3/12/2013: Some top level results from PISA 2012: Part 2

In previous post I covered the PISA results (top-level overview) for Ireland (http://trueeconomics.blogspot.ie/2013/12/3122013-some-top-level-results-from.html). Here's a summary table showing 2012 data and changes on previous survey:

• As you can see, Ireland is ranked in a respectable 20th Mathematics place based on the mean score. 
• We rank 29th in terms of top performers in mathematics and 17th in terms of share of bottom performers in mathematics. This suggests that our system is performing better in raising students from the bottom than promoting students to the top. The first is a good thing, the latter is a bad thing.
• Another bad thing is that we are losing scores, down 0.6 points annually on previous survey.
• Ireland's maths score is statistically indistinguishable from the scores for Viet Nam, Austria, Australia, Slovenia, Denmark, New Zealand, Czech Republic, France, United Kingdom
• And we are statistically above the OECD average along with 22 other countries.

Relationship between annualised change in performance and average PISA 2003 mathematics scores:

• In reading, our mean score of 523 ranks us between 7th and 9th in the world - highly respectable achievement. However, the score is down 0.9 points year on year.
• We are comfortably ahead of OECD average here
• Our score on reading is statistically indistinguishable from Finland, Chinese Taipei, Canada, Poland, Liechtenstein.

Relationship between annualised change in performance and average PISA 2000 reading scores

• In science we have a score of 522 which ranks us 14th to 15th which is good. Even better: the score has increased by 2.2 points year on year.
• We are statistically above the OECD average and our science score is indistinguishable from that of Viet Nam, Poland, Canada, Liechtenstein, Germany, Chinese Taipei, Netherlands, Australia, Macao-China, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

Relationship between annualised change in science performance and average PISA 2006 science scores

3/12/2013: Some top level results from PISA 2012: Irish Education Performance

PISA results are out today. Here's the link: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results.htm

And some snapshots of Ireland's performance:

And comparatives to Hong Kong, Korea and Shanghai (just because we think we have the best educated workforce in the world):
Note: Ireland = Blue
Hong Kong:

 Shanghai:

Korea:

And to some European peers:
Finland:

Germany:

Sweden:

And so on. Not take these too seriously as standardised testing is hardly indicative of many important aspects and traits relating to education, but... we are reasonably good in reading skills, mediocre in mathematics and sciences... Improving in sciences, flat in maths, slightly down in reading... oh, and our top students are not really at the races, while our bottom students are. So who do we compete against? The brightest or the lowest performers? Makes you wonder, right?

2/9/2013: Irish students at World Statistics Congress 2013

An overlooked (by this blog) piece of news worth posting about in my opinion. Per CSO:

"In Hong Kong today at the World Statistics Congress 2013 Irish maths students were placed among the best in the world in a poster competition run by the International Association of Statistical Education (IASE) in collaboration with the International Statistical Literacy Project (ISLP). The poster competition attracted over 7,200 entries, from 117 different countries, across five continents, including the USA, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Australia, all the EU member states and South Africa. The theme of the ISLP poster competition, this year, was Agriculture."

Well done to Irish students! Congratulations to all five on their stellar work! And well done to the CSO for running the John Hopper Medal for Statistics poster competition in Ireland.

Full information about their work and the competition is here: http://cso.ie/en/newsandevents/pressreleases/2013pressreleases/irishmathsstudentsamongthebestintheworld/