America's 15-year-olds perform at the international average of their peers in other highly industrialized countries in reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy, according to a new international study that examines the abilities of students from 32 of the most industrialized countries to apply learning in a real-world context.

Outcomes of Learning: Results from the 2000 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) of 15-Year-Olds in Reading, Mathematics, and Science Literacy, was released today by the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The international results were released today by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

PISA is organized under the auspices of the OECD and is directed in the United States by the NCES. The OECD is an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries for cooperation in research and policy development on social and economic topics. PISA will collect data every three years to provide participating nations with important trend information on learning outcomes for three major subject areas (reading, mathematics, and science literacy). Reading literacy was the primary focus of this first administration of PISA.

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige expressed disappointment with these results.

"Unfortunately, we are average across the board compared to other industrialized nations. In the global economy, these countries are our competitors-average is not good enough for American kids," Paige said. "We see on the reading assessment that we have more kids scoring at the highest level than many participating countries. But we also see that we have more kids at the lowest level than some of the countries. Too many American students lack the ability to apply their reading skills to real-life situations."

"That's why President Bush presented a plan to change the culture of education. No Child Left Behind will ensure that all of our kids have the skills they need to contribute to society and compete in the growing global economy."

Paige also noted that in a global economy, it is important to measure America's students' skills against those of other countries.

"PISA also gives us the opportunity to learn from those countries that are performing better than we are," Paige said. "And because PISA measures students' learning that has occurred in school and out of school, it shows us why we need to engage every community in setting high standards for schools and improving the life experiences of every child."

Gary Phillips, acting commissioner of NCES, said that PISA provides important information about education in the United States and in other industrialized nations.

PISA is a new and exciting study that will, over time, provide important indicators of learning in the United States and other highly industrialized nations," said Phillips. "PISA fulfills a unique role in providing information about learning in a real-world context, which will complement the portrait of United States student performance obtained from other national and international studies. What makes PISA unique is its broad focus on literacy, rather than specific curricular knowledge. PISA's focus on age 15 also allows countries to measure outcomes of learning that reflect both societal and education system influences, and measure students' preparedness for adult life beyond compulsory schooling."

Beyond overall performance in the three major subject areas of reading, mathematics, and science literacy, future cycles of PISA will begin to examine other, non-academic outcomes, like problem-solving (2003) and literacy in information and communications technology (2006).

Key findings
Other key findings of PISA 2000 include:

• Female 15-year-olds outperform male 15-year-olds in reading literacy in every participating country, including the United States. However, there was no difference in performance between males and females in mathematics literacy or science literacy in the United States.
• In the United States, parents' education is strongly linked to differences in student performance in reading, mathematics, and science literacy, as it is in most other OECD countries. Fifteen-year-olds whose parents completed college show an advantage over students whose parents did not and particularly over those whose parents did not complete high school.
• The relationship between socioeconomic status and performance in the United States is not different, on average, than it is in other OECD countries.
• PISA confirms results from other national and international studies that show there are gaps in performance between racial and ethnic groups in the United States. White and "other" 15-year-olds (including Asians, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders, and multiracial students) outperform Black and Hispanic students in reading, mathematics, and science literacy.

For further information on Outcomes of Learning: Results from the 2000 Program for International Student Assessment of 15-Year-Olds in Reading, Mathematics, and Science Literacy, please visit NCES' PISA Web site at http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa. The PISA report can be ordered by calling toll-free 1-877-4ED-PUBS (1-877-433-7827), TTY/TTD 1-877-576-7734; e-mailing at edpubs@inet.ed.gov; or via the Internet at http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html.

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