Media Centre

Australian 15-year-olds among the best in the world in reading, mathematics and science

Posted on:Tuesday, 4th December 2001

Australian 15-year-olds have achieved outstanding results in the first major       international survey of reading, mathematical and scientific literacy skills       to be undertaken by the OECD, according to the Australian Council for Educational       Research (ACER).

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) compared the performance       of Australian 15-year-olds with the performance of 15-year-olds in 31 other       countries, including USA, Canada, UK, many European nations, Japan, Korea       and Russia.

265 000 students from 32 countries took part in the first PISA survey in 2000       in key areas thought to be essential for full participation in adult life.      Twenty-eight of the countries, including Australia, are OECD members. Four       other countries participated at their own request. In Australia, 6200 students       from 231 government, Catholic and independent schools in all States and Territories       took part.

Students answered a two-hour test and a background questionnaire about themselves,      and principals answered a questionnaire about their schools.

PISA was implemented for the OECD by a consortium of research organisations       led by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in Melbourne.      The Australian component of PISA was also implemented by ACER and was jointly       funded by the Commonwealth, State and Territory Governments.

PISA is particularly significant because the tests were developed by international       experts to see how well students could apply their knowledge and skills to       real-life problems and situations. Results show how well students can analyse,      reason and explain their ideas – skills that will be important to them       in their adult lives.

ACER Executive Director, Professor Geoff Masters, said the study provides       unique information about how well Australia is preparing our young people       for life after school.

“The findings are highly encouraging. There are very few countries anywhere       in the world providing 15-year-olds with reading, mathematical and scientific       literacy skills above those being achieved in Australia,” Professor       Masters said.

Highlights of the Australian results:

• Only one country, Finland, performed significantly better than Australia         in reading literacy;
• Only one country, Japan, performed significantly         better than Australia in mathematical literacy;
• Only two countries, Korea         and Japan, performed significantly better than Australia in scientific         literacy;
• In reading literacy (the major focus of PISA 2000), Australia         had one of the highest proportions of students of any country at the         highest proficiency level (Level 5) and one of the lowest proportions         of students at the lowest level (Below Level 1);
• Within Australia, the         ACT consistently achieved the highest results and the NT the lowest,        but there were other states with results that were not significantly         different from the ACT’s or NT’s.        There was a large difference between the ACT and the NT in the reading         proficiency levels attained. Interstate differences in mathematics and         science performance were less than they were in the Third International         Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) results reported in 1996;
• All Australian         States and Territories performed at or above the OECD average;
• Australia’s         best students in each of the three domains achieved on a par with the         best students in other high-achieving countries. This finding was maintained         within all parts of Australia except the NT. Results for the best students         were particularly outstanding in the ACT for all three domains, in WA         for mathematical literacy and scientific literacy and in SA for scientific         literacy; and
• There was no significant difference between Australian         boys’ and         girls’ performance in mathematical and scientific literacy, but         girls performed significantly better than boys in reading literacy, as         they did in every country participating in PISA. Few countries had significant         gender differences in scientific literacy but boys performed better than         girls in mathematical literacy in 16 countries.

Areas of concern from the Australian results are:

• The relatively low performance of boys in reading, particularly in relation         to narrative texts;
• Boys from disadvantaged backgrounds were twice as         likely as girls from similar backgrounds to be in the lowest quarter         of reading scores;
• The relatively low performance of Indigenous students         overall in the three domains;
• The difference in reading performance between         students according to their socioeconomic backgrounds; but
• Although the         above groups had lower results on average, there were many individuals         with good to very good results

---

---

« Go back to media releases list