The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003: Initial Report on Scotland's Performance in Mathematics, Science and Reading

Gender Differences in Mathematical Literacy

Figure 2.d. Gender differences in mathematics mean score (score difference in favour of males)

Figure 2.d shows the gender differences for the OECD countries and Scotland. This graph plots the difference between mean scores for male students and that for females. A bar to the right of the centre line means that male students scored higher than females, while one to the left means that female students did better than males. As can be seen, male 15 year olds achieve higher than female in all the countries except Iceland. The range of score differences is large. Korea shows the highest difference, at 23 points but many countries also show large differences. For the 29 OECD countries as a whole, the average difference is close to 11 points. In Scotland the mean score for male students is 7 points above that for female students. In PISA 2000 Scottish male students were 5 points ahead of female. The almost universal better performance by males contrasts with the position in reading literacy where, as will be seen later, the situation reverses and females do better than males.

Figure 2.e. Mathematics combined results scale: comparison of male and female student attainment for OECD and Scotland

The final two paragraphs of this section focus on the performance of male and female students in Scotland relative to those in the OECD as a whole. The next section of the chapter details the results for each of the four content areas: Space and Shape, Change and Relationships, Quantity, and Uncertainty.

Figure 2.e shows the percentages of OECD and Scottish male and female students attaining the various levels of performance on the combined mathematics scale. Relative to the OECD, as already noted, a greater percentage of students in Scotland attain Levels 4, 5, and 6, the higher levels, though an almost equal percentage reaches Level 6. Equally, fewer Scottish students fall below Level 3 than in the OECD as a whole: while 69% of Scottish students attain Level 3 or better, the corresponding figure for the OECD as a whole is 53%. This pattern is mirrored, with slight variation, for both male and female students, with 71% of Scottish male students and 68% of female attaining Level 3 or better, compared with 55% and 52% respectively in the OECD overall.

Comparing students within Scotland, a greater percentage of male students than female attain the higher levels of performance, but this difference in attainment only shifts in their favour one level above Level 3, at Level 4. While 43% of male students attain Level 4 or above, just 39% of female students do so.

Mathematical Literacy in PISA 2003 - Attainment in the Four Broad Content Areas

This section presents the results for:

Space and shape
Change and relationships
Quantity, and
Uncertainty.

Table 2.4 gives the mean scores for each of these four content areas.

Table 2.4: Mean score and proportion of students reaching top three proficiency levels for each content area

Each content area shows a broadly similar pattern for Scotland and the whole OECD to that noted above for the overall performance levels. The mean scores for Scotland on every sub-scale are significantly higher than those for the OECD as a whole, and the proportions of Scottish students above Level 3 are, in general, substantially higher than those for the OECD as a whole.

The comparison of the Scottish mean scores with those for each of the individual 29 OECD countries is given in Table 2.5, and Table 2.6 summarises Scotland's position by giving the count of the number of OECD countries with mean scores; significantly above that for Scotland, and those not significantly different from, and significantly less than that for Scotland.

Table 2.5. Student performance on mathematics sub-scales, country mean scores

Table 2.6. Number of OECD countries with mean scores

Both in respect of the OECD taken as a whole and relative to the individual countries that constitute the OECD, Scottish students do very well in the content area of Uncertainty. The Scottish mean score is significantly above the OECD mean, just four countries have higher mean scores and only one of these has a significantly higher mean score than Scotland. Change and Relationships is the next strongest area. Six countries have higher mean scores than Scotland, two of them significantly higher. The Scottish mean score is significantly above the OECD mean score, and the percentage of students attaining Level 3 or above is well above the OECD percentage.

In the other two content areas, the picture is less clear. Scottish performance is good but not strong. In Space and Shape, the difference between the Scottish mean score and the OECD value, though significant, is the smallest of the four differences. Similarly the difference in percentages of students attaining Level 3 or above is the smallest of the four differences. Thirteen (13) countries have higher mean scores, nine significantly so. Quantity has the second smallest difference in mean score, and similarly the second smallest difference in percentage of students at Level 3 or above. Eight countries have higher mean scores than Scotland, five significantly so.

Parallel to what has been found for the combined mathematics scores, in each content area, male students attain higher mean scores than female both in the OECD as a whole and in Scotland. The percentages of male students attaining Level 3 or above are similarly greater than those for female students.

In Space and Shape, 63% of Scottish male students gained Level 3 or above compared with 58% of female students, while for the OECD as a whole, the corresponding comparison is 53% of males and 48% of females. The mean score for Scottish males (514) is 13 points higher than that for females (501), slightly less than the difference of 17 points in the OECD as a whole. Scottish males scored 9 points above OECD males: Scottish females, 13 points above OECD females ⁹.

In Change and Relationships, 72% of Scottish male students gained Level 3 or above, compared with 69% of female students. In the OECD as a whole, 55% of male students attained these levels, and 52% of female. The mean score for Scottish males (535) is 11 points higher than that for females (524), the same as the difference in the OECD as a whole. Scottish males scored 30 points above OECD males; Scottish females, 31 points above OECD females.

In Quantity, Scottish male and female students did equally well in respect of proficiency Levels 3 and above, with 67% of both genders reaching these levels, while in the OECD as a whole, the two results were almost equal, at 54% and 52%, respectively. The mean score for Scottish males (521) was 4 points higher than that for females (517), slightly less than the difference of 6 in the OECD as a whole. Scottish males scored 17 points above OECD males; Scottish females, 19 points above OECD females.

In Uncertainty, male and female students in Scotland performed almost equally well in respect of attainment at proficiency Levels 3 or above, with 75% of males and 74% of females reaching these levels, while in the OECD, the gap was wider, with 56% of male students attaining these levels and 52% of female. The mean score for Scottish males (538) was 5 points higher than that for females (533), markedly less than the difference of 13 points in the OECD as a whole. Scottish males scored 30 points above OECD males; Scottish females, 37 points above OECD females.

It is reassuring to note that Scotland has scored so highly in the area of Uncertainty. From 2001, SQA changed the arrangements for Standard Grade Mathematics examinations to introduce statistical content papers at all levels. (This was to maintain consistency with the Intermediate 1 and 2 courses which were introduced as part of the Higher Still initiative). In addition to all pupils being taught statistics as part of their National Qualification courses at S3 and S4, many schools introduced an element of statistics into their courses at S1 and S2 to improve the continuity and progression of pupils' learning.

Variation in Combined Mathematics Scores Between Low and High Achievers

Figure 2.f shows the score gap between students at the 75 ^th percentile level, ie those at the top end of the attainment range, and those at the 25 ^th level, ie, those at the bottom of the attainment range. Each pair of joined points corresponds to one of the 29 OECD countries or to Scotland. Countries are sequenced from left to right in increasing gap size (from smallest to largest difference). The smallest gap (115 points) is found in Finland, and the largest (155 points) in Belgium.

Figure 2.f. Difference in mathematics combined score between students at the 25th and 75th percentile levels of attainment

The graph compares the degree of equity in mathematics attainment between countries. That is, how great the achievement gap is between those who do well and those who do not. Is this gap narrow or wide? A country may have high overall mathematics achievement, as indicated by its mean score, but may provide a very unequal education to its students, or it may not. The gaps shown in this graph reveal where each country is placed in this respect.

Scotland is very well placed with a gap equal to that of Finland (115 points).

« Previous | Contents | Next »