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OECD’s PISA 2006 survey ranks Finland number one in science

20/12/2007

Providing valid comparisons across countries and cultures

In the OECD’s latest PISA survey, a triennial assessment of the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds carried out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to develop valid comparisons across countries and cultures, Finland was ranked as the highest-performing country on the PISA 2006 science scale. Although the focus of PISA 2006 was on science, the assessment also included reading and mathematics and collected data on student, family and institutional factors that could help explain differences in performance.


Key features of PISA (the Programme for International Student Assessment) include its policy orientation, which has the goal of informing educational policy and practice;  an innovative approach to “literacy”; its relevance to lifelong learning; the consideration of student performance alongside characteristics of students and schools in order to explore some of the main features associated with educational success; and the breadth of its geographical coverage.

More than 400,000 students from 57 countries – almost 90% of the global economy – participated in PISA 2006, with nationally-representative samples representing 20 million 15-year-olds being drawn. Students also answered a half-hour questionnaire about themselves while their school principals answered a questionnaire about their schools. In 16 countries, parents completed a questionnaire about their investment in their children’s education and their views on science-related issues and careers.

“High and consistent performance standards”

Each PISA survey assesses literacy in reading, mathematics and science. In PISA 2006, Finland was ranked second in reading after Korea (1). In mathematics, Finland, Korea, Chinese Taipei and Hong-Kong China were said to have outperformed all other countries and economies.

Three PISA surveys have now taken place, in 2000, 2003 and 2006. In PISA 2000, where the focus was on reading literacy, Finland was ranked first ahead of Canada (2) and New Zealand (3). In PISA 2003, where the focus was on mathematics literacy, Finland, Korea and Hong Kong-China scored particularly well, ranking between first and third, first and fourth, and first and fifth respectively on the mathematics scales. On the PISA 2006 science scale, Finland’s first place was followed by Hong Kong-China (2) and Canada (3). PISA is now conducting a second cycle of surveys, beginning in 2009 with reading as the major subject and continuing in 2012 (mathematics) and 2015 (science).

Commenting on factors affecting performance within national education systems, the authors of the report on PISA 2006 say that in Finland, less than 5% of the overall performance variation among OECD countries lay between schools. This, together with the fact that Finland also showed the highest overall performance in science, is said to suggest that “Finnish parents can rely on high and consistent performance standards across schools in the entire education system.”

 

Further information (PISA 2006 results):

 

http://www.pisa.oecd.org/document/2/0,3343,en_32252351_32236191_39718850_1_1_1_1,00.html

 

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