High and Low Performers

Excel Download

Figure M2a. Percentage of 15-year-old students performing at PISA mathematics literacy proficiency levels below level 2 and levels 5 and above, by education system: 2015

Below level 2
Level 5 and above
# Rounds to zero.
! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable due to high coefficient of variation (>30 percent and ≤50 percent)..
‡ Reporting standards not met due to coefficient of variation over 50 percent.
*p<.05. Significantly different from the U.S. percentage at the .05 level of statistical significance.
NOTE: Education systems are ordered by 2015 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 mathematics proficiency levels according to their scores. Exact cut scores are as follows: below level 1 (a score less than or equal to 357.77); level 1 (a score greater than 357.77 and less than or equal to 420.07); level 2 (a score greater than 420.07 and less than or equal to 482.38); level 3 (a score greater than 482.38 and less than or equal to 544.68); level 4 (a score greater than 544.68 and less than or equal to 606.99); level 5 (a score greater than 606.99 and less than or equal to 669.30); and level 6 (a score greater than 669.30). 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. B-S-J-G (China) refers to the four PISA participating China provinces: Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong. Results for Massachusetts and North Carolina are for public school students only. Although Argentina, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan participated in PISA 2015, technical problems with their samples prevent results from being discussed in this report. This figure corresponds to figure 6 in Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science, Mathematics, and Reading Literacy in an International Context (NCES 2017-048).
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2015.

Excel Download

Table M2b. Percentage of 15-year-old students performing at PISA mathematics literacy proficiency levels below level 2 and levels 5 and above, by education system: 2015
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	23.4	*	0.18		10.7	*	0.13		Croatia	32.0		1.37		5.6		0.54
Singapore	7.6	*	0.39		34.8	*	0.77		Latvia	21.4	*	1.01		5.2		0.42
Chinese Taipei	12.7	*	0.73		28.1	*	1.25		Bulgaria	42.1	*	1.80		4.4		0.63
Hong Kong (China)	9.0	*	0.77		26.5	*	1.14		Buenos Aires (Argentina)	34.1		3.20		4.0		1.09
B-S-J-G (China)	15.8	*	1.21		25.6	*	1.90		Greece	35.8	*	1.77		3.9	*	0.48
Macau (China)	6.6	*	0.52		21.9	*	0.62		United Arab Emirates	48.7	*	1.21		3.7	*	0.34
Korea, Republic of	15.5	*	1.06		20.9	*	1.33		Romania	39.9	*	1.84		3.3	*	0.53
Japan	10.7	*	0.81		20.3	*	1.26		Cyprus	42.6	*	0.80		3.2	*	0.41
Switzerland	15.8	*	1.03		19.2	*	1.05		Trinidad and Tobago	52.3	*	0.83		2.5	*	0.31
Belgium	20.1	*	0.96		15.9	*	0.67		Qatar	58.7	*	0.70		2.2	*	0.19
Netherlands	16.7	*	0.89		15.5	*	0.78		Lebanon	60.2	*	1.58		2.0	*	0.33
Canada	14.4	*	0.70		15.1	*	0.76		Moldova, Republic of	50.3	*	1.25		1.7	*	0.25
Estonia	11.2	*	0.71		14.2	*	0.81		Uruguay	52.4	*	1.23		1.7	*	0.37
Slovenia	16.1	*	0.58		13.5	*	0.68		Georgia	57.1	*	1.18		1.6	*	0.40
Germany	17.2	*	1.00		12.9	*	0.78		Montenegro, Republic of	51.9	*	0.95		1.5	*	0.22
Austria	21.8	*	1.08		12.5	*	0.87		Thailand	53.8	*	1.62		1.4	*	0.35
Poland	17.2	*	1.00		12.2	*	0.88		Chile	49.4	*	1.28		1.4	*	0.21
Malta	29.1		0.81		11.8	*	0.67		Turkey	51.4	*	2.17		1.1	*	0.36
Finland	13.6	*	0.83		11.7	*	0.70		Albania	53.3	*	1.92		1.1	*	0.25
Denmark	13.6	*	0.85		11.7	*	0.73		Brazil	70.3	*	1.22		0.9	*	0.21
France	23.5	*	0.93		11.4	*	0.69		Macedonia, Republic of	70.2	*	0.77		0.8	*	0.19
Portugal	23.8	*	0.95		11.4	*	0.70		Indonesia	68.6	*	1.56		0.7	*	0.19
New Zealand	21.6	*	1.02		11.4	*	0.71		Tunisia	74.8	*	1.24		0.5	!*	0.23
Australia	22.0	*	0.61		11.3	*	0.62		Peru	66.2	*	1.41		#	*	†
Norway	17.1	*	0.77		10.6	*	0.67		Mexico	56.6	*	1.31		#	!*	†
United Kingdom	21.9	*	1.01		10.6	*	0.69		Colombia	66.3	*	1.18		#	!*	†
Italy	23.3	*	1.06		10.5	*	0.80		Costa Rica	62.5	*	1.51		#	!*	†
Sweden	20.8	*	1.20		10.4	*	0.86		Jordan	67.5	*	1.31		#	!*	†
Czech Republic	21.7	*	1.07		10.4	*	0.78		Algeria	81.0	*	1.34		‡		†
Iceland	23.6	*	1.01		10.3	*	0.78		Kosovo	77.7	*	1.05		‡		†
Luxembourg	25.8	*	0.69		10.0	*	0.52		Dominican Republic	90.5	*	1.04		‡		†
Ireland	15.0	*	0.89		9.8	*	0.58
Vietnam	19.1	*	1.67		9.3	*	1.34
Israel	32.1		1.37		8.9	*	0.89
Russian Federation	18.9	*	1.17		8.8	*	0.74
Hungary	28.0		1.15		8.1	*	0.64
Slovak Republic	27.7		1.19		7.8	*	0.64		U.S. states and territories
Spain	22.2	*	0.97		7.2		0.62		Massachusetts	17.2	*	1.84		10.0	*	1.34
Lithuania	25.4	*	1.07		6.9		0.66		North Carolina	28.8		2.08		5.5		0.89
United States	29.4		1.44		5.9		0.70		Puerto Rico	72.6	*	3.66		‡		†

† Not applicable. # Rounds to zero. ! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable due to high coefficient of variation (>30 percent and ≤50 percent). ‡ Reporting standards not met due to coefficient of variation over 50 percent. * p<.05. Significantly different from the U.S. percentage at the .05 level of statistical significance. NOTE: Education systems are ordered by 2015 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 mathematics proficiency evels according to their scores. Exact cut scores are as follows: level 2 and below (a score less than or equal to 484.14); level 5 and above (a score greater than 606.99). 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. B-S-J-G (China) refers to the four PISA participating China provinces: Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Guangdong. Results for Massachusetts and North Carolina are for public school students only. Although Argentina, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan participated in PISA 2015, technical problems with their samples prevent results from being discussed in this report. This table corresponds to figure 6 in Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Science, Mathematics, and Reading Literacy in an International Context (NCES 2017-048). SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2015.