Development of School Achievement in the Nordic Countries During Half a Century

Figures & data

Figure 1. International averages of PIAAC literacy and numeracy performance across 20 countries (Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain/North Ireland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and the United States) for 10 age cohorts.

Table 1. Reading literacy performance in PIAAC 2012 and PISA for corresponding age cohorts (d-values).

	Denmark	Finland	Norway	Sweden
PIAAC 2012
Age 25–29	0.11	0.55	0.23	0.35
Age 20–24	−0.04	0.59	0.02	0.27
Age 16–19	−0.09	0.35	−0.12	0.13
PISA (15-year olds)
PISA 2000	−0.04	0.45	0.04	0.15
PISA 2003/2006	−0.03	0.49	−0.04	0.15
PISA 2009/2012	−0.04	0.37	0.04	−0.02
Difference
PIAAC Age 25–29 vs PISA 2000	0.15	0.10	0.18	0.20
PIAAC Age 20–24 vs PISA 2003/2006	−0.01	0.10	0.06	0.12
PIAAC Age 16–19 vs PISA 2009/2012	−0.05	−0.02	−0.16	0.15

Note: Comparisons between roughly equivalent age cohorts in PIAAC and PISA. Results for PISA 2003 and 2006 have been averaged, and results for PISA 2009 and 2012 have been averaged.

Table 2. Reading literacy in PIAAC and PIRLS (d-values).

	Norway	Sweden
PIAAC Literacy
Age 20–24	0.02	0.27
Age 16–19	−0.12	0.13
PIRLS
PIRLS 2001	−0.01	0.61
PIRLS 2006	−0.02	0.49
Difference
PIAAC Age 20-24 vs PIRLS 2001	0.03	−0.34
PIAAC Age 16-19 vs PIRLS 2006	−0.10	−0.36

Note: Comparisons between roughly equivalent age cohorts in PIRLS and PIAAC.

Table 3. Reading literacy performance in PIAAC and IEA RL 1991 for corresponding age cohorts (d-values).

	Denmark	Finland	Norway	Sweden
PIAAC Literacy
Age 35–39	0.08	0.60	0.26	0.45
Age 30–34	0.07	0.68	0.35	0.39
IEA RL 1991
Grade 8	0.00	0.48	−0.12	0.29
Grade 3	−0.44	0.73	0.17	0.35
Difference
PIAAC Age 35–39 vs Grade 8	0.08	0.12	0.38	0.16
PIAAC Age 30–34 vs Grade 3	0.51	−0.05	0.18	0.04

Table 4. Reading literacy in PIAAC 2012 and IEA RL 1970 (d-values).

	Finland	Sweden
PIAAC 2012
Age 55–59 years	0.14	0.40
Age 50–54 years	0.34	0.29
IEA RL 1970
Grade 7/8 (∼14/15 years old)	0.05	−0.09
Grade 3/4 (∼10/11 years old)	0.17	0.33
Difference
PIAAC Age 55–59 vs Grade 7/8	0.09	0.49
PIAAC Age 50–54 vs Grade 3/4	0.17	−0.04

Note: Comparisons between roughly equivalent age cohorts in IEA RL 1970 and PIAAC.

Table 5. Mathematics performance in PIAAC and PISA for corresponding age cohorts (d-values).

	Denmark	Finland	Norway	Sweden
PIAAC 2012
Age 25–29	0.31	0.49	0.18	0.42
Age 20–24	0.16	0.42	0.13	0.33
Age 16–19	0.01	0.27	0.04	0.23
PISA (15-years old)
PISA 2000	0.14	0.36	−0.01	0.10
PISA 2003/2006	0.14	0.46	−0.07	0.06
PISA 2009/2012	0.02	0.30	−0.06	−0.14
Difference
PIAAC Age 25–29 vs PISA 2000	0.17	0.13	0.19	0.32
PIAAC Age 20–24 vs PISA 2003/2006	0.02	−0.04	0.20	0.28
PIAAC Age 16–19 vs PISA 2009/2012	0.00	−0.02	0.10	0.36

Note: Comparisons between roughly equivalent age cohorts in PIAAC and PISA. Results for PISA 2003 and 2006 have been averaged, and results for PISA 2009 and 2012 have been averaged.

