Worldwide Reading, Science, and Math Scores of Adolescents

The Program for International Student Assessment is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students’ reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years in industrialized countries. In the mathematics test, out of a total of 1,000 points, the United States average score was 470, below the overall OECD average of 490. The 2015 score continued the downward trend: 12 points lower than it was in 2012 and 18 points lower than in 2009. Average scores in mathematics literacy ranged from 564 in Singapore to 328 in Dominican Republic. The U.S. average was lower than 36 education systems, higher than 28 education systems, and not measurably different than 5 education systems. The U.S. average was lower than the states of Massachusetts (500), not measurably different than North Carolina (471), and higher than Puerto Rico (378).

 Kastberg, D., Cham, J. Y., Murray, G., & Gonzales, P (2016). Performance of U.S. 15-year-old students in science, reading, and mathematics literacy in an international context: First look at PISA 2015. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2017/2017048.pdf