U.S. 15-year-olds performed below the international average of 29 industrialized countries in both mathematics literacy and problem solving in 2003.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 reports on the mathematics literacy and problem-solving ability of 15-year-olds in 29 participating Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) industrialized countries and 10 non-OECD countries. By assessing students near the end of compulsory schooling, PISA provides information about how well prepared students will be for their future as they approach an important transition point for education and work.

U.S. 15-year-olds, on average, scored below the international average for participating OECD countries in combined mathematics literacy, specific mathematics skill areas (space and shape, change and relationships, quantity, and uncertainty), and problem solving (see table 17-1). In combined mathematics literacy, students in 20 OECD countries and 3 non-OECD countries outperformed U.S. students, while U.S. students outperformed students in 5 OECD countries and 6 non-OECD countries. In problem solving, students in 22 OECD countries and 3 non-OECD countries outperformed U.S. students, while U.S. students outperformed students in 3 OECD countries and 5 non-OECD countries.

The OECD average score of males was greater than that of females in combined mathematics literacy and in each of the four mathematics subscales in 2003 (see table 17-2). Males outperformed females in two-thirds of the participating countries in combined mathematics literacy; Iceland was the only country where females outperformed males. In the United States, males outperformed females in both combined mathematics literacy and the space and shape subscale. No such sex difference was detected among U.S. 15-year-olds in their performance on the other three subscales. In 32 of the 39 countries, including the United States, there were no performance differences between males and females in problem solving.

The cutoff scores for both the top and bottom 10 percent of U.S. students (the highest and lowest achievers) in combined mathematics literacy were lower than the overall OECD cutoff scores for these percentiles, respectively (see table 17-3).