BACKGROUNDER
2004BCED0079-001026 Dec. 6, 2004	Ministry of Education
PISA 2003 RESULTS

The average scores for each country have a margin of error, represented by confidence intervals on PISA results charts. A confidence interval is the range within which a score is likely to fall 19 times out of 20. When confidence intervals for countries overlap, differences in scores are not statistically significant.

 

For example, B.C.’s average score for math is 538. When the confidence interval is taken into consideration, B.C.’s score could be as low as 534 or as high as 543. Hong Kong-China scored the top mark of 550. However, when the confidence interval is taken into consideration, it could have scored as low as 541. According to PISA, this means there is no statistical difference between Hong Kong-China and B.C.

 

Top average scores for math, reading and science

 

Math	Score	Reading	Score	Science	Score
Hong Kong-China	550	Finland	543	Finland	548
Alberta	549	Alberta	543	Japan	548
Finland	544	British Columbia	535	Hong Kong-China	539
Korea	542	Korea	534	Alberta	539
British Columbia	538	Ontario	530	Korea	538
Netherlands	538	Canada	528	British Columbia	527

 

Number of jurisdictions with results above, in the same range as, and below B.C.

 

Year	Above B.C.	In B.C.’s range        (incl. B.C.)	Below B.C.
MATH
2003	0	13	37
2000	4	10	27
READING
2003	0	7	43
2000	0	12	29
SCIENCE
2003	2	13	35
2000	1	12	28

 

Math performance

·        Twenty-two per cent of B.C. 15-year-olds reached levels 5 or 6 on the PISA assessment (i.e. displayed high-level math skills).

·        Nine per cent of participating students from B.C. were described as having low-level math skills (i.e. Level 1 or below). Only Finland and Alberta had a lower percentage of students in that category.

 

Boys and girls

·        Boys performed better than girls on the math assessment, but girls performed better than boys on the reading assessment.

·        In science, the performance of boys and girls was essentially the same.

• These results are consistent with past national and international assessments.

 

PISA focus areas

• Every three years, the OECD tests students in math, reading and science, with a detailed assessment in one of the three subject areas.
• In 2003, PISA took a detailed look at students’ performance in mathematics.
• In 2006, the focus will be science. In 2000, reading was the major focus.

 

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