Reading Competency: An International Perspective
- While U.S. reading (and science) scores remained fairly constant from 2000 to 2022, the average U.S. math score declined (Indicator I-03a). From its high point in 2009 to 2022, the nation’s math score dropped from 487 to 465, a 4.6% decline. In comparison, the reading score was essentially unchanged, hovering near 500 throughout the time period.
- Even though the average reading score changed little from 2018 to 2022, the U.S. ranking among OECD nations improved as a result of other nations’ scores having declined, according to an OECD analysis.
- On the 2022 PISA, the average reading score for U.S. 15-year-olds was measurably higher than the OECD average (at the 5% level; Indicator I-03b). Only three OECD countries had measurably higher scores than the United States (Ireland, Japan, and Korea). The average U.S. reading score was similar to the nation’s score on the science assessment, and both scores were substantially higher than the country’s score on the math assessment.
- Among U.S. 15-year-olds, 14% scored at the two highest reading levels (5 and 6), indicating that they were capable of completing tasks involving unfamiliar and challenging texts (Indicator 1-03c).1 The United States had one of largest shares of 15-year-olds demonstrating very developed reading skills.
- Twenty percent of U.S. 15-year-olds demonstrated reading literacy at below basic levels (i.e., scored below Level 2) in 2022. Japan and Korea had the smallest share of 15-year-olds reading at that level, approximately 14%. A majority of the other countries participating in the assessment had shares of students demonstrating such minimal reading literacy that were larger than that of the United States.
- In 2022, 15-year-olds in the United States were more competitive in reading than in math or science. In the case of reading, only three other countries scored measurably higher, and the U.S. score was only 2% below the average for the higher-scoring nations. In comparison, on the math assessment, 20 nations scored measurably higher than the United States, and the U.S. score was 5% lower than the average among the higher-scoring countries.
* Programme for International Student Assessment. See “About the Data” for details.
Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), OECD Data Explorer, http://pisadataexplorer.oecd.org/ide/idepisa/ (accessed 10/14/2024). Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
“The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students’ reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years except for a 1-year delay in the current cycle (from 2021 to 2022) due to the pandemic. After the 2025 data collection, PISA will change to a 4-year data collection cycle. First conducted in 2000, the major domain of study rotates between reading, mathematics, and science in each cycle. PISA also includes measures of general or cross-curricular competencies, such as collaborative problem solving. By design, PISA emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of compulsory schooling. PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries, and is conducted in the United States by NCES. Data collection for the most recent assessment was completed in Fall 2022.” (Excerpted from the National Center for Education Statistics’ online PISA overview). The PISA scoring scales for reading literacy (and also math and science literacy) range from 0 to 1,000.
I-03b: Average Score on International Reading Assessment, by OECD Member Country, 2022
* Proficiency as measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment. See “About the Data” for details.
** In the case of nations with measurably larger and smaller shares than the United States, the difference is statistically significant at the 5% level. Certain jurisdictions in gray had smaller or larger shares, but whether these differences were attributable not to a sampling error but to actual differences in the levels of performance between those nations and the United States could not be determined with a sufficient level of confidence.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Reading Literacy: Proficiency Levels,” https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/pisa2022/docs/DescriptionsOf2022ProficiencyLevels-TableI33.pdf (accessed 10/14/2024). Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
“The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students’ reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years except for a 1-year delay in the current cycle (from 2021 to 2022) due to the pandemic. After the 2025 data collection, PISA will change to a 4-year data collection cycle. First conducted in 2000, the major domain of study rotates between mathematics, science, and reading in each cycle. PISA also includes measures of general or cross-curricular competencies, such as collaborative problem solving. By design, PISA emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of compulsory schooling. PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries, and is conducted in the United States by NCES.” (Excerpted from the National Center for Education Statistics’ online PISA overview). The scoring scale for reading literacy (and also math and science literacy) ranges from 0 to 1,000.
I-03c: Reading Literacy of 15-Year-Olds, by OECD Member Country, 2022 (Ranked by the Share of Students Scoring at Below Basic Proficiency)*
* Proficiency as measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment. See “About the Data” for details.
** The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the sponsor of the assessment, describes Level 2 as a baseline level of proficiency at which students “can identify the main idea in a piece of text of moderate length. They can understand relationships or construe meaning within a limited part of the text when the information is not prominent by producing basic inferences, and/or when the text(s) include some distracting information. They can select and access a page in a set based on explicit though sometimes complex prompts, and locate one or more pieces of information based on multiple, partly implicit criteria. Readers at Level 2 can, when explicitly cued, reflect on the overall purpose, or on the purpose of specific details, in texts of moderate length. They can reflect on simple visual or typographical features. They can compare claims and evaluate the reasons supporting them based on short, explicit statements. Tasks at Level 2 may involve comparisons or contrasts based on a single feature in the text. Typical reflective tasks at this level require readers to make a comparison or several connections between the text and outside knowledge by drawing on personal experience and attitudes.” (See PISA 2022 Results: Excellence and Equity in Education, Volume I, full report, p. 100).
+ Reporting standards not met. The share of the nation’s students reading at Level 1 could not be determined.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Reading Literacy: Proficiency Levels,” https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/pisa-2022-results-volume-i_53f23881-en.html (accessed 2/23/2025). Data analyzed and presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences’ Humanities Indicators (www.humanitiesindicators.org).
“The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international assessment that measures 15-year-old students’ reading, mathematics, and science literacy every three years except for a 1-year delay in the current cycle (from 2021 to 2022) due to the pandemic. After the 2025 data collection, PISA will change to a 4-year data collection cycle. First conducted in 2000, the major domain of study rotates between mathematics, science, and reading in each cycle. PISA also includes measures of general or cross-curricular competencies, such as collaborative problem solving. By design, PISA emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of compulsory schooling. PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries, and is conducted in the United States by NCES.” (Excerpted from the National Center for Education Statistics’ online PISA overview). The scoring scale for reading literacy (and also math and science literacy) ranges from 0 to 1,000.
