Average Performance of U.S. Students Relative to International Peers on the Most Recent International Assessments in Reading, Mathematics, and Science

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The most recent U.S. results on international assessments of reading, mathematics, and science literacy are those from the 2006 PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study), the 2007 TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), and the 2009 PISA (Program for International Student Assessment).

The following analysis used the International Data Explorer, a web-based data tool on the NCES website that allows users to produce their own statistical analyses online, to compare the average scores of U.S. students in each subject and at each grade level with their peers from around the world. The results below are based on comparisons of different countries' education systems' average scores with the international average on each assessment. For more information about the calculation of the international averages, see About This Analysis.

Results:

At grade 4, U.S. students performed above the international average in all three subjects and at grade 8, U.S. students performed above the international average in both mathematics and science (reading is not assessed internationally at grade 8). However, at age 15, U.S. students performed below the international average in mathematics literacy and not different from the international average in reading and science literacy.

Other systems with average scores above the international average in at least one subject at grade 4 but below the international average at age 15 included Austria, Bulgaria, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, Spain, and Sweden.

U.S. states Massachusetts and Minnesota (the only states that reported separately in the last round of international assessments) each had average scores above the international average in: mathematics and science at both grades 4 and 8.

Education systems that scored above the international average in all subjects and age or grade levels they assessed included Hong Kong-China and Singapore, which participated in the most recent assessments in each subject offered at all three age levels, as well as Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Shanghai-China, and Switzerland, which did not assess every age or grade level in all subjects offered.

Australia, Chinese Taipei, Germany, and Poland scored above the international average in all subjects and age levels they assessed, except one in which they were not measurably different.