PISA: Poverty Is Schools' Achilles heel

From the National Association of Secondary School Principals blog:

National Association of Secondary School Principals Executive Director, Dr. Gerald N. Tirozzi has taken "a closer look at how the U.S. reading scores on PISA compared with the rest of the world’s, overlaying it with the statistics on how many of the tested students are in the government’s free and reduced lunch program for students below the poverty line." Tirozzi pointed out, “Once again, we’re reminded that students in poverty require intensive supports to break past a condition that formal schooling alone cannot overcome.” Tirozzi demonstrates the correlation between socio-economic status and reading by presenting the PISA scores in terms of individual American schools and poverty.  While the overall PISA rankings ignore such differences in the tested schools, when groupings based on the rate of free and reduced lunch are created, a direct relationship is established.

Free and Reduced Meal Rate	PISA Score
Schools with < 10%	551
Schools with 10-24.9%	527
Schools with 25-49.9%	502
Schools with 49.9-74.9%	471
Schools with >75%	446
U.S. average	500
OECD average	493

With strong evidence that increased poverty results in lower PISA scores the next question to be asked is what are the poverty rates of the countries being tested?  (Listed below are the countries that were tested by PISA along with available poverty rates. Some nations like Korea do not report poverty rates.)

Country	Poverty Rate	PISA Score
Denmark	2.4%	495
Finland	3.4%	536
Norway	3.6%	503
Belgium	6.7%	506
Switzerland	6.8%	501
Czech Republic	7.2%	478
France	7.3%	496
Netherlands	9.0%	508
Germany	10.9%	497
Australia	11.6%	515
Greece	12.4%	483
Hungary	13.1%	494
Austria	13.3%	471
Canada	13.6%	524
Japan	14.3%	520
Poland	14.5%	500
Portugal	15.6%	489
Ireland	15.7%	496
Italy	15.7%	486
United Kingdom	16.2%	494
New Zealand	16.3%	521
United States	21.7%	500

Leveling the playing field

A more accurate assessment of the performance of U.S. students would be obtained by comparing the scores of American schools with comparable poverty rates to those of other countries.

Schools in the United States with less than a 10% poverty rate had a PISA score of 551.  When compared to the ten countries with similar poverty numbers, that score ranked first. 

Country	Poverty Rate	PISA Score
United States	<10%	551
Finland	3.4%	536
Netherlands	9.0%	508
Belgium	6.7%	506
Norway	3.6%	503
Switzerland	6.8%	501
France	7.3%	496
Denmark	2.4%	495
Czech Republic	7.2%	478

In the next category (10-24.9%) the U.S. average of 527 placed first out of the ten comparable nations. 

 

Country	Poverty Rate	PISA Score
United States	10%-24.9%	527
Canada	13.6%	524
New Zealand	16.3%	521
Japan	14.3%	520
Australia	11.6%	515
Poland	14.5%	500
Germany	10.9%	497
Ireland	15.7%	496
Hungary	13.1%	494
United Kingdom	16.2%	494
Portugal	15.6%	489
Italy	15.7%	486
Greece	12.4%	483
Austria	13.3%	471

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the remaining U.S. schools, their poverty rates over 25% far exceed any other country tested.  However, when the U.S. average of 502 for poverty rates between 25-49.9% is compared with other countries it is still in the upper half of the scores.

Mathematically Speaking

The results of the latest PISA testing should raise serious concerns.  However, the overall ranking of 14th in reading is not the reason to be concerned. The problem is not as much with our educational system as it is with our high poverty rates. The real crisis is the level of poverty in too many of our schools and the relationship between poverty and student achievement. Our lowest achieving schools are the most under-resourced schools with the highest number of disadvantaged students. We cannot treat these schools in the same way that we would schools in more advantaged neighborhoods or we will continue to get the same results. The PISA results point out that the U.S. is not alone in facing the challenge of raising the performance of disadvantaged students.

 

U.S. % Poverty	Other Countries	PISA Score
U.S. (<10%)		551
	Korea	539
	Finland	536
U.S. (10-24.9%)		527
	Canada	524
	New Zealand	521
	Japan	520
	Australia	515
	Netherlands	508
	Belgium	506
	Norway	503
U.S. (25-49.9%)		502
	Estonia	501
	Switzerland	501
	Poland	500
	Iceland	500
U.S. (Average)		500
	Sweden	497
	Germany	497
	Ireland	496
	France	496
	Denmark	495
	United Kingdom	494
	Hungary	494
	Portugal	489
	Italy	486
	Slovenia	483
	Greece	483
	Spain	481
	Czech Republic	478
	Slovak Republic	477
	Israel	474
	Luxembourg	472
U.S. (50-74.9%)		471
	Austria	471
	Turkey	464
	Chile	449
U.S. (over 75%)		446
	Mexico	425

 

Additional observations from PISA results:

·      Shanghai, China topped the list with 556 but is not included in this analysis because Shanghai is a city not a country and because only 35% of Chinese students ever enter high school and because "when you spend all your time preparing for tests, and when students are selected based on their test-taking abilities, you get outstanding test scores."

·      Of all the nations participating in the PISA assessment, the U.S. has, by far, the largest number of students living in poverty--21.7%. The next closest nations in terms of poverty levels are the United Kingdom and New Zealand have poverty rates that are 75% of ours.

·      U.S. students in schools with 10% or less poverty are number one country in the world.

·      U.S. students in schools with 10-24.9% poverty are third behind Korea, and Finland.

·      U.S. students in schools with 25-50% poverty are tenth in the world.

·      U.S. students in schools with greater than 50% poverty are near the bottom.

·      There were other surprises. Germany with less than half our poverty, scored below the U.S. as did France with less than a third our poverty and Sweden with a low 3.6% poverty rate.

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