Reading literacy achievement: senior secondary schooling

What We Have Found 

Indicator Description

Reading literacy of 15 year-old students.

Why This Is Important

Reading literacy achievement at senior secondary level contributes to preparation for successful participation in tertiary education and training.  Achievement level is also related to people's well being and influences their ability to contribute to, and participate in, a changing labour market and increasingly knowledge-based society.  
 
Literacy involves the ability of individuals to use written information to fulfil their goals, and the consequent ability of complex modern societies to use written information to function effectively.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study assessed 15 year-old students' reading ability on accessing and retrieving information, integrating and interpreting texts, and reflection and evaluation. 

How We Are Going

The reading scores from PISA 2000, PISA 2003, PISA 2006 and PISA 2009 can be summarised on a combined reading literacy scale.  This enables a comparison to be made between the reading literacy achievements of 15 year-old students in each of these years.

New Zealand is continuing its high performance in reading literacy at the senior secondary level, as measured by the PISA reading tasks.

In 2009, PISA found New Zealand 15 year-old students had a mean reading literacy score significantly above the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) mean across 34 countries.  Only two OECD countries (Korea and Finland) achieved significantly higher mean scores than that for New Zealand.  Shanghai-China and Hong Kong-China also achieved significantly higher mean scores than New Zealand.

Between 2000 and 2009 there has been no significant change in New Zealand's average 15 year-old student performance in reading literacy.  In contrast, Korea achieved significantly higher results on average than in 2000. Ireland, Sweden and Australia were the only countries who achieved above the OECD mean in PISA 2009 to show a significant decline in performance over the 9 years.

Figure 1: Distribution of overall reading literacy scores in PISA (2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009)

Compared to most other countries more New Zealand 15 year-old students achieved at the top proficiency levels in reading in PISA 2009 with 41% achieving at least Level 4, 16% achieving Level 5 and 3% at the new advanced proficiency level 6.  This compares with the OECD averages of 28%, 8% and 1% respectively.  Fourteen percent of New Zealand 15 year-old students did not reach beyond the lowest levels of reading literacy (that is, beyond Level 1a or achieving Level 2), and this was statistically similar to that for Australia and Japan, but statistically lower than the average across the OECD countries (19%).

Figure 2: Percentage of New Zealand 15 year-old students reaching the PISA reading literacy proficiency levels (2009)

 

Fifteen year-old New Zealand girls achieved a significantly higher mean reading literacy score than boys, a result common to all of the 65 countries participating in PISA 2009 for reading.  There was no change in the mean performance for boys or for girls between 2000 and 2009.

  In PISA 2009, European/Pākehā and Asian 15 year-old students achieved significantly higher mean reading literacy scores than the OECD average, while Māori and Pasifika were significantly lower than the OECD average.  Lower proportions of Māori and Pasifika students achieved at the highest levels of proficiency in reading, and were over-represented at the lower levels when compared with European/Pākehā and Asian students.

References

• Alton-Lee, A. (2003). Quality Teaching for Diverse Students in Schooling: Best Evidence Synthesis. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
• Ministry of Education (2004). Learning for Tomorrow's World: New Zealand Summary Report. Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
• OECD (2004). Learning for Tomorrow's World – First Results from PISA 2003.  Paris: OECD.
• OECD (2007). PISA 2006 Results: Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World, Volume I: Analysis. Paris: OECD.
• OECD (2010). PISA 2009 Results: What Students Know and Can Do – Student Performance in Reading, Mathematics and Science – Volume I. Paris: OECD.
• OECD (2010). PISA 2009 Results: Overcoming Social Background – Equity in Learning Opportunities and Outcomes – Volume II. Paris: OECD.
• OECD (2010). PISA 2009 Results: Learning to Learn – Student Engagement, Strategies and Practices – Volume III. Paris: OECD.
• OECD (2010). PISA 2009 Results: What Makes a School Successful –Resources, Policies and Practices – Volume IV. Paris: OECD.
• OECD (2010). PISA 2009 Results: Learning Trends - Changes in Student Performance since 2000 – Volume V. Paris: OECD
• Telford, M. and Caygill, R. (2007). PISA 2006: How Ready Are Our 15-Year-Olds for Tomorrow’s World? Wellington: Ministry of Education.