Table 6. Mathematics performance in PIAAC and TIMSS for corresponding age cohorts (d-values).

	Norway	Sweden
PIAAC Numeracy
Age 30−34	0.46	0.38
Age 20−24	0.13	0.33
TIMSS Grade 8 (∼15 years old)
TIMSS 1995	−0.02	0.4
TIMSS 2003/2007	−0.35	−0.05
Difference
PIAAC Age 30−34 vs TIMSS 1995	0.48	−0.02
PIAAC Age 20−24 vs TIMSS 2003/2007	0.48	0.38

Note: Comparisons between roughly equivalent age cohorts in PIAAC and TIMSS. Results for TIMSS 2003 and 2007 have been averaged.

Table 7. Mathematics performance in PIAAC 2012 and older IEA studies for corresponding age cohorts (d-values).

	Finland	Sweden
PIAAC 2012
Age 60–65	0.17	0.43
Age 45–49	0.35	0.44
IEA Studies (∼14 year-olds)
FIMS 1964	0.19	−0.63
SIMS 1980	−0.31	−0.92
Difference
PIAAC Age 60–65 vs FIMS 1964	−0.02	1.06
PIAAC Age 45–49 vs SIMS 1980	0.66	1.36

Figure 2. Literacy results (d-values) in PIAAC for 10 age cohorts in the Nordic countries. The difference has been computed between the mean for each age cohort and each country and the international average for the age cohort, after which the difference has been standardized with the average standard deviation across countries for the age cohort.

Figure 3. Numeracy results (d-values) in PIAAC for 10 age cohorts in the Nordic countries. The difference has been computed between the mean for each age cohort and each country and the international average for the age cohort, after which the difference has been standardized with the average standard deviation across countries for the age cohort.

Table A1. Results for the Nordic countries in the early IEA studies of mathematics.

Study	Country	Age	Grade	Achievement
Mathematics
FIMS 1964, upper grades	Finland	13.9	7	0.19
	Sweden	13.7	7	−0.63
	Int. Average (12)	13.7	8	0
SIMS 1980, upper grades	Finland	13.8	7	−0.31
	Sweden	13.9	7	−0.92
	Int. Average (16)	14	7.9	0

Note: An international average has been defined on the basis of a subset of the participating countries, including EU/OECD countries and countries participating more than once. For FIMS 1964 the comparison group includes Australia, Belgium, England, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Scotland, Sweden, The Netherlands, and USA. For SIMS 1980 the comparison group includes Belgium (Fl), Belgium (Fr), Canada (BC), Canada (On), England and Wales, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden, The Netherlands, and USA. Achievement is measured as deviation from the international average in standard deviation units (d).

Table A2. Results for the Nordic countries in the early IEA studies of reading literacy.

Study	Country	Age	Grade	Achievement
Reading
RL 1970, lower grades	Finland	10.6	3.77	0.17
	Sweden	10.5	3.53	0.33
	Int. Average (10)	10.7	4.68	0
RL 1970, upper grades	Finland	14.6	7.56	0.05
	Sweden	14.6	7.51	−0.09
	Int. Average (11)	14.7	8.53	0
RL 1991, lower grades	Denmark	9.8	3	−0.44
	Finland	9.7	3	0.73
	Norway	9.8	3	0.17
	Sweden	9.8	3	0.35
	Int. Average (23)	9.68	3.48	0
RL 1991, upper grades	Denmark	14.8	8	0
	Norway	14.8	8	−0.12
	Finland	14.7	8	0.48
	Sweden	14.8	8	0.29
	Int. Average (24)	14.65	8.38	0

Note. An international average has been defined on the basis of a subset of the participating countries, including EU/OECD countries and countries participating more than once. For RL 1970 lower grades the comparison group includes Belgium (Fl). Belgium (Fr), England, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Scotland, Sweden, The Netherlands and USA. For upper grades in RL 1970 the same set of countries was used as comparison group with the addition of New Zealand. For RL 1991 lower grades the comparison group includes Belgium (Fr), Canada (BC), Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany (East), Germany (West), Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and USA. For RL 1991 upper grades the same set of countries was used, with the addition of Italy. Achievement is measured as deviation from the international average in standard deviation units (d). Note that in the first IEA study from 1970 several grades (3 and 4 or 7 and 8) were included.