OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

Mathematical Literacy in PISA 2003

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pisa2003

Australia was outperformed by four countries in mathematical literacy (Hong Kong-China, Finland, Korea and The Netherlands). In PISA 2000 only two countries performed better than Australia (Japan and Hong Kong, China).

Compare PISA 2000 mathematics results

Mathematics proficiency levels

While it is useful for countries to be able to examine mean performance, PISA is also able to provide a profile of students' mathematical performance using proficiency levels. The figure below shows overall mathematics proficiency levels for all countries in PISA 2003.

PISA - Key Findings: Mathematics Proficiency Levels

As mathematics was the major domain in PISA 2003, proficiency levels were also created for the four mathematics subscales.

Proficiency levels for the four mathematics subscales for Australia

Gender differences in mathematics

As shown in the figure below, Australian boys and girls performed at equivalent levels in mathematical literacy but this was not the case in all PISA countries.

PISA - Key Findings: Gender Differences in maths

Proficiency levels by gender for Australia

Although the means for overall mathematical literacy in Australia show no gender differences, the levels of proficiency attained by males and demales in Australia show that almost twice as many males as females achieve the highest PISA proficiency level. Males also performed significantly better than females on two of the four subscales: space and shape and uncertainty.