Ontario Student Results on International PISA Test Stay Strong in Science and Reading, Decline in Math Stabilizes

TORONTO, Dec. 6, 2016 /CNW/ - Results from the 2015 administration of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), released today, reveal that Ontario students are generally performing well in science, reading and math, with results similar to those of the 2012 assessment.

Fifteen-year-old students from 72 education systems (jurisdictions) from around the world, including all 10 Canadian provinces, participated. Ontario student achievement matched the Canadian average in science and reading, but was just below the national average in math.

Quick Facts

• The average Ontario science score was 524 in 2015, compared to 527 in 2012.
  • Students from six jurisdictions (Singapore, Alberta, British Columbia, Japan, Quebec and Estonia) had science results that were statistically higher than Ontario's.¹
  • Ontario students matched the Canadian average for both the test overall and all the science subskills evaluated.
  • As in all Canadian provinces, no gender differences in overall science were observed in Ontario.
  • Students in Ontario's English-language school system achieved higher science scores (526) than students in the French-language school system (486).

• The average Ontario reading score was 527 in 2015, compared to 528 in 2012.
  • In 2015, no jurisdictions had results statistically higher than Ontario's.
  • Ontario students' reading achievement matched the Canadian average.
  • As in all Canadian provinces, girls in Ontario performed significantly better (542) than boys (512) on the reading assessment.
  • Students in Ontario's English-language school system achieved higher reading scores (529) than students in the French-language school system (476).

• After a decline in math between 2003 and 2012, the performance of Ontario students remained stable over the 2012 to 2015 period.
  • In 2015, students from 11 jurisdictions (Singapore, Hong Kong‒China, Quebec, Macao‒China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, BSJG‒China,² Korea, Switzerland, Estonia and Canada) performed better than Ontario's in math.
  • Among Canadian provinces, only Quebec had results statistically higher than Ontario's. Ontario students performed just below the Canadian students' average, and they are still among the top 25% of participating jurisdictions.
  • In Ontario, as well as in Canada overall and in four other provinces, boys performed significantly better (514) than girls (505) in mathematics.
  • Students in Ontario's English- and French-language school systems achieved the same in mathematics.

Quotes

"The PISA 2015 results are helpful to understand the skills and abilities of Ontario's students in relation to their peers across the country and in other parts of the world. Ontario students continue to achieve good academic standards, and I thank schools for their participation in this assessment."
—Dave Cooke, Chair, EQAO Board of Directors

"We should celebrate our students' strong performance in science and reading, as well as the fact that achievement in math has stopped declining to the same extent and has stabilized. These results should encourage Ontario's education community to keep looking for ways to improve student achievement in math."
—Richard Jones, Director, Assessment, EQAO

Learn More

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2015: Highlights of Ontario Student Results

Aussi disponible en français

¹ All comparisons in this news release refer to jurisdictions whose students' achievement was significantly higher, statistically, than Ontario's.

² Results for the municipalities of Beijing and Shanghai and for the provinces of Jiangsu and Guangdong in China will be reported as BSJG–China.

SOURCE Education Quality and Accountability Office

Mark Ruban, Manager, Communications and Public Affairs, 416 325-2230, [email protected]