International Outcomes of Learning in Mathematics and Problem Solving: PISA 2003 Results from the U.S. Perspective Commissioner Robert Lerner National Center for Education Statistics Institute of Education Sciences U.S. Department of Education 1

Presentation Outline Introduction to PISA U.S. performance in mathematics literacy U.S. performance in problem solving U.S. performance in reading literacy and science literacy Differences in performance by selected student characteristics 2

PISA Cycle 3

PISA Countries OECD countries 2000 and 2003 Australia Austria Belgium Canada Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Japan Republic of Korea Luxembourg Mexico Netherlands* New Zealand Norway Poland Portugal Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom* United States 2003 Only Slovak Republic Turkey Non-OECD countries 2000 and 2003 Brazil* Latvia Liechtenstein Russian Federation 2003 Only Hong Kong-China Indonesia Macao-China Serbia & Montenegro Thailand Tunisia Uruguay OECD countries (cont). 4

How PISA Was Conducted Nationally representative samples of 15-year-olds in all countries 2-hour paper-and-pencil assessment In the United States, 262 schools and 5,456 students participated in spring and fall

Performance of 15-Year-Old Students on the Combined Mathematics Literacy Scale, Relative to the U.S.: 2003 U.S. average score: 483 OECD average score: 500 Performance better than United States Finland Korea Netherlands Japan Canada Belgium Switzerland New Zealand Australia Czech Republic Iceland Denmark France Sweden Austria Germany Ireland Performance not measurably different from United States Poland Hungary Spain Non-OECD Latvia Performance worse than United States Portugal Italy Greece Turkey Mexico Non-OECD Russian Federation Serbia & Montenegro Uruguay Thailand Indonesia Tunisia Performance better (continued) OECD Average Slovak Republic Norway Luxembourg Non-OECD Hong-Kong China Liechtenstein Macao-China 6

Performance of 15-Year-Old Students on the Mathematics Literacy Subscales in the United States and for the OECD Average: 2003 Average Score Space and Shape Change and Rel. Subscal e Quantity Uncertainty 472* * * * 502 United States OECD average 0 7 *Average is significantly different from OECD average.

Percentage Distribution of Mathematics Literacy among 15-Year-Old Students in the United States and for the OECD Average, by Level: 2003 Percent Level 6 Level 5 Level 4 Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 Below Level United StatesOECD

Percentage Distribution of Mathematics Literacy among 15-Year-Old Students in the United States and for the OECD Average, by Level: 2003 Percent Level 6 Level 5 Level United StatesOECD

Percentage Distribution of Mathematics Literacy among 15-Year-Old Students in the United States and for the OECD Average, By Level: 2003 Percent Level 2 Level 1 Below Level United StatesOECD

Performance of 15-Year-Old Students in Problem Solving, Relative to the U.S.: 2003 U.S. average score: 477 OECD average score: 500 Performance better than United States Korea Finland Japan New Zealand Australia Canada Belgium Switzerland Netherlands France Denmark Czech Republic Germany Sweden Austria Iceland Hungary OECD Average Ireland Performance not measurably different from United States Spain Portugal Italy Non-OECD Latvia Russian Federation Performance worse than United States Greece Turkey Mexico Non-OECD Thailand Serbia & Montenegro Uruguay Indonesia Tunisia Performance better (continued) Luxembourg Slovak Republic Norway Poland Non-OECD Hong-Kong China Macao-China Liechtenstein 11

Percentage Distribution of Problem Solving among 15-Year-Old Students in the United States and for the OECD Average, by Level: 2003 Percent Level 3 Level 2 Level 1 Below Level United StatesOECD

Percentage Distribution of Problem Solving Among 15-Year-Old Students in the United States and for the OECD Average, by Level: 2003 Percent Level 3 Level United StatesOECD

Percentage Distribution of Problem Solving Among 15-Year-Old Students in the United States and for the OECD Average, by Level: 2003 Percent Level 1 Below Level United StatesOECD

Performance of 15-Year-Old Students in Reading Literacy and Science Literacy in the United States and for the OECD Average: 2000 and 2003 *Average is significantly different from OECD average. Average Score United StatesOECD average Reading Literacy Science Literacy * * Average Score

Performance of 15-Year-Old Students in Mathematics Literacy and Problem Solving, by Sex: 2003 Males outperformed females in mathematics literacy in the United States, and in two-thirds of other participating countries (20 of the other 28 OECD countries). On average across the OECD countries, males outperformed females on each of the four mathematics literacy subscales. In the United States, differences were seen in the space and shape subscale. In most of the PISA 2003 countries (32 out of 39 countries), including the United States, there were no measurable differences in problem- solving scores by sex. 16

Relationship Between International Socioeconomic Index (ISEI) and Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Mathematics Literacy: 2003 U.S. average ISEI index score of 55 was higher than all countries except Norway and Iceland (no measurable differences with these countries). Relationship of ISEI and mathematics literacy achievement (measured by change in score with change in ISEI index) was stronger in 5 countries and weaker in 11 countries than in the United States. No measurable differences were found between U.S. and the other 22 countries. 17

Performance of U.S.15-Year-Old Students in Mathematics Literacy, by Race/Ethnicity: 2003 *Average is significantly different from OECD average. Average Score Race/Ethnicity WhiteAsianMore than one race Hispanic Black 512* * 417* 0 OECD average 18

Performance of U.S.15-Year-Old Students in Problem Solving, by Race/Ethnicity: 2003 *Average is significantly different from OECD average. OECD average Average Score Race/Ethnicity WhiteAsianMore than one race HispanicBlack 506* * 413* 0 19

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