New PISA study puts schoolchildren in Shanghai and South Korea ahead of Finnish kids in reading skills

Finnish results excellent despite slight dip

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Minister of Education Henna Virkkunen (Nat. Coalition Party) sees some cause for concern in the latest OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which has again given excellent results for Finnish schools.
      She notes that there was a slight decline in reading skills in the past ten years, and a slight increase in differences in results of different schools.
      Opposition Social Democratic Party MP Tuula Peltonen accused the government of an education policy that is pushing the educational system in Finland toward “destruction”.
     
While the results of the study were quite good for Finland, the newcomer in the study, the Chinese city of Shanghai, shot to first place in reading skills, as well as in mathematics and science.
      South Korea also came out slightly ahead of Finland in reading skills.
      In an examination of the results of entire countries, and not just regions, Finland, South Korea, and Singapore came out in front.
     
PISA studies have been conducted since 2000, and reading skills have been the main focus of attention every three years.
      The average number of points won by Finland dropped to 536 from the previous 546. The OECD average was 493.
     
Differences between schools were the smallest in Finland. In Sweden, the differences had grown.
      The gender gap in reading skills was the greatest in Finland, with Finnish girls about a year and a half ahead of the boys.
      Girls in the north of Finland excelled in reading, while boys in the west of the country read at below the OECD average.
      One cause for concern was the weaker showing of Finland’s Swedish-speakers. However, part of this might be explained by the fact that many Swedish-speaking school pupils have the handicap of attending a Finnish-language school.
     
Diverse reading habits in Finland are one explanation for the greater disparity in reading skills than in OECD countries on the average. The pupils’ socio-economic positions were of less importance.
      The proportion of young people who do not read at all during their free time has increased from one fifth to one third. Nearly half of boys said that they do not read for their own pleasure either on the internet, or from paper.
     
“It is important to reinforce basic reading skills from very early education onwards. We also need to seek out ways to activate reading during free time by children and young people”, Virkkunen said.
      The fourth OECD PISA study included more than 500,000 pupils from 65 countries or regions.
      There were 203 schools with more than 6,000 pupils in the sample taken by Finland.
      The PISA studies evaluate pupils’ abilities with tests involving practical skills needed for daily life.
     


Previously in HS International Edition:
  PISA Conference visits Finland to learn secrets of scholastic success (15.3.2005)
  Finland breaks point record in PISA study (5.12.2007)
  Finland tops PISA in reading and mathematics as well (3.12.2007)

Links:
  OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

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