The 2009 PISA Results for Mathematics

  

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Every few years, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures the academic achievement of countries around the world. In 2009, students from 65 different countries and economies participated – 34 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries and 31 partner countries.

The top 5 performers were Shanghai-China, Singapore, Hong Kong-China, Korea and Finland, with scores of 600, 562, 555, 546 and 541, respectively. The United States’ score was 487, 17th of OECD countries (31st overall), and 9 points below the OECD average. 

The results also showed that among OECD countries, boys outperformed girls by an average 12 points in math (whereas girls outperformed boys by 39 points in reading). Countries overall showed little change in math performance since the 2003 testing, with 6 OECD countries and 2 partner countries having significant gains. For the other 28 OECD countries, the percentage of top math performers decreased slightly.

Read the executive summary of the PISA 2009 Results

Photo credit: www.oecd.org

Take with a grain of salt: PISA international math rankings

  

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Students from Shanghai,China posted the top scores in math according to test results released last week by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which compares the performance of 15-year-olds from 60 nations and 5 regional areas. Singapore and Hong Kong, China ranked second and third, respectively. The United States tied for 31st.

News headlines announced that Shanghai "stuns experts" and "owns the PISA," but it's actually not so clear cut. First, how is it fair to compare the United States--as a country--with selected regions in China? Secondly, do students of all levels in other countries test on the PISA (as is done in the U.S.) or are only the high achievers taking the test?

The New York Times, for instance, reported:
"For one thing, Shanghai is a huge migration hub within China. Students are supposed to return to their home provinces to attend high school, but the Shanghai authorities could increase scores by allowing stellar students to stay in the city, he said. And Shanghai students apparently were told the test was important for China’s image and thus were more motivated to do well, he said."

Despite the questionable ranking system, some interesting trends emerged from the report:

1. Regardless of their own socioeconomic background, students attending schools with a socioeconomically advantaged intake tend to perform better than those attending schools with more disadvantaged peers.
2. GDP per capita did not appear to matter much: Korea, which is the best-performing Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country, also has a GDP per capita below the OECD average. While there is a correlation between GDP per capita and educational performance, this predicts only 6% of the differences in average student performance across countries. The other 94% of differences reflect the fact that two countries of similar prosperity can produce very different educational results.
3. The most successful school systems grant greater autonomy to individual schools to design curricula and establish assessment policies, but these school systems do not necessarily allow schools to compete for enrollment.

Though the focus is often on numbers and rankings, maybe it is these buried lessons of the trends (as expressed by former Vermont superintendent, William J. Mathis) that are most valuable.

Image Credit: OECD Website

Gender Differences in Math? Yes and No.

  

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Two reports this month seem to support that idea that, yes, there are gender differences in math performance, and no, those performance differences aren't related to any genetic differences between men and women. In early January researchers who examined TIMSS and PISA data reported little worldwide gender difference in math ability. However, the study did find differences in select nations, particularly those that had few female role models in research and math-associated positions. Another study released this week supports the importance of role models and self-fulfilling expectations. A group from the University of Chicago reported that female elementary teachers' personal anxiety about math transferred to their female students. Girls, it seems, do worse in math when they are expected to do worse. That's a problem we can and should correct, but it will take a big attitude shift. Let's get on it!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/ / CC BY 2.0

Tom Loveless Visit

  

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We were excited to have Tom Loveless from the Brookings Institution visit our Scholastic headquarters in New York this week to share some of his recent research and to join us in a conversation about current issues in math education. Our discussions focused heavily on Tom’s analysis of NAEP data and how it unraveled the profiles of what he has called “the misplaced math student” – low-performing, unprepared 8th graders who have been pushed into Algebra 1. Not surprisingly those students often are found in large urban districts with high-poverty and high African-American or Hispanic populations. The mothers of these students are less likely to have completed college, and their teachers are slightly less well-prepared than their high-performing peers. I have to admit, though, that the teacher data gathered from NAEP looked pretty dismal no matter how you split the student demographics.

We also spent some time talking about international comparisons, including the relative merits of TIMSS, PISA, and NAEP. Tom’s recent presentation about PISA sparked a lively editorial from Jay Mathews of the Washington Post. It was interesting to dig into individual test items to get a deeper understand of the differences among the measures. What do the tests really tell us? How bad are our students performing against international benchmarks?
 
Finally, we had a chance to share some of our new programs. In particular, Tom got a glimpse of Fraction Nation which tackles one of the most critical gaps in math education as identified by the National Math Advisory Panel. Tom was a part of that panel, and he seemed impressed with how well we followed the research. We’re looking forward to more conversations with Tom Loveless and other leading math thinkers and actors.

Photo Courtesy of R. Abrams; Pictured: (L to R) David Dockterman, Tom Loveless, Margery Mayer.