-China	2.9	*	0.39		25.1	*	1.19		Russian Federation	22.3	*	1.29		4.6	*	0.58
Singapore	9.9	*	0.42		21.2	*	0.60		Vietnam	9.4	*	1.43		4.5	*	0.81
Japan	9.8	*	0.92		18.5	*	1.27		Croatia	18.7		1.29		4.4	*	0.69
Hong Kong-China	6.8	*	0.72		16.8	*	1.16		Slovak Republic	28.2	*	1.78		4.4	*	0.68
Korea, Republic of	7.6	*	0.89		14.1	*	1.24		Turkey	21.6	*	1.43		4.3	*	0.85
New Zealand	16.3		0.83		14.0	*	0.77		Bulgaria	39.4	*	2.21		4.3	*	0.64
Finland	11.3	*	0.71		13.5	*	0.64		Latvia	17.0		1.14		4.2	*	0.55
France	18.9		0.98		12.9	*	0.85		Cyprus	32.8	*	0.67		4.0	*	0.32
Canada	10.9	*	0.45		12.9	*	0.62		Lithuania	21.2	*	1.18		3.3	*	0.37
Chinese Taipei	11.5	*	0.87		11.8	*	0.84		Serbia, Republic of	33.1	*	1.66		2.2	*	0.41
Belgium	16.1		0.81		11.8	*	0.60		United Arab Emirates	35.5	*	1.08		2.2	*	0.29
Australia	14.2		0.46		11.7	*	0.54		Qatar	57.1	*	0.42		1.6	*	0.14
Ireland	9.6	*	0.88		11.4	*	0.65		Romania	37.3	*	1.87		1.6	*	0.38
Liechtenstein	12.4		1.88		10.9		2.89		Albania	52.3	*	1.28		1.2	*	0.25
Norway	16.2		1.03		10.2	*	0.74		Montenegro, Republic of	43.3	*	0.75		1.0	*	0.19
Poland	10.6	*	0.80		10.0		0.93		Uruguay	47.0	*	1.42		0.9	*	0.27
Netherlands	14.0		1.23		9.8		0.82		Thailand	33.0	*	1.40		0.8	*	0.22
Israel	23.6	*	1.64		9.6		0.84		Chile	33.0	*	1.67		0.6	*	0.10
Switzerland	13.7	*	0.76		9.1		0.68		Costa Rica	32.4	*	1.81		0.6	!*	0.19
Germany	14.5		0.91		8.9		0.70		Argentina	53.6	*	1.73		0.5	*	0.14
Luxembourg	22.2	*	0.74		8.9		0.39		Brazil	49.2	*	1.13		0.5	*	0.12
United Kingdom	16.6		1.30		8.8		0.74		Peru	59.9	*	1.95		0.5	!*	0.21
Estonia	9.1	*	0.65		8.3		0.72		Mexico	41.1	*	0.90		0.4	*	0.09
United States	16.6		1.26		7.9		0.67		Colombia	51.4	*	1.78		0.3	!*	0.13
Sweden	22.7	*	1.15		7.9		0.64		Tunisia	49.3	*	2.24		‡		†
Macao-China	11.5	*	0.42		7.0		0.41		Jordan	50.7	*	1.57		‡		†
Italy	19.5	*	0.67		6.7		0.35		Malaysia	52.7	*	1.71		‡		†
Czech Republic	16.9		1.21		6.1	*	0.55		Indonesia	55.2	*	2.18		‡		†
Iceland	21.0	*	0.72		5.8	*	0.51		Kazakhstan	57.1	*	1.56		‡		†
Portugal	18.8		1.42		5.8	*	0.61
Hungary	19.7		1.22		5.6	*	0.75
Spain	18.3		0.76		5.5	*	0.30		U.S. state education systems
Austria	19.5		1.07		5.5	*	0.61
Denmark	14.6		1.07		5.4	*	0.62		Massachusetts	11.5	*	1.37		16.1	*	1.98
Greece	22.6	*	1.24		5.1	*	0.61		Connecticut	13.2		1.76		14.5	*	1.68
Slovenia	21.1	*	0.68		5.0	*	0.43		Florida	17.5		2.00		5.5	*	1.02
† Not applicable. ! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable due to high coefficient of variation. # Rounds to zero. ‡ Reporting standards not met. * p<.05. Significantly different from the U.S. percentage at the .05 level of statistical significance. NOTE: Education systems are ordered by 2012 percentages of 15-year-olds in levels 5 and above. To reach a particular proficiency level, a student must correctly answer a majority of items at that level. Students were classified into reading proficiency levels according to their scores. Exact cut scores are as follows: below level 1b (a score less than or equal to 262.04); level 1b (a score greater than 262.04 and less than or equal to 334.75); level 1a (a score greater than 334.75 and less than or equal to 407.47); level 2 (a score greater than 407.47 and less than or equal to 480.18); level 3 (a score greater than 480.18 and less than or equal to 552.89); level 4 (a score greater than 552.89 and less than or equal to 625.61); level 5 (a score greater than 625.61 and less than or equal to 698.32); and level 6 (a score greater than 698.32). Scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. The OECD average is the average of the national percentages of the OECD member countries, with each country weighted equally. 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. This table corresponds to figure 3 in Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Mathematics, Science, and Reading Literacy in an International Context (NCES 2014-024). SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2012.