Reading Competency: An International Perspective
- On the 2015 PISA, the average reading score for American 15-year-olds was similar to the scores for students in several other Western industrialized nations—such as Denmark, France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom—and was not measurably different from the OECD average (Indicator I-03a).1 However, the U.S. average score was measurably lower than the average scores for 11 OECD nations (31% of the total OECD participants in the assessment.)
- Among U.S. 15-year-olds, 9% scored at the two highest levels (5 and 6), meaning they were capable of completing reading tasks involving unfamiliar and challenging texts (Indicator I-03b and Indicator I-03c; see the OECD’s documentation, beginning on page 161, for a detailed description of the types of tasks associated with each proficiency level). Six jurisdictions had measurably larger shares of students who were able to perform reading tasks of this kind. In top-ranked Canada, Finland, and New Zealand, 14% of students were able to complete such tasks.
- Nineteen percent of American 15-year-olds demonstrated reading literacy at below-basic levels (i.e., scored below Level 2) in 2015. Ten jurisdictions had measurably lower shares of students demonstrating such minimal reading literacy.
- The relative performance of U.S. 15-year-olds in 2015 was stronger in reading than in math or science (Indicator I-03d). The United States was measurably outperformed by fewer nations on the reading assessment than on the science and math exams. Moreover, the average differential between the mean U.S. score and those of measurably higher-scoring jurisdictions on the reading literacy assessment (18 points) was smaller than that for the science or math exams (approximately 22 points and 33 points respectively).
- The 2009 PISA provided a more detailed analysis of the skills that constitute reading literacy.2 American adolescents did best on the reading literacy test items meant to gauge their ability to reflect on and evaluate what they had read (Indicator I-03e), with an average score (512.1) measurably higher than the OECD average of 494.5. They did less well on tasks that involved accessing and retrieving information. But even on the higher-order reading tasks on which they tended to do better, American students were outperformed by students in China (Shanghai and Hong Kong), Korea, and Canada, among other jurisdictions.
Endnotes
- 1For the purposes of these indicators, a measurable difference is one that is statistically significant at the 5% level.
- 2 PISA is administered every three years. In each data collection year, one of the three main subjects (math, science, or reading) is the major domain, and the other two areas are considered minor domains. In 2012, the major domain was mathematics, and subscale scores were provided. In 2015, the major domain was science. Reading will again be the major domain in 2018.
I-03a: Average Score on International Reading Assessment, by Jurisdiction, 2015
* In the cases of nations with measurably larger and smaller shares than the United States, the difference is statistically significant at the 5% level. Certain jurisdictions in gray had smaller or larger shares, but whether these differences were attributable not to a sampling error but to actual differences in the levels of performance between those nations and the United States could not be determined with a sufficient level of confidence.
Source: Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), OECD Data Explorer, http://pisadataexplorer.oecd.org/ide/idepisa/, accessed 2/23/2017. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
“The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students' reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years. First conducted in 2000, the major domain of study rotates between reading, mathematics, and science in each cycle. PISA also includes measures of general or cross-curricular competencies, such as collaborative problem solving. By design, PISA emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of compulsory schooling. PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries, and is conducted in the United States by NCES. Data collection for the most recent assessment was completed in Fall 2015.” (Excerpted from the National Center for Education Statistics’ online PISA overview). The PISA scoring scales for reading literacy (and also math and science literacy) range from 0 to 1,000.
I-03b: International Reading Literacy of 15-Year-Olds (Proficiency Levels), by Jurisdiction, 2015 (Ranked by the Share of Students Scoring at Level 5 or Above)
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Reading Literacy: Proficiency Levels,” https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/pisa2015/pisa2015highlights_4a.asp, accessed 2/23/2017. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
“The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students' reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years. First conducted in 2000, the major domain of study rotates between reading, mathematics, and science in each cycle. PISA also includes measures of general or cross-curricular competencies, such as collaborative problem solving. By design, PISA emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of compulsory schooling. PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries, and is conducted in the United States by NCES. Data collection for the most recent assessment was completed in Fall 2015.” (Excerpted from the National Center for Education Statistics’ online PISA overview).
I-03c: International Reading Literacy of 15-Year-Olds (Shares of High and Low Performers), by Jurisdiction, 2015
* In the cases of nations with measurably larger and smaller shares than the United States, the difference is statistically significant at the 5% level. Certain jurisdictions in gray had smaller or larger shares, but whether these differences were attributable not to a sampling error but to actual differences in the levels of performance between those nations and the United States could not be determined with a sufficient level of confidence.
** The OECD describes Level 2 as “a baseline level of proficiency at which students begin to demonstrate the reading literacy competencies that will enable them to participate effectively and productively in life” (see PISA 2015 Results: Excellence and Equity in Education, Volume I, page 164).
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Reading Literacy: Proficiency Levels,” https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/pisa2015/pisa2015highlights_4a.asp, accessed 2/23/2017. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
“The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students' reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years. First conducted in 2000, the major domain of study rotates between mathematics, science, and reading in each cycle. PISA also includes measures of general or cross-curricular competencies, such as collaborative problem solving. By design, PISA emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of compulsory schooling. PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries, and is conducted in the United States by NCES. The next assessment is in 2015.” (Excerpted from the National Center for Education Statistics’ online PISA overview).
According to OECD, “The tasks related to each proficiency level are described according to the three processes that students use to answer the questions. These three processes are classified as access and retrieve (skills associated with finding, selecting and collecting information), integrate and interpret (processing what is read to make sense of a text), and reflect and evaluate (drawing on knowledge, ideas or values external to the text).” The combined scoring scale for reading literacy (and also math and science literacy) ranges from 0 to 1,000. See OECD, PISA 2012 Results: What Students Know and Can Do: Student Performance in Mathematics, Reading and Science, vol. 1, rev. ed. (Paris: OECD Publishing, 2014), 190.
* At the 5% significance level.
Source: Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), OECD Data Explorer, http://pisadataexplorer.oecd.org/ide/idepisa/, accessed 2/23/2017. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
“The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students' reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years. First conducted in 2000, the major domain of study rotates between reading, mathematics, and science in each cycle. PISA also includes measures of general or cross-curricular competencies, such as collaborative problem solving. By design, PISA emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of compulsory schooling. PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries, and is conducted in the United States by NCES. Data collection for the most recent assessment was completed in Fall 2015.” (Excerpted from the National Center for Education Statistics’ online PISA overview).
I-03e: Average Scores on International Reading Literacy Subscales, 2009*
* Average scores for additional countries are provided in the supporting table.
** At the 5% significance level.
Source: Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), OECD Data Explorer, http://pisadataexplorer.oecd.org/ide/idepisa/, accessed 2/23/2017. Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
“The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students' reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years. First conducted in 2000, the major domain of study rotates between mathematics, science, and reading in each cycle. PISA also includes measures of general or cross-curricular competencies, such as collaborative problem solving. By design, PISA emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of compulsory schooling. PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries, and is conducted in the United States by NCES. The next assessment is in 2015.” (Excerpted from the National Center for Education Statistics’ online PISA overview). The PISA scoring scales for reading literacy (and also math and science literacy) range from 0 to 1,000.
